Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone: More evidence requested over plan

The Clean Air Zone was paused in February 2022 and is still under review

A decision on Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone is not expected until at least the summer after the government requested more information.

The scheme, which was set to start charging some of the most polluting vehicles on Greater Manchester's roads, was paused exactly one year ago.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said it would submit more evidence about the plans by the end of 30 June.

The government said it had found "a number of underlying gaps".

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "It is not yet possible to understand how the proposed approach will achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time".

"We have requested further evidence from the Greater Manchester authorities to enable us to consider the plans further."

Clean Air Zones (CAZ) are designed to encourage people to drive less-polluting vehicles - those with electric engines or more modern petrol and diesel engines.

More than £60m has been spent on the CAZ despite the controversial scheme still never having gone ahead.

The rollout in Greater Manchester was halted following a public backlash which led to the government agreeing to pause the plans on 4 February 2022.

A revised proposal for an incentive-led scheme was then submitted in July 2022.

Clean Air Zones are designed to encourage people to drive less-polluting vehicles

In October, TfGM said it had not yet received a government response.

A TfGM spokesman said Rebecca Pow, minister for environmental quality and resilience, had written to the authority on 26 January.

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The spokesman said Ms Pow asked TfGM to "provide additional evidence that will enable further consideration of the case for a new investment-led, non-charging Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan". 

TfGM said: "Greater Manchester leaders will be responding to provide the first of the evidence requested, setting out that the next submission of evidence will be at the end June 2023."