The Mayor’s school air quality audit programme
The Mayor is concerned about poor air quality around London’s schools. Breathing in dirty air can affect children’s health and well being. That’s why he has audited 50 primary schools in the city’s most polluted areas.
About the audits
The audits have made recommendations to reduce emissions and exposure. They include:
- moving school entrances and play areas away from busy roads
- 'no engine idling' schemes to reduce emissions from the school run
- reducing emissions from boilers, kitchens and other sources
- local road changes including better road layouts, restricting the most polluting vehicles around schools and pedestrianisation by school entrances
- adding green infrastructure like ‘barrier bushes’ along busy roads and in playgrounds to help filter fumes
- encouraging students to walk and cycle to school along less polluted routes.
The audits were funded with £250,000 from the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund. They were carried out by engineering consultancy WSP.
Taking recommendations forward
The Mayor wants local boroughs to work with the audited schools to take forward the recommendations. TfL’s Local Implementation Plans will support this by funding delivery of transport recommendations. There will also be £500,000 to deliver the non-transport recommendations at all 50 audited schools. Each school will get £10,000 from the Mayor which we will ask to the school and/or borough to match fund. In addition, at least £300,000 will be available from the Mayor's Greener City Fund to deliver greening measures at any school in an area exceeding legal pollution limits.
The Mayor would also like to see Clinical Commissioning Groups supporting the funding of the recommendations given the exposure to poor air quality is a public health issue.
Nursery air quality audits
The Mayor invested £250,000 to pilot the audit concept in nurseries in London’s most polluted areas. This included testing filtration equipment to determine if this could have a positive effect on reducing indoor levels of air pollutants. Learn more about the Mayor's Nursery Air Quality Audit Programme.
The Mayor wants to encourage London boroughs to audit every school within an area of high pollution. The school audit toolkit can get you started. It can be used by schools, nurseries, workplaces, hospitals and other organisations.
School audit reports
The 50 primary school air quality audit reports are available below. Search by location in London:
Bonner Primary School (Tower Hamlets)
Christopher Hatton Primary School (Camden)
Gospel Oak Primary School (Camden)
Hallfield Primary School (Westminster)
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School (Kensington and Chelsea)
Marner Primary School (Tower Hamlets)
Netley Primary School (Camden)
Oxford Gardens Primary School (Kensington and Chelsea)
St Clements Dane CofE Primary School (Westminster)
St Mary Abbots CofE Primary School (Kensington and Chelsea)
Charlotte Sharman Primary School (Southwark)
Chesterton Primary School (Wandsworth)
Deptford Park Primary School (Lewisham)
Haseltine Primary School (Lewisham)
Merton Abbey Primary School (Merton)
Oliver Goldsmith Primary School (Southwark)
St Anne's Catholic Primary School (Lambeth)
St Anne's CofE Primary School (Wandsworth)
St James Hatcham CofE Primary School (Lewisham)
Ark Franklin Primary Academy (Brent)
Cavendish Primary School (Hounslow)
Christ the Saviour CofE Primary School (Ealing)
East Sheen Primary School (Richmond upon Thames)
John Keble CofE Primary School (Brent)
Melcombe Primary School (Hammersmith and Fulham)
St Paul's CofE Primary School (Hammersmith and Fulham)
St Stephen's CofE Primary School (Richmond)
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