The Clean Air strategy 2018 promises to deliver clean air ‘for the whole country’ Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for the Environment, has said. This has led to a number of initiatives by councils aiming to reduce air pollution and accidents which are caused in part by Heavy Goods Vehicles.

There is a long term plan to help combat this problem but other initiatives will take effect much sooner.

Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary commented;

‘We are taking bold action and want nearly every car and van on UK roads to be zero emission by 2050 which is why we’ve committed to investing more than £600m in the development, manufacture and use of ultra-low emission vehicles by 2020.’

This will ultimately impact on the long term plans of businesses particularly with regards to the choice of fleet vehicles. Whilst 2050 may seem a long time off, there are other initiatives which will impact in the shorter term, which also have a cost implication on a transport business.

The Direct Vision recently proposed that London addressed the impact on HGV movement within the capital. There had been suggestion by the Transport of London of an intention to increase Red route PCNs from £130 – £160 to prevent illegal stopping. This vision has been halted somewhat by Chris Grayling Transport Secretary who argued that the charges were ‘excessive’ and ‘would not necessarily stop illegal parking.’ This may be an area that is re-addressed sometime in the future.

This proposal is not only limited to London with many other areas following this train of thought. Leeds Council recently announced plans to reduce air pollution and protect health. They have drafted plans to impose a charge of £100 per day on those vehicles that don’t meet the standard with the possibility of this coming in to force as soon as October 2018.

To keep up to date with all the latest transport law news impacting on your business please contact Farleys Solicitors on 0845 287 0939 or contact us online.