Newcastle City Council (NCC) will from 17 December pause the acceptance of applications for grant funding for vehicle upgrades to comply with the Newcastle and Gateshead Clean Air Zone (CAZ) pending a review of the heavily criticised support mechanism.
Since the fund opened over a year ago, NCC has paid just £2 million, capturing around 540 vehicles that would otherwise not comply with the CAZ. Mainstream media sources recently reported that more than £13 million from the same pot has not been paid, which NCC attributed to staffing problems and work backlogs.
Despite that claim, the local authority in August paused payment of grants to coach operators after it tied those vehicles to the wider hiatus in Euro VI SCR retrofits for buses. That was despite coaches not being included in that suspension. NCC’s decision to group both vehicle types together drew strong criticism.
Up to £16,000 per eligible coach or bus is theoretically available from the Newcastle and Gateshead CAZ fund. In announcing the suspension of acceptance of new applications, NCC says that the review process will capture the scheme and its eligibility criteria “so that more people will be able to qualify for the funding.”
The local authority claims that so far, it has prioritised support towards vehicles where there is no choice other than to enter the CAZ. “Now we are looking at how we can make funding more widely available to help more people [to] upgrade and replace their older vehicles with cleaner, less polluting models,” it adds. Further details of that will be shared in due course.
Applications made by 17 December will be processed in accordance with current eligibility criteria. It is expected that the scheme will be relaunched, with new criteria and terms and conditions, in February 2024.
Prior to the CAZ commencing on 23 January, it was criticised for not including educational trips within scope of an exemption list that captures emergency rail replacement services, community transport vehicles, and coaches and buses used for driver training.
Additionally, the Confederation of Passenger Transport wrote to NCC as administrator of the CAZ complaining about what the trade body called “a lack of engagement” with the coach and bus industry. More recently, CEO Graham Vidler said that he looked “with dismay” at the handling of grant funding by the local authority.
NCC had previously cautioned that delivery of money towards vehicle upgrades may have taken “a few months,” although it provides a 120-day exemption from Newcastle and Gateshead CAZ charges where eligibility for upgrade funding has been confirmed.
In announcing the likely overhaul of the grant scheme, NCC claims that grants already awarded have been “hugely beneficial to hundreds of taxi drivers and businesses in our area.” Cabinet member for the environment and transport Cllr John McElroy has described the suspension of applications and a revision of criteria as a “very positive” move.
