Nearly half of all applications from taxi drivers for grants to comply with Clean Air Zone regulations have been rejected. Bristol City Council confirmed that 45 percent of applications from cabbies had been turned down as “they did not meet the criteria for financial support”, in response to a freedom of information request by Bristol Live.
Around a fifth of applications from van and lorry owners had also been rejected, the enquiry revealed. The local authority confirmed that 19 percent of requests – many of which were for help replacing multiple LGVs or HGVs – had been turned down.
The new rules, which come into force on 28 November, will see older and more polluting vehicles charged to enter parts of the city centre. It is estimated that up to 75,000 cars, vans, buses and lorries will face the fees – thought to represent around three in every ten vehicles throughout the city.
Read more: The street split in half by the Clean Air Zone
The costs – £9 per day for small vehicles and £100 per day for larger ones – will be chargeable 24 hours per day. But one payment will remain valid all day, meaning multiple trips into the CAZ will only be charged for once.
Residents and businesses can apply for grants from Bristol City Council to help upgrade their vehicles to less polluting ones, avoiding the charges altogether. The maximum grant for cars is £1,500, while those seeking to upgrade vans can claim up to £4,500.
Thousands of people have sought to take advantage of the offer, but many have been knocked back by council officials. The FOI response revealed that 5,181 applications for funding had been received by 23 August of which 1,177, or 22 percent, had been rejected.
Up to that date, 251 of the 1,287 applications from LGV and HGV owners had been declined, as had 137 of 307 applications from taxi and minicab drivers. In all cases, Bristol City Council’s CAZ team said only that applicants “did not meet the criteria required for financial support”, without detailing in what way the appeals were insufficient.
Bristol Live asked for a breakdown of reasons for rejection, but had not received one at the time of publication. Saif Hussain, chairman of the Bristol Blue Licensed Taxi Association which represents hackney cab and private hire drivers in the city, said one reason could be that drivers had misunderstood the rules.
“If you haven’t already bought a new vehicle, they won’t give you the grant,” he explained. “I haven't come across a case where a driver has bought a car and not been given the grant.” He added: “It is possible that some drivers don’t understand this rule.
“The bigger issue is that the main dealers of [low-emission hackney cabs] don’t have the cars available, especially wheelchair accessible taxis. They are difficult to make and there’s a wait of about 12 months before you can get the car, due to a global shortage of parts.”
Julius Mall, of Bedminster-based minicab firm Club Cars, said the grant process had not been properly thought through. “Business is slow, thanks to companies like Uber, and drivers just can’t afford to buy new cars,” he said. “Drivers need more support up front – you can’t just go and buy a £25,000 hybrid car without some help.”
He added: “They just haven’t thought of anything. They want us to drive hybrid and electric cars, but they’re behind with building chargers. It reminds me of 15 years ago, when the council said they wanted all taxis sprayed Bristol blue. We were just expected to go and spend £3,000 to respray our cabs.
“These grants just haven’t been thought out, really. They just throw things at us without thinking about it. The council should have just said, ‘Times are tough, we can’t help,’ if money was so tight.”
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