Air pollution budgets cut by 99% as illegal levels of pollution continue for 11 million
18th November 2025
Families outside the High Court during the Dieselgate trial. Photo credit: Ron Fassbender
The budget for local councils to tackle air pollution in their area has been cut by the Government from £225 million a year to just £1.5 million in the last five years.
Data received by Mums for Lungs under the Freedom of Information Act from DEFRA shows the average grant provided to councils under eight years of a Conservative Government from 2016/17 to 2023/24 was £71.8 million. This has fallen to just £1.5 million under the Labour Government in 2024/25. This represents a 99.4% reduction in funding from a high of £225 million in 2020/21.
This means it will take far longer for areas to meet requirements to cut emissions to within World Health Organization guidelines.
“Cutting the budget for essential air quality work is extremely shortsighted and a false economy, which will end up costing us all more in the long term.”
Air pollution is costing the economy and NHS billions
The cost of Government inaction on air pollution is outstripping its annual investment in cost to our economy and NHS by billions of pounds every year. The Royal College of Physicians recently estimated that air pollution is costing our economy upwards of £27 billion per year in core healthcare costs and productivity losses, and it is killing up to 36,000 people every year.
Scientists have found links between air pollution and almost every organ system in the body and the major diseases that affect them. This includes the brain, lungs (stunted lung growth), cardiovascular system, metabolism, kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract, bones and skin but even diabetes and worsening mental health conditions have been linked to air pollution.
In opposition, the Labour Party promised to introduce a legal right to clean air through a Clean Air Act but this was dropped from the party’s manifesto last year, despite ongoing toxic levels of pollution in towns and cities across the UK.
EU member states agreed last year to bring their air quality standards closer to World Health Organization guidelines by 2030. The revised Ambient Air Quality Directive updates air quality standards for both PM2.5 and NO2, and means the UK is now lagging significantly behind its neighbours.
“Cutting air pollution budgets by 99% at a time when children are still breathing illegal and toxic levels of dirty air is indefensible. Parents across the country expected Labour to deliver on its promise of a Clean Air Act and a legal right to breathe safe air, but instead, commitments have been dropped and funding slashed.”
Pavement stencils in Greater Manchester. Photo credit: Rebecca Lupton
Greater Manchester received the most funding of any local area in recent years - a total of £211 million since 2016, but still has illegal levels of pollution. It was recently revealed that Greater Manchester spent over £100 million on creating a Clean Air Zone that was later scrapped by the Mayor, Andy Burnham.
Birmingham received the second highest amount of funding and has significantly reduced NO2 pollution with its Clean Air Zone, however, the West Midlands Urban Area is one of five in England that are still not compliant with legal air pollution levels.
“I cannot overstate the importance of everyone in our community being able to breathe clean air. In Manchester, we see over 1,200 people per year die prematurely from this toxic air and we have some of the highest rates of childhood asthma.”
Nearly 11 million people are breathing illegal levels of air pollution
According to official Government statistics, 10.9 million people live in areas of the UK which still exceed the legal levels of NO2 Limit Value for health (annual mean): the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Bristol City Region and Coventry / Bedworth.
Mums for Lungs is calling for the Labour Government to update clean air legal protections at least in line with Governments across Europe and interim WHO targets, and finally take decisive action to clean up our air and protect children’s health with adequate funding.
We need:
An enforceable pathway to meet WHO air pollution targets at the same speed as the EU, so children in the UK are as well protected as their European neighbours
A clear timeline to phase out existing diesel vehicles, and car manufacturers to fund the recall of cars failing emissions testing
A phase-out of domestic wood burning for those who do not need to burn
School Streets to be introduced across the country to protect children from toxic pollution at the school gate
Restrictions on large, high-polluting SUVs, especially in major towns and cities