Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage more local authorities to introduce Clean Air Zones.

Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations and its further Supplement in 2018, 61 local authorities were directed to develop plans for delivering Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) compliance in the shortest possible time.

As the plan sets out, it is for local authorities to determine what the appropriate solution is to tackling NO₂ concentrations, reflecting the highly localised nature of the problem. In some cases, local authorities will determine that a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is the intervention required. However given the potential impacts on individuals and businesses, when considering between equally effective alternatives to deliver compliance, Government has been consistently clear that if a local authority can identify measures other than charging zones that are at least as effective at reducing NO₂ to legal levels but with less of an impact, those measures should be preferred. Any alternative will need to deliver compliance as quickly as a charging CAZ if it is to be preferred for inclusion in the plans which local authorities develop.

Where a CAZ is needed to deliver legal NO₂ levels in the shortest possible time, Government is providing guidance to local authorities to implement the zone, as well as financial assistance to help local businesses and individuals adapt - including grants to help upgrade vehicles The first two Clean Air Zones have been implemented by Birmingham City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council, with further zones expected to be introduced later this year and next year.

Under the Transport Act 2000, local authorities are permitted to implement a charging zone to achieve air quality objectives independently of the Government’s NO₂ programme.

The Government firmly believes that local authorities are best placed to implement solutions in local areas. These local authorities will devise their own criteria for their scheme to meet their objectives.