A new City Hall body will work to identify heavily polluted school areas, paving the way for further road closures in the capital.

Starting in the new year, the project will support schools London-wide to deliver air quality audits, prioritising action in areas with the highest levels, Sadiq Khan announced today.

Audit recommendations for measures to cut pollution could include closing surrounding roads to traffic at school pick-up and drop-off times, walking and scooting campaigns, adding green infrastructure, and tackling engine idling.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am doing everything in my power to stop Londoners breathing air so filthy that it damages children’s lungs and causes thousands of premature deaths every year.

“The Ultra-Low Emission Zone has already cut toxic air by a third and led to reductions in roadside nitrogen dioxide that are five times greater than the national average.

“Since 2016, there has been a 97 per cent reduction in the number of schools in areas which exceed the legal limit, and I’m committed to bringing that number down to zero.

“We know there is still more to do. Pollution isn’t just a central London problem, which is why I am committed to expanding the ULEZ next year. 

“I have also consistently demanded that the Government match my ambitions and improve the new Environment Bill to include legally binding WHO recommended limits to be achieved by 2030, and to give cities the powers we need to eradicate air pollution.”

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Transport for London has already funded 430 new School Streets – where roads surrounding schools are closed to motor traffic at drop-off and pick-up times – across London to prevent a “damaging car-led recovery” from coronavirus.

Councils across London have also controversially implemented Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in recent months, closing off certain areas to promote cycling and walking. 

TfL data from 2018 showed the school run made up a quarter of weekday morning traffic, with the average school journey being less than one kilometre which is around a 10-minute walk.

A fresh inquest is set to be held into the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah, whose fatal asthma attack in 2013 may have been linked to air pollution near her Lewisham home.

Schoolgirl Ella, who lived 25 metres from the South Circular, one of the busiest roads in the capital, died after three years of repeated hospital visits.

She was first taken to hospital in 2010 after having a coughing fit and was subsequently admitted 27 times before her death.

A 2014 inquest found that she died from “acute respiratory failure”, but in May of this year the High Court ruled the death should be looked at again.

The full inquest, which is currently scheduled to begin on November 30 for 10 days, will consider whether air pollution caused or contributed to Ella's death and how levels were monitored at the time.