Bradford clean air zone raises £10m in a year

Bradford Council has collected £4.2m of payments from people who drive buses, vans, heavy goods vehicles and taxis that do not meet specific emissions standards in a designated area of the city.

Since the scheme was launched in September 2022, the council has also raised £6.1m by issuing 142,697 penalty notices to drivers who failed to pay the daily charge.

According to a new report, half the vans that entered the clean air zone in September were not compliant but that figure has since fallen to 30 per cent.

Critics claim the scheme, which does not apply to cars and private motorbikes, is designed to make money but the council said it was introduced to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide.

The Labour-run council said it was “too early to draw conclusions” about the impact it was having on people’s health but NHS data appears to show there has been a reduction in the number of emergency admissions for asthma in Bradford.

Around 7,000 vehicles drive into the zone, which covers an area within the city's inner ring road and the Shipley to Bradford corridor, each day.

Owners of the worst-polluting buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles must pay £50 a day to drive in the zone, while taxis, mini-buses and vans that do not meet the emissions standards are charged £7 a day.

Anyone who misses the deadline to pay is fined £120 – reduced to£60 if paid within two weeks – and ordered to pay the outstanding charge.

Bradford Council said the amount of money generated by the scheme was expected to fall over time as fewer non-compliant vehicles enter the zone.

The council has been handing out government-funded grants to help drivers replace non-compliant vehicles.

Taxi drivers have been able to apply for up to £5,000 for a new wheelchair-accessible petrol or diesel vehicle and up to £10,000 for an electric vehicle.

According to the council, 99 per cent of the 4,800 licensed taxis and private-hire vehicles in the district are now exempt from charges.

The Government ordered Bradford to set up the clean-air zone in 2020 due to long-standing concerns about harmful levels of air pollution. Zones have also been set up in Sheffield, Birmingham and Bath.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham halted plans to introduce a clean-air zone earlier this year as he was concerned thousands of motorists would not be able to switch to cleaner vehicles in time.

It came after Leeds City Council abandoned plans to set up a £29m zone last year, claiming the amount of nitrogen dioxide pollution on key roads had fallen within the Government’s legal limit.

The ultra-low emission zone in London was expanded to cover the whole of the capital despite widespread opposition and a legal challenge by five Conservative-led councils.