The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Road Freight and Logistics has published a report recommending that the plan for roll out of nationwide Clean Air Zones (CAZ) is paused.

The report says that COVID-19 has changed travel patterns and emission levels as well as putting fleet operators under increasing financial pressure.

CAZ regulations could impose charges of up to £100 a day on drivers of non-compliant HGVs when they enter participating cities.  The report recommends the introduction of phased charging following a grace period to reduce the impact and the provision of a sunset clause to support local businesses who are unable to comply.

Chair of the APPG, Sir Mike Penning MP, said, “We all want to see cleaner air, that is why I back the government’s efforts to introduce measures that support businesses to replace the most polluting vehicles and journeys. But these measures must be introduced at the right time and must be implemented in a way that drives meaningful behaviour change. Over the course of the last few months, we have been gathering evidence from a wide range of organisations about the planned introduction of CAZs to identify how the policy can be improved before its introduction.”

The report urges government to ensure that no charging zones are introduced until 1 January, 2022 and says that it should use this extension to review the programme.

Sir Mike Penning continued, “As the government looks to rebuild our economy post COVID-19, it is essential that this includes ensuring that those sectors most affected can rebuild and restart as quickly as possible.  This must include reviewing existing and planned policy to see if it will be an impediment to ‘bouncing back’. The road freight and logistics sector are vital to a thriving and growing economy.”

The APPG report also recommended central and local government should give notice to all affected businesses three months before introducing charges.

Chris Ashley, Road Haulage Association (RHA) Head of Policy on the Environment commented: “The current CAZ approach fails to recognise the industry’s huge £1.9 billion investment in Euro VI vehicles that, despite CAZ, has slashed NOx emissions from trucks by at least 59% since 2013. It also fails to account for the market supply of the desired Euro VI vehicles which, during the second quarter of 2020, plummeted by 75% as COVID-19 hit the economy.”