Andy Burnham tells business owners ‘help is on the table’ amid concerns Clean Air Zone will ‘bankrupt’ them

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has reassured business owners across the region that ‘help is on the table’ amid Clean Air Zone concerns.

Appearing on BBC Radio Manchester this morning, the mayor was quizzed by a number of business owners and workers who are concerned about the Clean Air Zone scheme set to be implemented in May this year.

The scheme, which aims to clean up air pollution in all ten Greater Manchester boroughs by 2024, will charge vehicles that don’t meet emission standards to drive within the Clean Air Zone. This zone will cover 493 square miles of the region, making it the largest of its kind in the whole country. 

With some vehicles facing charges of £60 per day, a number of working people from across the region called in to quiz the mayor on what he plans to do to help keep their businesses afloat amid the extra costs.

A man known as Nigel called into the radio station from Wigan, explaining that he owns a coach company with seven vehicles, all of which will cost him an extra £153,300 per year once the Clean Air Zone charges are in place. 

Nigel pointed out that his business ‘won’t survive’ with these extra changes, saying they ‘will definitely make us go bankrupt’. 

Burnham responded by saying after the coach industry was impacted in the pandemic, there is a public subsidy available to help these kinds of businesses and others upgrade their vehicles, noting that while this subsidy still isn’t enough, the situation is being reviewed and ‘help is on the table’. 

He continued: “The pandemic has caused a real problem for a number of our businesses and we have been reviewing that, we’ve been looking at those issues and leaders in Greater Manchester will be meeting next week to discuss where to go from here.

“It’s a challenging situation… But we have no choice but to bring in these measures to cut air pollution as it’s an instruction from the government. We want to do it in the right way that cleans up the air and help our businesses.”

Mark, an ice cream van business owner from Tameside, also called in to voice his own concerns, pointing out that his business may be forced to close for the first time in 100 years.

He said: “Eight vans going out six days a week will cost £480, that’ll be £24,960 a year. Now we can’t afford that. We’ve been running for 100 years, and you’ve brought this tax in after the government told you to bring the pollution down. This scheme is your idea. We’re going to go out of business.”

Burnham stressed that the Clean Air Zone scheme isn’t something he ‘dreamt up’ nor is it his ‘tax on working people’; he pointed out that it is actually a result of the government instructing cities to introduce measures to cut air pollution by 2024.

He said: “I am trying to facilitate a solution between national and local governments. We need to find a solution. I recognise that you’re in a difficult situation, that’s why I was asking people to do a review of the situation so we could provide the help to people that’s needed. 

“In my political career, I have never been somebody who doesn’t listen or doesn’t speak up for working people. I do speak up for working people, and I take great pride in that.”

A woman named Julie sent in her query on Facebook, explaining that while she isn’t a Greater Manchester resident, her job requires her to commute into Rochdale every day. 

She wrote: “I own a company that uses small shops and traders in Rochdale. I am not entitled to apply for the grant as I’m not a Greater Manchester resident. Do I take my trade an extra five miles the other way? This is hitting small traders.”

At this, Burnham explained that he is in a similar situation as he too lives close to the Greater Manchester border, stressing that the situation will be reviewed and that he will be going back to the government to urge them to do more.

A joint statement by Burnham and Councillor Andrew Western added that they are fighting for the scheme to be ‘accompanied by a fair package of financial support’, saying that while the government has provided £120m, they are concerned that they have so far failed to agree to a request for additional support.

Read the statement in full here.