A cross-party group of political leaders from across the UK are calling for government support to tackle air pollution.
Some 14 mayors and political figures from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton and the West of England Combined Authority have joined forces to call for the UK government to support a network of 30 new and existing clean air zones, where the most polluting vehicles are fined.
A report released by UK100, a network of local authorities, claims that air pollution contributes to up to 36,000 deaths a year, and that towns and cities could see an economic return of £6.5bn with support from the government to tackle illegal levels of air pollution.
Places warned to have illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide by 2021 include Bristol, Coventry, Guildford, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Southampton.
Initial results from the UK’s first clean air zone, London’s ULEZ, introduced in April this year, shows that the numbers of older, polluting vehicles has reduced by over a quarter.
However, only six local authorities have plans to introduce such zones. For existing and upcoming zones such as in London and Birmingham, UK100 believes it would support enhanced vehicle renewal schemes to support residents and small businesses to switch to cleaner transport.
A survey by Hitachi from earlier this year showed that a majority of the public are in favour of clean air zones, with 50% supporting plans to charge motorists to enter a zone, while only 22% disagree.
Under the UK100 plan, lower income residents and small businesses would be offered incentives of between £2,000 and £6,000 to either upgrade existing vehicles or get rid of their older, polluting vehicles and switch to a cleaner form of transport such as electric vehicles or public transport.
As well as support for buying an ‘ultra low emissions’ vehicle, UK100 says the cash could also be put toward car clubs, bike hire schemes or a public transport season ticket.
The report calls for a partnership with industry to contribute to a national vehicle renewal scheme, similar to how car manufacturers have contributed to the German Government’s Sustainability Mobility Fund for cities.
London has received commitment from third party organisations for additional funding to support its car scrappage scheme.
