OFFICER DELEGATED DECISION REPORT Report title: School Green Screens Programme Wards: All Portfolio: Councillor Claire Holland, Deputy Leader of the Council (Sustainable Transport, Environment and Clean Air) Report Authorised by: Sara Waller / Eleanor Purser, Strategic Director for Sustainable Growth and Opportunity Contact for enquiries: Leena Khatri, Sustainability Technical Officer, [email protected], 020 7926 0525 Report summary The current administration’s 2018 manifesto committed to install green screens at Lambeth schools on a main road. This report considers progress to date and recommends the programme to deliver against this ambition by May 2022. In recent years, green screens have been built at St Anne’s Primary and Stockwell Primary School, as part of the Mayor’s Air Quality School Audit programme, and also at Wyvil Primary, St Helen’s Primary, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary, Loughborough Primary, St John the Divine Primary, Oasis Johanna Primary, and Rosendale Primary. This report sets out proposals to install green screens at additional schools in Lambeth and explains the reasons why green screens are being recommended at certain schools. Table 1 lists schools in Lambeth which have not been selected for a green screen and the reasons why. An overview plan and list of schools included in the current green screen programme is set out in Table 2 of this report. Finance summary The total maximum cost of the school green screens programme is estimated to be £350,000. This cost can be met from the capital budget for Energy, Flood Prevention and Climate Change response infrastructure agreed by Cabinet in July 2020. If required, contributions could also be sourced from the capital budget for Transport and Public Realm agreed in July 2020 or from grant funding that becomes available for these measures. Recommendations 1. To agree the protocol described in Section 1 of this report and establish a programme of installing green screens at schools on the borough’s main roads. 2. To agree a maximum budget allocation for this school green screens programme of £350,000. 1. CONTEXT 1.1 In 2017 the Mayor of London released an updated report assessing the air quality in and around London’s schools, both primary and secondary, and made a series of recommendations to protect students from exposure to poor air quality. This list is based on data from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI). As part of this report, it was highlighted that children at 38 schools in Lambeth are exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The EU limit for nitrogen dioxide pollution levels is 40ug/m3; the levels at the schools listed in Table 2 are over this limit. To help reduce young children’s exposure to this, the current administration’s 2018 manifesto committed to install a green screen at every Lambeth school on a main road. 1.2 A green screen is made of ivy in movable planters, which act as shield for young children, providing a greener environment and improving day to day air quality. Studies show that green screens can reduce exposure to poor air quality by over 20%1. 1.3 The original list from the Mayor showed 47 and not 38 schools in Lambeth as exposed to high levels of air pollution. This list included universities, colleges and fee-paying schools, which have been removed as they are deemed not within this programme’s scope. 1.4 A main road is defined as an A, B or C road according to Lambeth’s Highway database. 1.5 Schools were assessed for whether a green screen should be built through a two-stage process. Stage 1 was a desktop exercise: all schools in Lambeth were cross referenced to see whether they were listed by the Mayor in an area of high air pollution or on the Council’s highway database as an A, B or C Road. To be within this programme’s scope, any school to be considered for a green screen had to be part of Lambeth Schools Partnership. Stage 2 was to visit each school which met the Stage 1 criteria to check there was a suitable and effective location for the screen and that the school supported the project. 1.6 The Council has already installed green screens at St Helen’s Primary, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary, Wyvil Primary, Loughborough Primary, Oasis Johanna Academy, Rosendale and St John Divine. As part of the Mayor’s Air Quality School Audit programme, it has also built green screens at Stockwell Primary and at St Anne’s Primary, where officers are also working in partnership with Transport for London (TfL) and University College London (UCL) to develop a Living Wall. 1.7 Applying the above protocol, the schools listed in Table 1 have been assessed as not qualifying for a green screen; reasons why are listed next to each school. 1 https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/reports/Green_Screen_Enfield_Report_final.pdf TABLE 1: SCHOOLS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SCHOOL GREEN SCREENS PROGRAMME School Comments Ark Evelyn Grace Academy Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Met Stage 1 criteria, but playground is not Ashmole Primary School exposed to emissions from main road Bishop Thomas Grant Catholic Secondary Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road School Bonneville Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road City Heights E-ACT Academy (may be reassessed following traffic interventions) Clapham Manor Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Crown Lane Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Effra Nursery School and Early Years Centre Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Elm Court School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Elm Wood School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Nursery is participating in Mayor's Air Quality Ethelred Nursery School and Children's Centre Nursery programme. Glenbrook Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Granton Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Heathbrook Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Henry Cavendish Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Henry Fawcett Primary School School has not accepted offer for a green screen. Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is not Hill Mead Primary School exposed to emissions from main road Immanuel and St Andrew Church of England Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Primary School Not recommended as existing wooden fence Iqra Primary School around the school stops exposure to emissions Jessop Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Jubilee Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Julian's School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Met stage 1 criteria but all students are aged 16 King's College London Maths School plus La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Lambeth Academy Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road. Lark Hall Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is located in a Lilian Baylis Technology School road closed to traffic so not exposed to emissions from the main road Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is not London Nautical School exposed to emissions from the main road Macaulay Church of England Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Not above 40 according to LAEI, playground is Norwood School surrounded by greenery and so is not exposed to emissions from main the road Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is not Oasis Academy South Bank exposed to emissions from main road Paxton Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Met stage 1 criteria but playground is surrounded by green infrastructure and so is not exposed to Platanos College emissions from the main road (may be reassessed following traffic interventions) Richard Atkins Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Funding provided through Our Streets programme Rosendale Primary School for a green screen at school Met stage 1 criteria, the school has already had a Saint Gabriel's College green screen installed Met stage 1 criteria, but students are only aged South Bank Engineering UTC 16 plus St Andrew's Catholic Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road St Andrew's Church of England Primary Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road School St Bede's Catholic Infant School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road St Bernadette Catholic Junior School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road St Leonard's Church of England Primary Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road School St Luke's Church of England Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is not St Mark's Church of England Primary School exposed to emissions from the main road Not above 40 according to LAEI, green St Martin in the Fields High School for Girls infrastructure at front of school. St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road St Stephen's Church of England Primary Met stage 1 criteria, but playground is not School exposed to emissions from the main road St John's Angell Town Church of England School has not accepted offer for a green screen Primary School Streatham Wells Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Sunnyhill Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Telferscot Primary School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road The Elmgreen School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road The Livity School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road The Michael Tippett School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Holmewood Nursery School's Tree House Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Children's Centre Turney Primary and Secondary Special School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road Van Gogh Academy (formerly Durand Playground is not located near to a main road Academy) Walnut Tree Walk Primary School Playground is not located near to a main road Woodmansterne School Not above 40 according to LAEI or on main road 2.