Mayor Andy Burnham says he ‘can’t believe’ the Government is still pushing to charge drivers of high-polluting vehicles in Manchester - and has vowed that he and fellow leaders will continue to rally against the proposal amid rising fuel prices, supply chain issues and the cost of living crisis.
The controversial scheme to charge owners of non-compliant vans, buses, coaches, taxis and lorries to tackle nitrogen dioxide pollution was due to come into force earlier this month - but the plan was halted after public backlash and pandemic challenges led to a delay to the deadline by which the city-region must meet air quality targets, to 2026.
In the meantime, Environment Secretary George Eustice has written to leaders here suggesting the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) be reduced in size to cover just the city centre. Greater Manchester’s response has been to publish a new plan. Due to be submitted to the Government next month, it lays out the case for a scheme which incentivises drivers to buy cleaner vehicles, thereby removing the need for any charging. It also excludes van drivers from the proposal.
However, Mr Eustice has said previously that there is 'little robust evidence' that offering funding for vehicle upgrades alone, without charges, would bring pollution below legal limits.
READ MORE: Andy B urnham's scathing response to government on Clean Air Zone - as 80,000 van drivers could be slapped with charges
But during a Radio 4 interview on the Today programme on Wednesday morning, Mr Burnham said that Greater Manchester leaders and the Government are ‘not in the same place’. Citing the rising price of vehicles and the cost of living crisis, he branded a charging scheme as ‘not workable’ and said their preferred approach of giving drivers cash to upgrade their vehicles, rather than penalising them for driving the wrong ones, was the right path to take.
But he added: “The Government, to our surprise, sent us a letter a couple of weeks ago saying ‘no we can shrink it but you still must have a charging zone in the city centre’. Our argument is putting a charging zone around a city centre like ours is going to damage the recovery or make it last longer and it’s not the right thing to do at this moment in time.”
Citing the support of the 10 council leaders, he added: “We are all saying the same thing. Now is not the right time to put charges on us.”
Mr Burnham said they had ‘never denied’ there is a pollution problem, and argued they had worked in ‘good faith’ before the pandemic to come up with a scheme - but that the world had now changed. He said a charging scheme would hit workers passing through the city centre between boroughs.
When questioned about how a non-charging scheme would be funded, Mr Burnham said the £120m already allocated would suffice, adding: "We have evidence that says this can be done via incentives, if we target those incentives properly. We can get there via that route rather than the big stick of charges."
Referring to the ‘Tory election campaign against him’ around a charging CAZ, he added: “I can’t believe it. The Conservative government, with everything they have said about this issue, are still trying to impose charges. Let’s come to an agreement here, look at the evidence, let’s get a way forward that helps people to change vehicles but doesn’t punish them.”
The new Clean Air plan argues that following the pandemic and amid the cost-of-living crisis, high fuel costs and soaring inflation, as well as instability in supply chains and the rising price of commercial vehicles, charging businesses will delay the region’s economic recovery. This would have meant imposing daily charges for non-compliant vehicles whose owners might not have been able to upgrade to cleaner alternatives.
The alternative is an ‘investment-led’ approach which gives drivers who frequently travel through pollution hot spots the cash to upgrade their vehicles. The ANPR cameras would be used to spot these drivers.
The draft 'Case for a New Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan' will come before the Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee on Friday. Members of the committee – comprising elected representatives of Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities – will be asked to note that the draft Case will be submitted to government that day.
The next GM AQAC meeting will be asked to confirm the submission as final and notify the Secretary of State for the Environment, subject to any comments from Greater Manchester local authorities which will also consider the report in July, according to their local governance arrangements.
The GM AQAC will be asked to agree that the next stage of the new plan 'will be developed through intensive engagement with business and the community'.
Councillor Andrew Western, GMCA portfolio lead for Clean Air, said: “The health impact of dirty air is a primary concern for Greater Manchester, and we remain determined to tackle it in a way which does not create financial hardship for local people. We have been listening to the views of business leaders and, given the poor economic outlook for the UK as a whole and Greater Manchester – coupled with increasing evidence of the harm poor air quality causes – this is a delicate balance.
“Based on the evidence, including the impact that a charging Clean Air Zone would have on their ability to make a living, and the risk to jobs and livelihoods, we have had the opportunity to fundamentally change the nature of the Clean Air scheme which we now feel is fit for purpose and fair to the people of our city-region.
“We will now move into a period of more intensive engagement with business and the community to bring together the detailed policy of the new Clean Air Plan.”
The 10 Greater Manchester local authorities have been directed by government to bring NO 2 air pollution within legal limits as soon as possible and by 2026 at the latest. In support of the Clean Air Plan, Greater Manchester will also ask for a commitment from government to develop an new regulatory approach that that will legally require all private hire journeys booked in Greater Manchester to be undertaken by a driver and vehicle which are both licensed by one of the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities.
Out-of-area operation, argues the GMCA, currently allows drivers to 'evade fair, safe and democratically determined local licensing standards'. This would give local authorities stronger regulatory tools to improve the emission standards of all private hire fleets operating in Greater Manchester.
The Manchester Evening News has asked the Department for Transport for comment.
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