Last month the Government published its Clean Air Strategy for consultation.

The strategy aims to tackle air pollution, one of the most major public health risks, ranking alongside cancer, obesity and heart disease.

Air pollution is generated by a wide variety of sources; fuel used for domestic heating, the application of fertilisers on agricultural land, the use of chemicals in industry, sea, rail, air and road transport among others.

This strategy follows the plan published in July 2017, which committed to phasing out the sale of all conventional diesel and petrol cars by 2040 and taking them off the road altogether by 2050.

This is more ambitious than any EU requirement and puts Britain in the lead among developed economies.

However, the Government is aware that road transport is not the sole source of air pollution and that is why they have published a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy consultation.

The strategy includes ambitious new goals to halve the number of people living in locations where concentrations of particulate matter are above World Health Organisation guidelines, twice as challenging as the current European Union limit.

It also includes specific steps to ensure that only the cleanest domestic fuels will be available for sale, to manage better the use of manures and slurries on agricultural land, to introduce new legislation to give Local Government new powers to improve air quality and to develop a personal air quality messaging system to inform the public about the air quality forecast.

The Government is not banning domestic burning or prohibiting anyone from owning or installing a stove or requiring anyone to change their stove.

Instead, it is ensuring that in future only cleaner stoves can be sold.

It will also ensure that only cleaner fuels can be sold, removing traditional coal from sale in favour of low-smoke alternatives and phasing out the sale of wet wood in small volumes.

Cleaner fuels and stoves produce less smoke, less soot and more heat.

Emissions of all pollutants have fallen consistently since 2010 but this new clean air strategy marks the most ambitious steps yet to accelerate progress towards cleaner air.

I am very pleased the Michael Gove has published this consultation, as clean air is vital for a sustainable future in the UK.

You can find out more and take part in the consultation by going to goo.gl/P5SMJQ