The Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 03 December 2024 was scheduled to include a report on the second year of operation of the Bradford Clean Air Zone, which imposes vehicle restrictions on all vehicle types except passenger cars.

Bradford Clean Air Zone

The report pack for the meeting included an update on the Bradford Clean Air Zone.

The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Bradford was launched on 26 September 2022 after the Council received a Ministerial Direction in 2020 from the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to reduce levels of Nitrogen Dioxide in the city. It is the second largest such zone in the UK, after London. The zone imposes a daily charge on all vehicles that do not meet certain emission standards, except for private cars. The report pack includes data on the levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), a harmful air pollutant, at the Mayo Avenue air quality monitoring station in Bradford. The data showed an 11 ug/m3 reduction in NO2 over the study period.

The report pack includes data from the interim report of the health impact assessment (HIA) of the Bradford Clean Air Zone by the Born in Bradford research project, which is based at the Bradford Institute for Health Research. The interim report showed that in the first year of operation of the CAZ, there was a 25% reduction in the number of primary care visits for respiratory health, and a 24% reduction in the number of primary care visits for cardiovascular health.

The report pack indicates that, when the Clean Air Zone was implemented, the percentage of non-compliant vehicles out of all traffic was nearly 5%, and that this has been reduced to around 1.2%, including Bradford exempted vehicles. The report pack states that:

At least 85% of exemptions are for residents and local businesses within the Bradford District

The report pack lists the following schemes that the Council is funding using revenue generated by the CAZ charges:

• A Clean Air Schools Programme
• Electric Heavy Goods Vehicle Trials
• A Bradford E-Bike Hire Scheme
• Connection of City Hall to the Bradford District Heat Network.
• A Particle Reduction Strategy.