Spoken to DEFRA

After being pinged around the houses a bit I managed to speak to a very helpful Carol Tidmarsh who I think is at DEFRA. She explained the governance of Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to me which basically amounts to: (1) areas with a pollution problem are nominated as AQMAs. These areas must submit a Local Transport Plan to the National Transport Department who have hired consultants who offer a service to support AQMAs in improving air quality. Areas that do not work with the national transport department can be taken under administration by the secretary of state.

In terms of reporting The EU is about to submity a new Air Quality Objective that means all EU states are accountable and will be fined for not meeting targets.

I also learnt that Ozone is not a local air pollutant objective but the reason given that Ozone can blow in from europe ("transboundary pollutant") is obviously not right - so can PM10 and that is a local objective. Also Ozone levels are effected very much by local conditions like vehicles as they are a by-product of nitrogen oxide emissions. Anyway the review and assessment helpdesk confirmed it is not a local objective but the reason given was fuzzy, it just is because it is deemed that local management cannot effect the levels of Ozone - worth following this one up!.

Some hopefully helpful advice is that I should contact Oxford's "primary care trust" for stats on respiratory and other diseases in Oxford.

I have also just spoken to one of the 3 helpdesks that support this whole convoluted process:

1. The review and assessment helpdesk who support AQMAs in the compilation of reports in a 3 year process cycle
   
2. Bureau Veritas helpdesk who work with AQMAs to create action plans that feature in the Local Transport Policy document
3. The Local Authority Air Quality Support who provide support on monitoring, modelling and emissions.

So the plot thickens!