14 December 2018

2020 Clean Air Zone entry charges for Birmingham revealed

Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone will be introduced in 2020 and vehicle changes will range from £8-50 per day.

Private cars, taxis (both Hackney carriages and private hire) and vans will be charged £8 per day to enter Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone when it is implemented from January 2020, while HGVs, coaches and buses will be charged £50 per day.

The charges were revealed in Birmingham City Council’s final Clean Air Zone proposals to help tackle the problem of air pollution in the city. The proposals must now be approved by the government.

The Clean Air Zone will cover all roads within the A4540 Middleway ring road, with vehicles not meeting nationally set engine emissions standards - Euro 6/VI for diesel vehicles or Euro 4 for petrol vehicles - being charged to enter that area.

The full business case for the Clean Air Zone published by the Council also updates the mitigations and exemptions to support those most likely to be impacted by the proposals, following detailed assessments of each of the measures.

Individuals who work within the Clean Air Zone and earn £30,000 or less per year will be eligible for the measures, while for those living outside the Clean Air Zone area the upper limit is set at £20,000.

Exemptions from the Clean Air Zone include:

  • LGV/HGV/coaches registered within the Clean Air Zone will receive a one-year exemption (maximum two vehicles per company)
  • LGV/HGV/coaches registered in the Birmingham area travelling to the Clean Air Zone with an existing finance agreement beyond 2020 will receive a one year exemption (maximum two vehicles per company)
  • Individuals with non-compliant vehicles registered in the Clean Air Zone will be exempted for two years
  • Individuals with a non-compliant vehicle who work within the Clean Air Zone and satisfy the income criteria (above) will receive a one year exemption
  • Vans and mini buses registered as providing essential community and school transport services and those classified as section 19 operators, registered for operation in Birmingham will be permanently exempt.

Mitigation measures include:

  • Individuals who work in the Clean Air Zone have a choice of mobility credit or scrappage scheme offered to non-compliant car owners. Key workers will be prioritised and the remaining availability will be prioritised by those of low income.
  • Residents in areas outside of the Clean Air Zone that are owners of non-compliant cars will be offered a scrappage scheme, allocated by distance to the Clean Air Zone and income
  • Drivers of ultra-low emission vans can register to receive credit on Birmingham’s public charging network
  • HGV and coach operators within the West Midlands will be able to apply for a cash payment towards retrofitting technology/compliant vehicle.

However, the mitigations are dependent on funding from the government. The Council has asked for £68.7 million, consisting of £17.8 million from the Implementation Fund for the delivery of signs, cameras and other infrastructure, and £50.8 million from the Clean Air Fund for the mitigation measures.

Councillor Waseem Zaffar, cabinet member for transport and environment at Birmingham City Council, said: “Birmingham is on a journey to cleaner air and the submission of this full business case is a hugely significant step forward on that journey.

“We fully recognise that these proposals will impact on individuals and businesses across the city and the wider West Midlands area, so we are now calling on the government to provide the funding needed to help us support these people.”

Further information is available here.

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