Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by which date her Department will require Leeds and Birmingham City Councils’ approved Clean Air Zone proposals to be introduced; and for what reason the implementation of those Clean Air Zones was delayed beyond the timetable set out in the Government’s 2015 and 2017 plans for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations.

The delivery of Clean Air Zones (CAZ) involves the provision of a central service by Government and local services by local authorities. Work is underway to develop key components of the central system to support charging CAZs for early 2020, including plans to deliver the vehicle compliance checker by December 2019.

We are working closely with both Birmingham and Leeds City Councils, to develop and implement the system in the shortest possible time. Our priority is to introduce a reliable and consistent service as soon as possible and practicable. We are continuing to work with both councils on the detailed timetable for introducing the service, and have provided them with relevant information on the provision of the central service to enable them to proceed to take forward the delivery of the zones.

Birmingham City Council have indicated they expect to start charging non-compliant vehicles entering their charging zone from 1 July 2020. Leeds City Council will make a decision over when they will start to charge non-compliant vehicles entering their CAZ in 2020 in due course. These two councils are the first local authorities to bring in charging CAZs. We are continuing to work with other local authorities preparing to introduce CAZs at a later date in order to ensure they are implemented as quickly as possible. This includes sharing the learning and information available to Leeds and Birmingham, and the central systems built initially for Leeds and Birmingham will be available for all other Local Authorities planning to introduce CAZs.