Birmingham City Council fines itself £472,000 for Clean Air Zone breaches

Birmingham City Council fines itself £472,000 for Clean Air Zone breaches5 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAlex HomerShared Data UnitPABirmingham's Clean Air Zone (CAZ) operates for 24 hours every dayBirmingham City Council has paid more than £470,000 to itself in daily charges and fines because its own vehicles break the rules of its Clean Air Zone (CAZ) policy.Even though there has been a year-long bin strike in the city, most of its vehicles facing daily charges were from the waste department.The authority said it had been replacing non-compliant vehicles over the past 12 months and wanted "eco driving" across its fleet, but admitted one in eight vehicles still did not comply with the zone's emissions standards.Since the CAZ scheme began in the city centre in 2021, non-compliant vehicles in Birmingham's fleet have triggered 3,262 daily charges and fines at a total cost of £472,253. Government commissioners have been working with Birmingham City Council since it issued a so-called Section 114 notice in 2023 – declaring its own effective bankruptcy. In March, the council's then Labour leadership hailed its first balanced budget in three years.The number of daily charges and fines the council has paid to itself represented around 20 times the number paid by any other UK council running a CAZ, Low Emission Zone (LEZ) or Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) which was able to disclose any similar payments for breaking their own emissions standards.Kings Heath Food Bank was helping 400 people a week in 2021, Sharon Power saidMoney paid in charges and fines goes towards the CAZ operating costs and covering some Government charges, while any surplus has to be spent on transport or environmental schemes. It cannot go back into the council's general funds.Kings Heath Food Bank coordinator Sharon Power said: "The country's in this state: people are having to choose to heat or eat and they're [the council] spending mon...