Clean air zones: What is the money raised spent on?

Clean air zones have drawn criticism from those who say they penalise people unable to afford newer vehicles, and have a negative impact on businesses.

Last year London saw an unsuccessful bid to challenge the expansion of the ULEZ, on the grounds that people need more time to swap their vehicles for compliant ones.

Meanwhile in Greater Manchester, the rollout of a CAZ has been on hold since February 2022 after a backlash from business owners who said they would not be able to afford the charges.

Jean Wall, 53, from Bradford runs a mobile sandwich business which she says has been negatively impacted by the city’s CAZ.

In order to get her vehicle from the business’s base to the main road she has to enter the chargeable zone – which means paying £9 every time they need ingredients or fuel.

Ms Wall says the business initially received an exemption for the charges from the council, which was then rescinded after her business partner, who drives the van, moved to Leeds, before it was reinstated and then later rescinded again.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “It’s just the bureaucracy, it drives you nuts!”

She says that events the business caters to have also reduced due to the effects of the charges.

“It is frustrating that you have councillors who don’t listen to your concerns, and you get a call from this mystery person at the council who says, ‘that’s our decision’,” she said.

A spokesperson for City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council said they were unable to comment on individual cases but that it is the “responsibility of the vehicle keeper to take account of changes in circumstances that may affect the grants or exemptions in place”.

“If the council were to vary the process for distribution of the grants and allocation of exemptions then the government would be within their rights to claw back grant funding which had been incorrectly distributed,” they said.

The council added that its Clean Air Team is happy to discuss any cases with unusual circumstances to explore solutions.