Council undertaking ‘high-level review’ of Clean Air Zone
‘High level review’ of Clean Air Zone to take place
Council chiefs have confirmed they are undertaking a “high-level review” of a West Yorkshire city’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ).
It comes after Bradford Council’s leader, Reform Councillor Stephen Place, said CAZ charges should be scrapped – arguing that they have a negative impact on businesses.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) issued a ‘ministerial direction’ to cut pollution levels in Bradford in 2018 – when the Tories were in power nationally.
Four years later, Bradford’s CAZ was introduced in a bid to improve the area’s air quality.
Commercial vehicles causing the most pollution are currently charged a daily fee to enter Bradford and parts of Shipley.
Money from the CAZ can only be reinvested into schemes and measures which improve air quality.
The Government has stated the CAZ can only be lifted two years after Bradford has proved it has reached legal levels for air quality.
In a statement obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week, Coun Place – who became leader of Bradford Council following May’s local elections – said: “As it stands, the ministerial direction for the CAZ in Bradford is a legal requirement imposed on the people of Bradford by the then-Conservative Government to reach air quality compliance in the shortest time possible.
“However, we are now undertaking a high-level review of the CAZ to evaluate the scheme and investigate the best way forward to facilitate the earliest revocation of this ministerial direction.
“This will assist us to make the right decisions for the people of Bradford and the Bradford district.”
A £29m Clean Air Zone in Leeds was scrapped after the council warned it had “no legal authority” to go ahead with the project six years ago.
Leeds City Council announced the zone was “no longer required” in October 2020 because the air quality had significantly improved following “a dramatic shift to cleaner vehicles”.
The scheme, which would have introduced charges for lorries, taxis and buses that failed to meet emissions standards, was originally due to be launched in January 2020.
Defra did not comment on this matter when approached, with a spokesperson advising the Local Democracy Reporting Service to contact the Labour group on Bradford Council.
Coun Imran Khan, leader of the Labour group on Bradford Council, said: “The CAZ charges generate in excess of £3 million a year, which pays for the staff and a lot of the projects that are ongoing to improve air quality locally.
“Where would Reform find that £3m if they wanted to keep the team in place, if they wanted to keep the environmental projects in place?
“All of those things are really important and have had a significant impact on our health.
“Scrapping the charges doesn’t make sense to me.”
According to Bradford Council’s Air Quality Annual Status Report in 2025, the number of locations breaching legal air-quality limits had dropped from 35 to two.