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Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland
Indicator 8. Air Quality
Number of Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs)
Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
Number of AQMAs | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Source: Scottish Executive
Note: The variance in the number of AQMAs between 2000 and 2001 does not indicate poorer air quality. It is simply related to a later completion of the review process by some local authorities.
The relevance of the indicator
Scotland has a good record on air quality but we can do better. Controlling air pollution is a key sustainable development objective in order to reduce the risks of harm to our health and environment.
Choice of indicator
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the devolved administrations' air quality indicator for the UK is a measure of the number of days per year on which air pollution is moderate or higher. There is an insufficient number of monitoring sites in Scotland for a similar indicator to be meaningful and we have therefore used the number of AQMAs against which to measure progress.
Detailed definition and source details
An AQMA
20 is declared by a local authority where the air quality objective for one or more of the eight pollutants in the Air Quality Strategy is unlikely to be met by the specified date. As such, the number of AQMAs provides an overview of air quality trends in Scotland. The information is derived from the air quality review and assessment reports which local authorities are required to produce.
Trends
The first AQMA was declared in December 2000 and there are no discernible trends to date.
Further disaggregation
The three AQMAs are in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In areas without AQMAs, indications are that all the Air Quality Strategy objectives will be met by the prescribed dates. There are no further historical data available.
Target
To have only one AQMA in Scotland by 2010.
Action
All local authorities declaring AQMAs must draw up action plans outlining how they intend to work towards the objectives. We are working closely with the authorities concerned as they develop their plans.
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