The LAQM Portal provides all local authorities with a single access point to submit and maintain all relevant information regarding LAQM. The LAQM Portal can be used to submit annual reports, diffusion tube monitoring data, AQAPs and Detailed Assessments as well as to declare, revoke, and amend AQMAs.
The following user instructions are included for local authorities accessing the LAQM Portal.
Submitting Diffusion Tube Data (England exc. London Only)
Submitting a Detailed Assessment
Submitting an Annual Report
To Navigate to the ASR/APR/PR submission form:
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab by selecting the button on the left-hand pane.
- In the ‘Status of latest Annual Report’ panel there will be a button for submission of the ASR/APR/PR.
- For England (exc. London) only, if diffusion tube data for the monitoring year has not yet been submitted, the button in this section will say ‘Upload <year> Diffusion Tube Data’. This is a requirement prior to submitting the ASR. Select this button to navigate to the Diffusion Tube Data Entry System (DTDES) and follow the instructions to submit diffusion tube data.
- If diffusion tube data has been submitted but the ASR is still outstanding, this button will say ‘Submit Annual Report’. Select this button to navigate to the submission form.
- If a historic ASR/APR/PR needs to be submitted, select the ‘Waiting for submission‘ button alongside the report year which needs submitting. This can be found within the ‘List of Annual Reports’ section.
- If a previously submitted ASR/APR/PR has failed its initial check by the appraisal team, or has not been accepted during appraisal, a new slot will be created for that reporting year. The appraisal comments should be taken into account and the revised documents resubmitted in the new slot.
Completing the ASR/APR/PR submission form:
- All required fields in the form are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be filled before submission of the form is permitted.
- The required files must then be uploaded in the ‘Add Files Associated with this Report’ section of the page.
- The main ASR/APR/PR file must be PDF, DOC or DOCS format and the excel tables file must be XLSX or XLSB format.
- Any relevant ‘additional’ files may then be uploaded, for example the completed Diffusion Tube Data Processing Tool (DTDPT). These must be in PDF, DOC, DOCS, XLSX or XLSB format.
- Select ‘Save as Draft’ to save the details entered on the form. If all required fields are populated, the ‘Submit Annual Report’ button will then appear and can be selected to submit the form.
- The local authority will receive an email notification when the ASR/APR/PR has been successfully submitted and when a decision had been made on the submission.
Once a decision has been made, the decision and appraisal letter can be viewed.
Submitting Diffusion Tube Data (England exc. London Only)
It is a requirement that, prior to submitting an Annual Status Report, a local authority must first submit their diffusion tube data via the Diffusion Tube Data Entry System (DTDES).
Diffusion tube data must be specifically formatted for entry into the DTDES. If a local authority has used the Diffusion Tube Data Processing Tool (DTDPT) to process their data, there is an option within the tool to export this data in the correct format. Otherwise, the data can be manually entered into the DTDES Template and exported in the correct format for upload.
To submit Diffusion Tube Data:
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the DTDES by selecting the drop-down button on the left-hand pane for ‘Diffusion Tube Data’ and then select ‘DTDES Upload’.
- Read the ‘Instructions for Data Submission’.
- Select the monitoring year and click ‘Browse Files’ to navigate to the saved DTDPT export or DTDES Template export. Alternatively, the file can be dragged and dropped into the submission box from File Explorer.
- Once submitted, the system will validate the data and indicate if there are any errors prior to automatic submission. If the data is accepted a message confirming the submission will be displayed.
- Any error messages will be highlighted in red and will prevent the data from being automatically submitted. The error will need to be resolved within the DTDPT or DTDES Template so that the data can then be re-exported and submitted.
Please note:
- Only one XLSX file can be submitted per year. Subsequent submissions will overwrite any previous data for that year.
- Each row of data must have a Site ID, X OS Grid Reference and Y OS Grid Reference input, or the submission will not be accepted.
- If an error message appears stating that the data is missing one or more grid references please go to the DTDPT or DTDES Template to ensure there are no spaces within the cells containing the grid reference coordinates. A space before a coordinate is interpreted by the checking system as no coordinate entered.
To view submitted Diffusion Tube Data:
- Select the drop-down button on the left-hand pane for ‘Diffusion Tube Data’ and then ‘View DTDES Data’.
- View data submitted by selecting the monitoring year from the drop-down and selecting ‘Apply’.
- The ‘+ Upload New Data’ button can be selected to upload a new dataset and overwrite the existing dataset for that year.
- The ‘Delete ALL <year> Records’ button can be selected to remove all entries for that year in bulk, or individual entries can be removed by selecting ‘Delete’ in the appropriate row of the ‘Actions’ column. Please note, if any changes to the diffusion tube data is required, users are advised to re-submit all diffusion tube data for the year rather than just the individual tube the change is associated with.
Submitting an AQAP
To Navigate to the AQAP submission form:
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab by selecting the button on the left-hand pane.
- Under the ‘List of AQAPs’ section, select the ‘+ Submit New AQAP’ button to navigate to the submission form.
Completing the AQAP submission form:
- All required fields in the form are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be filled before submission of the form is permitted.
- Please ensure the AQMAs that are associated with the AQAP are selected within the ‘Submit AQAP Details’ section.
- Please ensure the status of the AQAP (draft or final) is defined within the ‘Submit AQAP Details’ section:
- Select ‘draft’ for any versions of the AQAP that are being submitted for Defra consultation/appraisal, prior to finalisation; or
- Select ‘final’ for the version of the AQAP that has addressed all initial appraisal comments and has been through all necessary consultation (with all consultation comments having been included and responded to within the document).
- The required file must then be uploaded in the ‘Add Files Associated with this Report’ section of the page.
- The main AQAP file must be PDF, DOC or DOCS format.
- Any relevant ‘additional’ files may then be uploaded.
- The additional files must be in PDF, DOC, DOCS, XLSX or XLSB format.
- Select ‘Save as Draft’ to save the details entered on the form. If all required fields are populated, the ‘Submit new AQAP’ button will then appear and can be selected to submit the form.
- The local authority will receive an email notification when the AQAP has been successfully submitted and when a decision had been made on the submission.
- Once a decision has been made, the decision along with the relevant appraisal letter can be viewed.
Submitting AQMA Changes
Declaring an AQMA
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab by clicking the button on the left-hand pane.
- Under ‘List of AQMAs’ select the ‘+ Submit New AQMA’ button to navigate to the submission form.
- All required fields in the form are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be filled before submission of the form is permitted.
- Please ensure a description of the AQMA is entered, and that the relevant pollutant(s) and objective(s) are selected within the ‘Pollutants’ section. A source must also be selected from the drop-down menu in the ‘AQMA Description’ section.
- Please note: required uploads include a signed and sealed order; AQMA map (PDF, JPG or BMP format); and AQMA Shapefile (as a .ZIP file).
- Select ‘Save as Draft’ to save the details entered on the form. If all required fields are populated, the ‘Submit AQMA Record’ button will then appear and can be selected to submit the form.
- The local authority will receive an email notification when the AQMA has been successfully submitted and when the AQMA declaration has been published.
Amending or Revoking an AQMA
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab by clicking the button on the left pane.
- Under ‘List of AQMAs’ select the ‘View All AQMAs’ button at the bottom of this section.
- For the AQMA that is to be amended or revoked, select the spanner icon in the ‘Amend / Revoke’ column and then either the ‘Amend’ or Revoke’ button on the following page, to navigate to the submission form.
- All required fields in the form are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be completed before submission of the form is permitted. Please also specify the reason(s) for amendment or revocation in the comment box provided.
- Please note a signed and sealed order is a required upload for an amendment or a revocation. Additional uploads required for an amendment are the updated AQMA map (PDF, JPG or BMP format) and updated AQMA Shapefile (as a .ZIP file) for upload to UK AIR.
- Select ‘Save as Draft’ to save the details entered on the form. If all required fields are populated, the ‘Submit AQMA Record’ button will then appear and can be selected to submit the form.
- The local authority will receive an email notification when the AQMA amendment/revocation has been successfully submitted and when the AQMA has been updated.
Submitting a Detailed Assessment
To Navigate to the Detailed Assessment (DA) submission form:
- Within the LAQM Portal, navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab by selecting the button on the left-hand pane.
- Under the ‘List of Detailed Assessments’ section, select the ‘+ Submit a New DA‘ to navigate to the submission form.
Completing the DA submission form:
- All required fields in the form are marked with an asterisk (*) and must be filled before submission of the form is permitted.
- The required file must then be uploaded in the ‘Add Files Associated with this Report’ section of the page.
- The main DA file must be PDF, DOC or DOCS format.
- Any relevant ‘additional’ files may then be uploaded, and must be in PDF, DOC, DOCS, XLSX or XLSB format.
- Select ‘Save as Draft’ to save the details entered on the form. If all required fields are populated, the ‘Submit DA’ button will then appear and can be selected to submit the form.
- The local authority will receive an email notification when the DA has been successfully submitted and when a decision had been made on the submission.
- Once a decision has been made, the decision along with the relevant appraisal letter can be viewed.
