THE Government will take £2 from every fine once Bradford’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is introduced in September, Councillors have been told.

A committee of Bradford Councillors were given an update on the controversial scheme, which will go live on September 26, at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

During the meeting members heard that around 92 per cent of Bradford’s private hire vehicles were now CAZ compliant due to grants provided to drivers to upgrade their vehicles.

The CAZ will see the most polluting commercial vehicles, including non-compliant HGVs, vans and taxis, charged a daily fee to enter the city centre.

It comes after a “ministerial direction” from Government to Bradford Council issued in 2018, ordering the reduction in pollution to legal levels as soon as possible.

The zone will include much of the city and sections of Shipley.

At a meeting of the Council’s Regeneration and Environment Committee on Tuesday Andrew Whittles, the Clean Air Project manager, showed members a chart of current pollution levels in the city.

Legal levels of NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) are 40 µg/m3 In several areas of Bradford this legal limit is vastly exceeded. Figures show that last year that figure was 48.8 on Queens Road, 45.3 in Market Street in the City Centre, 41.8 at Saltaire crossroads and 50.6 on Shipley Airedale Road.

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Chair of the Committee Councillor Kamran Hussain, who has previously raised concerns about the CAZ, asked: “Did we ever go back to Government to ask for a non-charging Clean Air Zone?”

Mr Whittles said: “That was not an option.

“We looked at introducing electric buses, but that would only improve things by 0.2 micrograms. A park and ride would have taken about 0.5 micrograms off.

“We looked at replacing boilers – a variety of different things. Basically, nothing would reduce levels fast enough.

“We had a bit of a battle to try to not have to resort to a CAZ fine.”

He said eventually the Government agreed on a CAZ C+ programme, which does not include private cars – a feature of other Clean Air Zones.

Members were told that Bradford Council had been given £41m by Government to help implement the CAZ, with much of this month going on grants for business to upgrade their vehicles.

He said: “Taxi drivers could apply for £3,500. That has led to 92 per cent of all private hire drivers in the district now being compliant.

“That means we have the cleanest taxi fleet anywhere in the UK.

“The feedback from drivers that have upgraded their vehicles is that they are now saving around 30 to 40 per cent on fuel, and are spending much less on maintenance of their vehicle.”

The committee heard that the Council opened an exemptions scheme in April, meaning small to medium business could apply for a number of vehicles to be exempt from the CAZ.

Exemptions were also available in some cases for individuals.

Around 4,000 exemptions have so far been granted, and Mr Whittles said he expects the number of exemptions to eventually reach around 5,000.

Money the Council collects from fines will be ringfenced to be used for environmental improvements, including providing further grants to upgrade vehicles or providing infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging points.

However, the meeting was told that £2 from every fine will go directly to Government.

Mr Whittles said the Government expects to make around £100m from the various Clean Air Zones across the country.

He explained that when the CAZ was proposed, Government had originally planned to offer a free central service form all similar zones in the country.

This service would include customer support to people under the charging scheme and information about the various Clean Air Zones.

In late 2020 Government announced that it was changing plans, and would now take £2 from every CAZ fine.

Councillor Si Cunningham (Lab, Bolton and Undercliffe) said: “The Government are taking £2 from every fine? I can’t get my head round that.”

Cllr Cunningham asked what the Government would spend this money on. Mr Whittles said: “We’ve asked for clarification, but the only breakdown we’ve had come back is that 68 per cent will be spend on ‘overheads.’”

Chair of the Committee Councillor Kamran Hussain (Lab, Toller) said: “This was a decision imposed on us by Government. They have now changed the goalposts and are taking £2 of each fine, am I correct in saying that?”

Mr Whittles said he was.

Mr Whittles said the CAZ scheme in Bradford will create 70 jobs. The reduction in air pollution would also reduce hospital admissions form breathing difficulties by 10 per cent and lead to “substantial savings” for the NHS.

Asked how long the CAZ was likely to last, he said he felt air quality targets would likely be reached in two or three years. If air quality remains at legal levels, then the CAZ could end.

Councillor Chris Herd (Cons, Worth Valley) said he had been impressed with the presentation, adding: “Cleaner vehicles have to be the answer, and we should be encouraging people to make the change. That’s what you’re doing and the Government, as well as the Council, are doing their best to accommodate this.”