MPs call for powers to charge drivers to be given to all cities

A new report recommends all towns and cities should be able to create special zones to improve air quality.

The Government has previously pledged to introduce clean air zones in Leeds, Birmingham, Derby and Southampton by 2020 which will see polluting lorries and buses charged around £12.50 to enter the city centre.

But MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee argue in their latest report that the measure does not go far enough.

Of the 43 areas of the country where air quality is tested, 38 are failing European standards including the whole of Yorkshire.

Committee chairman Neil Parish MP, said: “Only five cities - Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton - will have new powers to charge polluting vehicles to enter new clean air zones.

“Councils in the dozens of other English cities currently exceeding EU pollution limits must also be given the option of using such powers if their communities support action.”

Mr Parish said the committee also wanted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to be more flexible in the way clean air zones are managed in different areas.

“The zones need to deliver local solutions to local problems. Defra’s proposed ‘one-size-fits-all’ clean air zones will set rigid rules on cities as diverse as Southampton and Leeds.

“Communities must be given legal powers to set controls that meet their own circumstances—for example, some might want to charge polluting vehicles to access zones at certain times of day or to target specific bus routes.”

The Government was forced to take action on air quality last year after the Supreme Court ruled against it in an action brought by a group of environmental lawyers.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss announced in December that Leeds would be among cities given the powers to create clean air zones.

But critics have argued the timescale - the clean air zones are not due to come into force until 2020 - means residents face years inhaling substandard air.

The committee’s report points out that diesel cars produced today have to meet far tougher standards than those built a decade ago and suggests the Government introduces a scrappage scheme to help consumers move to newer models.

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, the report calls for the Government to make sure that vehicle performance their manufacturers’ claims and to develop tougher standards with the European Union.

It also calls on Defra to do more to encourage farmers to use the latest methods to manage fertiliser and manure through support rather than additional regulation.

The report suggests Common Agricultural Policy money could be used to help farmers cut emissions that reduce air quality and add to the greenhouse effect.

Mr Parish said: “Farmers are under huge financial pressures at the moment. They can save money and help to clean up the environment and improve health if they use the latest methods for managing manure and fertiliser and for feeding their livestock.”