Birmingham’s clean air zone ‘will hit poorest drivers hardest’

Motoring groups claim the scheme has ‘good intentions but bad flaws’

The scheme was initially intended to start in 2020 (PA)

A clean air zone charging highly polluting vehicles, including cars, for entering the heart of Birmingham has finally launched - amid claims it will hit many of the city's poorest drivers hardest.

The scheme, which was originally due to begin during 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, begins on Tuesday and has been described by the AA as having "good intentions but bad flaws".

The motoring organisation said the city council-backed Birmingham clean air zone (CAZ) would affect 100,000 vehicle-owners with the financial burden falling on lower-income and younger drivers.

However, others have welcomed the scheme for taking much-needed action. Labour's Birmingham Edgbaston MP Preet Gill, said the CAZ would help “reduce the dangerous levels of air pollution in our city”.

She added: “We must enact bold, new ideas if we are to fix this problem.

Under the scheme, which is more extensive than one excluding cars which went live in Bath in March, non-compliant cars, taxis and vans will have to pay an £8 daily charge – with enforcement cameras operating around the clock every day of the year.

Non-compliant coaches, buses and HGVs face a £50 charge for entering the zone, which covers all roads within the A4540 Middleway ring road.

The city council, which is offering exemption permits for in-zone residents, said the initiative is crucial to improving air quality and public health in central Birmingham. It will not begin charging drivers for two weeks in a “soft launch”, the council said.

It has also set up a £10m scheme offering £2,000 grants to support people working in the clean air zone, and who earn less than £30,000 per annum, with the option of scrapping a vehicle that would otherwise be subject to the daily fee.

The AA is warning that similar plans for London and Bristol could hit 600,000 car owners.

AA president Edmund King said: "Poor air quality is a threat that the majority of drivers agree needs to be addressed and reduced; in due course electric vehicles will largely eradicate those emissions.

"However, the car CAZs in Bristol and Birmingham and the extended ultra low emission zone in London are very blunt tools that create a tax burden for low-income families and workers."

He added: "These drivers are least able to afford to replace the vehicles they depend on for work, often night shifts, and sometimes emergencies such as going to hospital or healthcare centres.

"They are also the ones least able to pay the fines."

The AA, which says studies have indicated that approximately 10 per cent of so-called gross polluters tend to be older lorries, buses or badly serviced cars, is calling for first-time warning letters to be sent out by clean air zone operators.

It is also asking for a "rapid and massive" expansion of park-and-ride schemes, the removal of VAT from sales of new electric vehicles, and the targeting of the highest level polluters.

Regional economist Dr Steven McCabe, of Birmingham City University, acknowledged the new CAZ could hit less well-off motorists, and was a "questionable" move during the fallout from the Covid pandemic.

He said: "Though exemptions are possible, anything making life more financially challenging to Birmingham's poorest citizens is unwelcome.

"Launching the CAZ whilst the city is still dealing with the fallout of the global pandemic is questionable, particularly for the retail and the night-time economies in the city centre, Digbeth and the Jewellery Quarter.

"However, a cleaner Birmingham, especially in the city centre, is undoubtedly one that's far more attractive to inhabitants and visitors."

Birmingham's CAZ is billed as the first major step in the city's air quality action plan, working to reduce emissions and encourage less use of polluting cars within the city centre.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said both residents and businesses across the region have expressed legitimate concerns around the implementation of Birmingham City Council's clean air zone, particularly around the hours of enforcement, the area it covers, and the impact of the charge on lower income households.

"What we must not lose sight of, however, is the fact the West Midlands is in the midst of a climate emergency and air pollution plays a critical role in tackling that," he said.

"That's why I've been so committed to improving public transport in the region, investing more than £1bn in reopening old railway lines, extending the Midland Metro, introducing hydrogen and electric buses whilst keeping fares low, and of course rolling out our bicycle and e-scooter hire schemes.

"We've got a long way to go yet after decades of under-investment, but we're making good progress in providing people with safer, greener, and more affordable travel alternatives to the car.

"These schemes and our record investment are the carrot to tempt people out of their cars, whilst the CAZ implemented by the city council is arguably the stick.

“Transport for West Midlands will monitor the rollout of the scheme to see if there are any further public transport improvements that can be made in the short term, whilst pressing ahead with our longer-term infrastructure projects – starting with the opening of the Birmingham Westside Metro scheme later this year."

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) said it has worked closely with the council since the CAZ was mandated by the Government, to ensure businesses are fully prepared.

Based on feedback from members, the GBCC lobbied for a reduction of fines for non-compliant vehicles, and for money generated from the CAZ to be put back into the city's transport infrastructure.

Chief executive Henrietta Brealey said: "Over the last two years, the chamber has worked hard on behalf of its members to ensure that businesses were aware of the zone but also lobbied vigorously on their behalf to ensure the financial support structures were in place to help those firms most affected.

"Over the next few weeks and months, we will continue to monitor feedback from businesses to assess the impact it's having on their output, and, if we find that there are firms that are being adversely affected, we will work closely with Birmingham City Council to lobby Government to try and get the support they need."

Speaking last month, Dr Justin Varney, director of public health for Birmingham City Council, said: "Air pollution is a hidden danger that we just cannot ignore.

"The crisis will only continue to worsen if no action is taken. Toxic fumes affect our lungs, our hearts and even our brains. The damage pollution does is both short- and long-term when it comes to health.

"We have a city to protect and this is just one of steps we are taking to give a better future to our children and improve the lives of our adults and older people."

Law firm BDB Pitmans has advised on the Bath and Birmingham CAZs and those planed for other cities.

The firm said evidence suggests that schemes to reduce illegal levels of pollution are often viewed as controversial upon implementation, but then become popular among the public, citing studies of public attitudes to the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London.

Rahul Bijlani, a legal director at BDB Pitmans, said: "Birmingham's CAZ is a landmark in that it is the first scheme outside London to include private cars.

"It is significant not just for the undoubted air quality benefits it will bring to the people of Birmingham, but for the message it sends nationally.

"In the future local authorities are likely to face stricter duties to take action to achieve air quality standards locally.

"Success in Birmingham could act as a beacon to other authorities, demonstrating that a CAZ is a viable way to improve air quality at the local level and paving the way for more schemes of this kind.

"We may find ourselves looking back on the Birmingham CAZ as a pivotal moment that helped transform attitudes towards emissions-based road user charging and act as a catalyst for behavioural change across the country."

PA