Around £10 million of Newcastle Clean Air Zone (CAZ) funding to help people replace their high-polluting vehicles with cleaner models remains unused.
More than two years ago, council bosses launched a grant scheme aimed at supporting drivers and businesses to upgrade to more environmentally-friendly vehicles that are not subject to the CAZ charges.
But it has been confirmed that the bulk of that money is still unspent, with eligible owners being urged again to apply for financial help worth up to £16,000.
The grants programme opened in November 2022, a couple of months before the start of the first tolls in the city centre anti-pollution zone the following January, with the Government having provided £15 million to be distributed to help owners upgrade to newer taxis, vans, lorries, buses, or coaches which comply with the CAZ’s regulations.
But only 1,141 grants, totalling £4.7 million, have since been paid out from a total 4,030 applications.
Newcastle City Council also confirmed on Monday that a further 608 applications have been approved, worth £3.9 million, but have not been claimed.
Local authority bosses have been criticised previously by businesses that were not eligible to receive funding, with the grant scheme’s original criteria requiring applicants to prove that they had a need to enter the CAZ at least twice a week over a three-month period – something which many small traders said they were unable to provide documentation for.
That rule was subsequently relaxed in 2024, so that any van, light goods vehicle or minibus which falls foul of the tolls and is registered to a home or business address in Newcastle, Gateshead, or North Tyneside does now qualify for upgrade funding.
However, non-compliant vehicles in other neighbouring areas like Northumberland or South Tyneside are still not automatically eligible.
Cllr Juna Sathian, Newcastle City Council’s cabinet member for climate and transport, said: “Since the launch of the grants scheme we’ve provided funding worth £4.7m to help local businesses, tradespeople and taxi drivers replace older and more polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner models. This is helping to improve our air quality, which is the purpose of the Clean Air Zone.
“We still have grant funding available for vehicle upgrades and I would encourage others to take advantage of it.”
Her counterpart at Gateshead Council, Cllr John McElroy, added: “We want to encourage those who are eligible to apply for this funding.
“We want as many journeys as possible in the Clean Air Zone to be in compliant vehicles – and these grants are an excellent route to obtaining those, and keeping older, polluting vehicles off the roads.”
The CAZ imposes penalties of either £12.50 or £50 per day on older buses, vans, coaches, taxis, and lorries that do not comply with emissions standards.
All private cars remain exempt from the charges, which were introduced in response to a Government order for local authorities to reduce illegal levels of emissions in pollution hotspots.
Full details of who is eligible for a grant and how to apply can be found on the Newcastle Clean Air Zone’s website here.
