LONDON, 9 October 2026 — Defra has today published Air Pollution in the UK 2025, its annual assessment of compliance with the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. Every zone met the hourly limit for nitrogen dioxide and the limits for particulate matter, but three zones exceeded the annual mean limit for nitrogen dioxide.

Much of that progress has been driven locally. UK100's Breathing Life report, launched by Minister Hardy in July, estimated that local clean air action saved almost 14,000 lives between 2019 and 2025.

Responding, Philip Glanville, director of advocacy and engagement at UK100, said:

"Most of the country now meets the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide, including four of the five areas that breached it last year. That is a real achievement for local leaders and a breath of fresh air for communities, literally. But many areas have only just scraped under the line, and two areas that were compliant last year are not this time. Better measurement and modelling reveal that the job isn't ever done.

"And as Minister Hardy herself has said, reaching compliance can't simply be 'box ticked, done'. With two areas slipping out of compliance, it's clear that tackling air pollution is an ongoing effort, and a clean air strategy and framework that treats compliance as job done risks real backsliding on the progress being made in our communities, especially when that progress is against legal limits that still fall far short of what the World Health Organization recommends.

"Compliance was never the finish line. Local government still has the ambition, and government should work with places on what comes next."

ENDS

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More information: Liam Ward, UK100, liam.ward@uk100.org

Notes to editors

About the report

Air Pollution in the UK 2025, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, published 9 October 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-in-the-uk-2025. In the 2024 assessment, five zones exceeded the annual mean limit for nitrogen dioxide.

The Minister's words

Emma Hardy MP, Minister of State at Defra, told the Environmental Audit Committee's Air Pollution in England inquiry on 14 September 2026 that once a local area reaches compliance "it is like, 'Box ticked—done.'" (Q224).

About UK100

UK100 is the only network of ambitious local, regional and strategic authorities led by all political parties working together to tackle climate change. We help local leaders overcome challenges and turn innovation into solutions that work everywhere. We build the case for the powers needed to make change happen. From cities to villages, we help communities across the UK create thriving places powered by clean energy, with fresh air to breathe, warm homes to live in, and a healthy natural environment. UK100.org

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