Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland

assisting the public to exercise their rights in environmental law

Systemic failure to enforce engine idling ban is putting public health at risk – press release

Engine idling is banned in Scotland because it releases toxic exhaust fumes that are harmful to human health and the environment. Yet despite numerous reports of idling from members of the public, there has been a systemic failure to enforce the ban at air pollution hotspots, according to data uncovered by the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS).

ERCS has written to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen City Councils to highlight the disparity between public reports of idling, and non-enforcement of the ban by local authorities. A Freedom of Information request revealed that Glasgow City Council has only issued three Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for engine idling since 2017/18, despite 380 reports of idling from members of the public between 2018-2023, while in Edinburgh, the Council has not issued any FPNs for engine idling since 2003, despite 362 reports of idling from members of the public between 2019-2023.

There is extensive evidence linking vehicle emissions to diseases including lung cancer and asthma. Children, older people, pregnant women and people with existing health conditions are particularly vulnerable and exposed to toxic exhaust fumes at idling hotspots such as schools, hospitals and bus stops. Studies have found that in comparison to idling, switching the engine off significantly cuts pollution, even when stopping for only 30 seconds.

ERCS has proposed three measures to address this issue: increasing the level of fines, change the Scottish Government’s guidance to encourage stronger enforcement of engine idling law, and reinstating enforcement monitoring, particularly around engine idling hotspots such as schools and hospitals.

Shivali Fifield, Chief Officer at ERCS, said:

‘Air pollution contributes to more than 2500 early deaths in Scotland every year, and it is children and vulnerable adults who are hit the hardest. The tragic death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who died just aged nine of asthma and was the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death, highlights why tough action against engine idlers is so important.

Hospitals and schools are the main engine idling hotspots and, as we welcome children back to school, surely we must do more to protect their health, and prevent any more child deaths. We all have the right to clean air and the Scottish Government must increase fines on polluters, so that local authorities can enforce the law and not be out of pocket’.

ENDS

For more information contact

Benji Brown, Policy & Advocacy Officer
Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland
bbrown@ercs.scot, 07856 407479

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) was established in January 2020. We assist the public and civil society to understand and exercise their rights in environmental law and to protect the environment. We carry out advocacy in policy and law reform to improve environmental rights, and full compliance with the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental matters. https://www.ercs.scot

[2] ERCS’s briefing on engine idling is available at: https://www.ercs.scot/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ERCS_engine-idling-briefing_Aug24.pdf

[3] ERCS’s letters to relevant city councils are listed below: