Clean Air Zone 'motor tax' fails poorer residents, MPs claim
Council chiefs have let down key workers and poorer residents by implementing a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) "motor tax" in a city, MPs have said.
The controversial scheme – which will start on June 14 amid claims of a botched launch – will see car and van drivers charged £8 to enter Birmingham city centre in a bid to reduce pollution.
It was expected to start on June 1 but councillors insisted a two-week delay had been planned in advance to "give people time to adjust to the changes".
Now Conservative MPs have slammed the scheme.
In a letter to Birmingham Council's Labour leader, Ian Ward, Gary Sambrook MP and Nicola Richards MP claim it will hit poorer residents hardest and harm businesses.
The letter says: "Your administration's motor tax will impact residents from Birmingham, the Black Country and the wider region, charging them for going into the city centre for work, leisure or shopping.
"We believe that this will impact the economy of the city centre, especially as we look to rebuild post-Covid.
"Not to mention the fact that this impacts our poorer residents the most who cannot afford to buy shiny new cars."
West Bromwich East MP Ms Richards said that while it was important to reduce air pollution, "taxing residents to travel into the city for work, leisure, shopping, or visiting the hospitals is simply not on".
Mr Sambrook, the Birmingham Northfield MP, said the council had been "forced" into delaying the scheme for two weeks due to the payment system not being ready.
"Thank God this lot aren’t in charge of a brewery," he added.
Commenting on the scheme's launch, Councillor Waseem Zaffar said: "We understand that not everybody in the city, despite all our extensive conversations, is aware of this particular project."
Responding to the letter, he accused the MPs of attempting to "scare people" and urged drivers to take advantage of available support.
He said that those on low incomes, including key workers, who work within the CAZ can apply for an exemption so they do not have to pay the charge, and added that the council had worked with Birmingham Children’s Hospital to ensure that parents taking children to the hospital for treatment do not have to pay the charge.
"Conservative Ministers from the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs – Rachel MacLean MP and Rebecca Pow MP – have written to all West Midlands MPs making clear Government’s unequivocal support for the CAZ and explaining why it will be a significant step forward in tackling air pollution," he added.
"Sadly Birmingham's Tories are out of step with their own Government and would rather score cheap political points than tackle this public health emergency."
Councillor Zaffar said the council had secured a £38m package of exemptions from the Government to support lower-earners and those living within the zone.
"The two-week delay on charging was planned in order to be fair and to give people time to adjust to the changes," he added. "This is a big change, and we want to work with the people of Birmingham to make sure that they are ready for it.”
