Published on PublicTechnology.net (https://www.publictechnology.net)

Home > Cities postpone clean air zones after government delays online tool

Cities postpone clean air zones after government delays online tool

Written by PublicTechnology staff on 21 June 2019 in News
News

Birmingham and Leeds blame late delivery of vehicle checker system for delay to environmental restrictions

Credit: Adobe Stock Images

The introduction of clean air zones in Birmingham and Leeds have been postponed, with the two city councils blaming delays to the delivery of an online vehicle checker by central government.

The government’s Joint Air Quality Unit, run by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Transport, was due to provide the online tool in October. But in a joint statement [1], Birmingham and Leeds city councils said the unit recently pushed delivery back until December, just before the zones were due to open in January 2020. As a result, they will significantly postpone their introduction.

“The council has been fully on track to implement the clean air zone from January 2020 on the basis of assurances from the government that the vehicle checker would be in place by October this year,” said Cllr Waseem Zaffar, Birmingham’s cabinet member for transport and environment.


Related content

  • The digital fight needs political might [2]
  • Emergency Services Network completion pushed back to December 2024 [3]
  • Former Home Office chief defends troubled DBS digitisation programme [4]

He added that the government delay “means we are unable to go ahead with our clean air zone in January as planned, as this would be completely unfair on residents, businesses and visitors to the city who would only have a matter of weeks, if not days, to make key choices about their travel behaviour or upgrade their vehicles. This is simply unacceptable.”

“The government now needs to outline new timescales that they are confident can be delivered in order to give residents and businesses across the country clarity and certainty about the future of these schemes,” added Cllr James Lewis, deputy leader of Leeds City Council.

The two cities added that the government has told them they will be responsible for collecting payments from non-compliant vehicles, having previously said this would be handled centrally.

“We are aware of concerns over delays and are carrying out work to develop key components of the system to support the charging clean air zones for January 2020,” said a government spokesperson in response.

Tags
Collaboration [5]
Leadership [6]
Policy [7]
Categories
Environment [8]
Government and politics [9]
Dods PublicTechnology.net is a Dods Group plc title

Site Sections

  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Features
  • Private Sector Insight
  • Cyber Week
  • White Papers
  • Events
  • Partner Directory
  • About
  • Contact

Services

Dods PeopleDods MonitoringDods ResearchDods EventsDods Training

Media & publishing titles

Politics HomeThe HouseThe Parliament MagazineHolyroodTotal PoliticsPublic Affairs NewsCivil Service WorldPublicTechnologyTraining JournalDods Parliamentary CompanionVacher's Quarterly The European Union and Public Affairs Directory

Dods events

Westminster BriefingDigital Health & Care ScotlandMEP AwardsThe Skills SummitScottish Public Service AwardsPublic Sector Procurement SummitPublic Sector ICT SummitCyber Security SummitCyber Security 2017Training Journal Awards

Partnership events

The Health and Care Innovation ExpoCivil Service LiveCivil Service AwardsChief Nursing Officer for England's SummitWomen into LeadershipThe Youth Justice ConventionSocitm Spring ConferenceNHSCC Annual Members' EventDods at Party Conference
Privacy PolicyTerms & ConditionsAdvertisingSponsorship Subscriptions
  • Registered office: 11th Floor
  • The Shard
  • 32 London Bridge Street
  • London SE1 9SG
  • Company number: 04267888
  • © Dods Group plc 2017

Source URL: https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/cities-postpone-clean-air-zones-after-government-delays-online-tool

Links
[1] https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/news/article/433/joint_statement_from_birmingham_city_council_and_leeds_city_council_regarding_clean_air_zone_delays
[2] https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/opinion/digital-fight-needs-political-might
[3] https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/emergency-services-network-completion-pushed-back-december-2024
[4] https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/former-home-office-chief-defends-troubled-dbs-digitisation-programme
[5] https://www.publictechnology.net/tags/collaboration
[6] https://www.publictechnology.net/tags/leadership
[7] https://www.publictechnology.net/tags/policy
[8] https://www.publictechnology.net/categories/environment
[9] https://www.publictechnology.net/categories/government-and-politics