Greater Manchester’s Clean Air leaders will be asked to seek the government’s permission to put the second phase of Clean Air Zone (CAZ) funding on hold and ask for an urgent and fundamental government review of the policy, including into the availability and affordability of cleaner vehicles.
This is due to emerging evidence that global supply chain issues are likely to both reduce availability of, and increase the cost of cleaner compliant vehicles.
A report outlining this evidence will be presented to Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee on Thursday 20 January 2022.
Commercial vehicle users are already facing spiraling fuel and living costs, on top of the challenges faced over the last two years due to the pandemic, and the Manchester business community is concerned that the Clean Air Plan could put significant financial hardship on already struggling businesses.
Officials are recommending putting the currently planned £100 million of funding on hold until a thorough review has taken place
The report does however suggest that Phase One of the Clean Air Zone should still go ahead as planned from May 2022. Phase one applies to buses, coaches, HGVs, taxi and private hire vehicles which are not registered in Greater Manchester, and funding support will be available to HGV and coach operators.
The zone does not include private cars, mopeds or motorbikes, and the motorway network is also excluded.
You can read the full article ‘Emerging evidence about vehicle supply chain highlights need for government review of Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan’ on the CleanAirGM website here:
You can also sign up for updates, check whether you are affected, and find out more about vehicles which are included in the plan, roll out of the plan and funding availability here:
https://cleanairgm.com/clean-air-zone/
As ever if you would like any help, please do not hesitate to contact the team at IN Accountancy, which you can do here:
