Glasgow council spends £100,000 to hire LEZ-compliant vehicles

Glasgow City Council has spent almost £100,000 to hire vehicles to replace parts of its fleet that do not comply with its low-emission zone (LEZ).

Figures also reveal the council was fined several times because its vehicles breached the rules.

The LEZ launched in June in a bid to improve air quality in the city centre.

The SNP-run council said the cost was mitigated by taking older vehicles out of service. The Tories said the rental outlay was "farcical".

• Number of Glasgow low emission zone fines doubles - BBC News

• More than 600 council vehicles not LEZ compliant

• Nearly 3,000 fined for breaching low emission zone

The LEZ covers an area from the M8 motorway to the north and west of Glasgow, the River Clyde to the south, and the Saltmarket/High Street to the east.

In response to a freedom of information request, the council said that between 12 June and 14 July it had spent £95,344 hiring 131 vehicles to cover fleet vehicles that do not meet LEZ standards.

This included two eight-tonne DAF trucks, a Skyking cherry picker, a Mercedes refrigeration van, 52 Ford Transit vans and 22 Vauxhall Corsa cars.

The council said some of the 131 vehicles were hired to replace older non-compliant parts of the fleet that were earmarked for removal as part of a planned process, rather than specifically because they were required in the LEZ zone.

It said £74,128 was spent in the two months from 1 June on hiring 50 vehicles for LEZ compliance purposes.

Every non-compliant vehicle detected in the LEZ zone initially faces a fine of £60.

Cars and light-goods vehicles face fines of up to £480 per day for repeated breaches of the rules, known as surcharging, with penalties of up to £960 for buses and HGVs.

Exemptions are available for blue badge holders, motorbikes, mopeds and emergency vehicles.

But in general petrol cars made before 2005 and diesels built before September 2014 are not allowed in the zone.

The council said 21 of its vehicles had been issued penalty charge notices by 27 July.

However, nine were subsequently cancelled as the vehicles were found to be LEZ compliant.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson urged the council to reconsider its LEZ scheme.

'Eyewatering sums'

"It is farcical that the SNP-run council have spent these eyewatering sums on hiring vehicles to replace those that did not comply with the new rules," he said.

"Everyone wants to improve air quality in our cities but it is high time council bosses started listening to people, businesses and charities over how low emission zones are being imposed."

A council spokesperson said only a limited part of its fleet would be required to enter the city-centre LEZ, and those that do will be required to meet the emission standards.

"New vehicles which meet LEZ requirements are expected to be delivered to us in the near future and we are also retrofitting existing vehicles to improve emissions standards across our fleet," they said.

"LEZ compliant vehicles have been hired in the short term to ensure emissions standards are met.

"The cost of these hires has been mitigated by taking a number of older vehicles out of service in line with our fleet replacement programme, offsetting their operational costs."