Which local authorities in England have introduced low-emission zones? | Local government

The high court has dismissed a legal challenge by five Conservative-led councils against the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).

Mr Justice Swift dismissed the councils’ case on Friday, which means drivers of vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards will be charged a £12.50 daily fee for entering the Ulez zone.

The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, sees the extension as vital to tackling air pollution, with owners of the most-polluting vehicles having to pay to drive in all of Greater London from the end of August.

The implementation of low-emission zones (LEZs) is a growing trend, with at least 320 zones introduced across the UK and Europe as of 2022, according to a review published in the Lancet Public Health journal last month.

Dr Anthony Laverty, a senior lecturer at Imperial College London and an author of the review, said it signalled that city governments were doing more than national governments in protecting public health and the environment.

“It says that as a world we’re going to need to get onboard with the fact that we’re going to have to recognise that there are external costs to people driving cars all the time, and we have to somehow square that circle societally,” he said.

The number of LEZs in Europe is expected to rise by more than half to 507 by 2025 as laws in France, Spain and Poland come into force, according to research based on EU data.

Across the UK, a number of cities have implemented – or promised – plans to introduce clean air zones (CAZs) after the government lost a high court battle over breaches of legal levels of air pollution in England. While 37 local authorities were directed to take action in 2018, experts have said that delays pose a risk to people’s health.

Birmingham

In 2021, Birmingham became the second city after London to launch a CAZ with a fee for private cars, charging £8 a day for older polluting cars, taxis and vans that travel into the city centre, and £50 a day for buses, coaches and HGVs.

The former UK “motor city”, which has been plagued by poor air quality for years, introduced the scheme after an initial 11-month delay owing to the Covid pandemic. The move caused controversy among local people, who feared for struggling businesses after lockdown, and taxi drivers who could not afford to upgrade their vehicles.

Others argued that the UK’s second-largest city lacked sufficient public transport services. Months later, however, the city announced a transport plan to transform Birmingham to a super-sized low-traffic neighbourhood with the closure of roads and the introduction of zero-emission cross-city buses and protected cycleways.

An analysis by the Confederation of British Industry said the CAZ would lead to a £7m annual benefit for the city by reducing deaths and hospital stays related to air pollution.

Manchester

In May 2022, Greater Manchester again postponed introducing a CAZ scheme that was to begin imposing daily charges on some high-emission vehicles, excluding private cars.

The scheme would be one of the biggest in the UK, covering 10 local authority areas. Each year in Greater Manchester, more than 1,000 deaths have air pollution as a contributory cause.

Local authorities said the decision was made as result of the pandemic’s effect on supply chains, and the price and availability of secondhand vehicles.

The planned CAZ had been delayed in 2020. In February 2022, the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham, requested a short extension to July to give local authorities more time to review the plans, after evidence suggested the city was unlikely to meet legal emissions limits by the original date of 2024.

Burnham and 10 other local councils in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have since re-examined the scheme and are due to present another plan to the government this year.

More than £60m has been spent on the scheme so far. This year, the Clean Cities Campaign declared Manchester the worst city in Europe for clean and green transport.

Sheffield

In February, tSheffield became the latest to implement a CAZ, which the authorities hope will tackle an estimated 500 deaths a year that have pollution as a contributory factor.

Under the scheme, polluting commercial vehicles have to pay a daily charge – £10 for older taxis and vans and £50 for older buses, coaches and HGVs – to enter a zone covering the city centre and inner ring road. Private cars are exempt from the charge.

Sheffield was the eighth city in England to introduce a CAZ, after Newcastle and Gateshead implemented similar schemes in the previous month. The move came years after the city was found to have exceeded legal limits of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels.

Despite a £20m support package to help vehicle owners upgrade and a number of temporary exemptions, the scheme prompted local concerns over the financial impact on businesses needing to buy cleaner vehicles or pay charges.