NO2 PROGRAMME

Infrastructure and Construction

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £843m
Published schedule: 01/01/2016 – 31/03/2026
NISTA delivery confidence: Not disclosed
Senior responsible owner: Toby Nation, Claire Wren

What the project is for

Government is legally mandated to deliver Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) compliance in the shortest possible time. The Joint Air Quality Unit delivers the NO2 Programme and is jointly accountable to Defra and DfT, including joint Ministerial, Senior Responsible Officer and funding responsibilities. The Programme collaborates with 64 local authorities to fund and deliver measures to secure compliant NO2 levels, including through Clean Air Zones alongside DVLA. National Highways is delivering measures targeting compliance on the Strategic Road Network.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA Delivery Confidence Assessment rating at 25/26 Q4 increased from RED to AMBER. This is primarily due to all the recommendations from the NISTA Gate 5 review having been addressed and evidenced and the programme being ready for transition to business as usual and coming off GMPP at the end of 25/26. Six were agreed as closed and the remaining two will be closed as part of final programme closure and transition activities. NISTA confirmed that the Programme was removed from the GMPP on 31 March.

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme's end-date at 25/26-Q4 was revised to 31/03/26. This is primarily due to funding constraints, lack of new measures, progress to date and wider improvements in vehicle fleet. Defra’s Investment Committee agreed in April 2025 to ‘careful closure’ of the programme, acknowledging the programme successes.

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the programme’s departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) decreased to 678. This was due to less funding being secured through the Spending Review and business planning rounds because the additional measures identified to date were unlikely to bring forward compliance with legal air quality limits. The reduced programme budget based on the SR25 settlement was £706m (£441m CDEL and £265m RDEL) over the SR period (up to FY29/30). The actual expenditure of the programme at the end of financial year 25/26 when it exited the GMPP is £678 million. This excludes the cost of measures to be agreed for Stoke’s Clean Air Plan. NO2 work which is carrying on through business-as-usual teams in Defra and DfT from FY26/27 onwards has budget allocation in line with 2025 Business Planning in both departments. This will not be reported in GMPP.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 23/24-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 24/25-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at 0. This is primarily due to benefits not being monetised at programme level. Benefits assessment work is currently being undertaken, and a comprehensive evaluation programme is underway. A series of annual reports have been published on GOV.UK which demonstrate the progress and key findings from the evaluation.