UK political leaders from across the country are calling for government support to tackle air pollution, and giving small firms up to £6,000 to make it happen. This coming together involves more than a dozen mayors and representatives. They have joined forces to request support from the government for a network of 30 new and existing Clean Air Zones. Within these zones, the most polluting vehicles would be fined. Representatives from Leicester and Nottingham are among this cross-party group of political leaders.
The UK100 is a network of “highly ambitious local government leaders, who have pledged to secure the future for their communities by shifting to 100% clean energy by 2050.” It’s the only network for UK local authorities, urban, suburban and rural, focused climate and clean energy policy.
The group has recently released a report which shows that towns and cities could see an economic return of £6.5bn with support from the government to tackle levels of air pollution. This group is the one that presented the idea of a national network of up to 30 Clean Air Zones across England showing how the scheme could be enhanced and unlocked if an additional £1.5bn were to be committed from government and business to tackle air pollution in the most polluted towns and cities.
The costs due to health problems from exposure to air pollution have reached a total of over £20bn per year, as assessed by the Royal College of Physicians. These findings only highlight the urgency for the new Chancellor Sajid Javid to make an enhanced Clean Air Fund the centerpiece of a spending round. The situation is so dire that air pollution is contributing to up to 36,000 deaths a year! The research shows that adequately funding existing Clean Air Zones and introducing new ones would boost our health and the economy by charging the most polluting vehicles to enter towns and cities.
Another part of the plan involves offering lower-income residents and small businesses incentives of between £2,000 and £6,000 to either upgrade existing vehicles or get rid of their older, polluting vehicles and switch to a cleaner form of transport such as electric vehicles or public transport. The money doesn’t necessarily have to go towards buying a new clean vehicle either – the cash could also be put toward car clubs, bike hire schemes or a public transport season ticket.
Polly Billington, Director of UK100, a network of local leaders that campaigns on clean air, said:
Cleaning up the air in our towns and cities makes sound economic sense and this study demonstrates that. It will boost the health of our communities and save the NHS money. Sensible investment by national government is needed to support local authorities to take the most polluting vehicles off our roads while ensuring that the poorest in our towns and cities are not the hardest hit by pollution and measures to tackle it.
