Clean Air Plan FAQs

Greater Manchester is working to clean up air pollution on local roads. 

The government has directed the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities to achieve compliance with legal limits for nitrogen dioxide as soon as possible and by 2026 at the latest. 

Greater Manchester’s proposed investment-led Clean Air Plan does NOT include a charging Clean Air Zone. 

To find out more about our Clean Air Plan and the next steps, please visit the Clean Air Plan page.  

You can also read the frequently asked questions below for more information.  

The new investment-led Clean Air Plan 

Like many areas across the country, Greater Manchester has high levels of air pollution on some local roads.  

Greater Manchester is under direction from government to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads in the shortest possible time and by 2026 at the latest.  

Poor air quality affects everyone’s health. It’s linked to conditions like asthma, heart disease, stroke, some cancers, and early deaths. 

We’re working to make Greater Manchester a cleaner and healthier place to live in, work in and visit. 

Greater Manchester’s proposed Clean Air Plan would see £86.7m invested in cleaner buses, taxis and measures to manage traffic flows on some roads in Manchester and Salford. It would use funding already awarded to Greater Manchester by government. 

The evidence suggests that we could meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide in 2025 through:  

  • £51.2m investment in 64 zero-emission electric buses and EV charging infrastructure at bus depots: Local control of bus services through the Bee Network allows us to run zero-emission electric buses in areas where nitrogen dioxide exceeds legal limits. 

  • £30.5m Clean Taxi Fund: To provide financial support to help every eligible hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licensed with a Greater Manchester authority by 20 December 2023 to upgrade to a clean vehicle and meet a new minimum emission standard by 31 December 2025. Funding would also be available to help owners of GM-licensed hackneys who meet the minimum emission standard upgrade to a Zero Emission capable vehicle.

  • £5m investment in local traffic measures: Measures to manage traffic flow on roads in Manchester and Salford. This will reduce nitrogen dioxide exceedances on Regent Road and Quay Street. 

You can read more about it on our Clean Air Plan page. 

It is for government to decide the measures included in the Clean Air Plan – Greater Manchester’s preferred investment-led, non-charging plan, or a charging Clean Air Zone.  

Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Plan proposals do NOT include a charging Clean Air Zone.  

Government asked us to compare our investment-led Clean Air Plan with a ‘benchmark’ charging Clean Air Zone in the regional centre (Manchester and Salford).   

We’ve done this work, and the results show that:  

  • Our investment-led Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan will meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads by 2025. 

  • The benchmarked category C charging Clean Air Zone would NOT meet legal limits in 2025 or 2026, failing to meet the government’s compliance date of 2026.  

  • The investment-led plan is more affordable than introducing a regional centre Clean Air Zone. 

If government approves the investment-led Clean Air Plan, there would be no charge for any vehicles to drive anywhere in Greater Manchester. 

You might have seen signs for a Clean Air Zone on our roads which currently state that the plan is ‘under review’. That’s because the first Clean Air Plan included plans for a Greater Manchester-wide category C charging Clean Air Zone that did not go ahead.  

Greater Manchester is also requesting government to consider that we can remove the signs installed for the formerly proposed Clean Air Zone. This is dependent on a government decision.

In February 2022, government withdrew the legal direction requiring the Greater Manchester local authorities to implement a charging category C Clean Air Zone. As a result, this did not go ahead as planned from 30 May 2022.  

That’s because the pandemic resulted in significant vehicle supply chain issues, rising vehicle prices, and a cost-of-living crisis. The original Clean Air Plan was no longer the right solution.   

It would have imposed daily driving charges for some vehicles which owners may not have been able to upgrade. This could have risked significant financial hardship for local people, and threatened businesses and jobs. 

At the same time, it would not have met the government’s legal direction (issued before the pandemic) to tackle harmful nitrogen dioxide on local roads by 2024. The government withdrew its legal direction and issued a new one: To meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads “in the shortest possible time” and by 2026 at the latest. 

Proposed Clean Air Plan vehicle upgrade funding  

Under our investment-led Clean Air Plan, only GM-licensed hackney carriages and private hire vehicles (PHVs) would be eligible for clean vehicle grants.  

There is a limited government funding pot and our plans are to invest it where it will have the greatest impact on bringing nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits. 

Our modelling shows that targeted investment in zero-emission buses and taxis and PHVs is the most effective way to achieve compliance with legal limits for nitrogen dioxide under an investment-led Clean Air Plan.   

Funding has already been available for HGVs but will now close to new HGV applicants. Existing applicants that have a funding award will have until 1st January 2025 to spend it. 

Greater Manchester’s investment-led Clean Air Plan proposes a £30.5m Clean Taxi Fund.  It would use funding already awarded to Greater Manchester by government.   

A £22.5m fund would support upgrades to every eligible hackney cab and private hire vehicle licensed with a Greater Manchester authority by December 2023. Upgrades would need to meet new minimum emission standards being introduced by Greater Manchester local authorities by 31 December 2025 (date to be reviewed if government does not agree to the Clean Taxi Fund). There would also be an £8m Electric Hackney Upgrade Fund to support owners of GM-licensed hackney carriages who meet the minimum emission standard in upgrading to a zero-emission capable vehicle. 

A Clean Taxi Fund would need to be approved by government. No date for grants opening is available yet. 

Please read on, sign up for updates on future funding, or contact your local licensing authority for further information.  

If the government approves our current proposals, grants of between £3,770 and £12,560 would support upgrades to every eligible hackney cab and private hire vehicle licensed with a Greater Manchester authority by 20 December 2023.  

The grant amounts are aligned with those offered under the 2021 GM Clean Air Plan with an uplift of 25.6%, reflecting inflation and changes in prices since grants were originally developed.  

We have also proposed an £8m fund for electric hackney upgrades. If approved by government this would mean grants of between £7,530 and £12,560 to support owners of GM-licensed hackney carriages who meet the minimum emission standard upgrade to a zero-emission capable vehicle.  

It is proposed that the following grants are made available:

  • Upgrade to compliant wheelchair accessible vehicle (Euro 4 Petrol or Euro 6 Diesel): £6,280

  • Upgrade to new zero emission capable wheelchair accessible vehicle: £12,560

  • Upgrade to used zero emission capable wheelchair accessible vehicle: £12,560

  • Compliant non-wheelchair accessible vehicle (Euro 4 Petrol or Euro 6 Diesel): £3,770

  • New zero emission capable non-wheelchair accessible vehicle: £7,530

  • Used zero emission capable non-wheelchair accessible vehicle: £7,530

  • Non-wheelchair accessible vehicle, 6+ seat (Euro 4 Petrol or Euro 6 Diesel): £6,280

The Selective Catalytic Reduction retrofit option has been removed from the proposals based on poor and highly variable performance from retrofit solutions on buses. Additionally, offering a retrofit option to taxis would likely increase the average age of the fleet and would potentially conflict with local authority age policies. Feedback has also been received by the trade in 2022 that funding towards vehicle replacement was preferred over a retrofit option.

A Clean Taxi Fund would need to be approved by government. No date for grants opening is available yet. 

As the proposal is subject to government feedback and approval, there is no guarantee that the Clean Taxi Fund will open. Owners upgrading their vehicle in advance of feedback from the government should NOT assume that applications to the fund will be accepted retrospectively.

Please  sign up for updates  on future funding. 

If the government approves our current proposals, grants would support upgrades to every eligible hackney cab and private hire vehicle licensed with a Greater Manchester authority by 20 December 2023.  

Upgrades would need to meet a new minimum emission standard being introduced by Greater Manchester local authorities by 31 December 2025 (date to be reviewed if government does not agree to the Clean Taxi Fund).  

Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles with an internal combustion engine would need to be either Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel, or be a fully Zero Emissions Capable electric vehicle. 

Grants would be issued directly to applicants who can prove they meet the relevant criteria, rather than through dealerships. This would give more flexibility over selling and buying a new vehicle.  

A Clean Taxi Fund would need to be approved by government. No date for grants opening is available yet. 

Please  sign up for updates  on future funding. 

No date can be confirmed yet. This is because government would need to agree to GM’s proposals for an investment-led Clean Air Plan for the Clean Taxi Fund to go ahead.  

Depending on the feedback received, any final changes would then be made before launching the fund. 

Please  sign up for updates  on future funding. 

The total funding requirement of £30.5m is based on the total eligible vehicle population so we are confident that it will cover all valid applications from owners of non-compliant vehicles.  

The proposal is to fund EVERY eligible vehicle as at 20 December 2023, and the funding assumes every eligible taxi owner will take up the grant. 

A Clean Taxi Fund would need to be approved by government. No date for grants opening is available yet. 

Please  sign up for updates  on future funding. 

How does air pollution affect us and how is Greater Manchester already cleaning up our air?  

Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. Air pollution harms our health at every stage of life. The effects can start as early a baby’s first few weeks in the womb. The most vulnerable people in society are hit hardest – children, older people and those already in poor health. Read more about the health impacts of air pollution.  

Public Health England calculated that poor air quality contributed to the equivalent of 1,200 early deaths per year in Greater Manchester in 2016.*  

In 2019, Public Health England published a report stating that at a UK level, the equivalent of between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year were attributable to long-term exposure to air pollution. Based on the size of the Greater Manchester population, this could equate to between 1,300 and 1,700 deaths per year in region.     

* Through its Public Health Outcomes Framework, which gave a spatial breakdown of deaths attributable to air pollution.  

The original Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan has already started to clean up Greater Manchester’s air:  

  • Clean Air Financial Support Scheme for HGVs (introduced November 2021): As of the end of November 2023, 205 HGVs have been upgraded.  

  • Clean Bus Fund (introduced in December 2020): As of the end of November 2023, 69 buses have been replaced with compliant vehicles. 956 buses had been retrofitted with clean technology to meet Government Clean Air Zone standards. However, the government is currently conducting a national review of its bus retrofit programme after initial research revealed variable results in reducing emissions. 

  • £3.5m taxi only electric charging vehicle fund: We’ve installed 30 rapid charging points dedicated for private hire and hackney vehicles to encourage the move to EV. A wider project will see 60 taxi charging points installed in total across Greater Manchester, with locations chosen following feedback from the trade.  

Greater Manchester has a strong track record of working with partners to secure a sustainable transport system that also tackles the issue of poor air quality. 

Over the past decade, around £200m a year has been invested to improve clean transport and encourage sustainable and active travel, Metrolink expansion and improvements, bus priority, smart ticketing and information systems, and park and ride sites. 

Our work is continuing to clean up Greater Manchester’s air with the introduction of the Bee Network: a ‘London-style’, high volume, low fare, transport system, which is transforming the way people travel across the city region. 

More people are getting on board the Bee Network and travelling sustainably thanks to lower fares, more joined-up services, state-of-the-art electric buses, and a growing active travel network, set to be the largest in the country. 

Bringing buses back under local control through the Bee Network also allows Greater Manchester to run clean buses on routes where they are most needed to improve air quality.  

The 64 electric buses we are seeking government funding for would be in addition to the 85 currently in operation. With 50 more due to come into service in March 2024, they would bring the fleet total to 199 next year. Under current plans, Greater Manchester would have 369 zero-emission buses operating in 2025 and 619 by the end of 2027, supporting the overall ambition for an entirely electric fleet by 2032. 

Shaping the new Clean Air Plan with local residents and businesses  

Greater Manchester leaders are committed to tackling the health impacts of air pollution as a priority.  

We want to clean up our air and protect people’s health in a way that is fair to businesses and residents affected by financial hardship, while meeting the new government legal direction to meet nitrogen dioxide legal limits by 2026. In the current economic environment, with increasing information about the harm air pollution causes, achieving this is a delicate balance.  

Greater Manchester believes that an investment-led Clean Air Plan, rather than a charging Clean Air Zone, is the fairest approach for our businesses and residents. Investment through the Clean Air Plan and in sustainable transport has already delivered significant improvements in air quality.  

Work to develop the new investment-led Clean Air Plan has included targeted engagement and research with key impacted groups. This included working with vehicle-owning groups (like the taxi trade) and representatives of other impacted individuals, such as community and equality-based groups. 

We will continue to work with these groups to ensure we develop a plan that works for Greater Manchester and makes the best use of the government funding available. 

Throughout the process to develop its Clean Air Plan, Greater Manchester has fully consulted on the proposals in line with legal requirements and local authority guiding principles.

The next steps for the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan are dependent on feedback from the government.

The nature and timescales of any further consultation on the Clean Air Plan proposals will be confirmed once we have received full, formal government feedback.

Infrastructure, procurement, signage and costs  

The development of the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan is funded by the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU), the joint Defra (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs) and DfT (Department for Transport) unit established to deliver national plans to improve air quality and meet legal limits. The costs related to the Plan’s implementation and operation are directly funded or underwritten by JAQU.  

All reasonable costs associated with the development of the new plan, including the essential requirement to update existing signage, will continue to be funded by government.  

Following competitive tenders run by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of the 10 local authorities, the following companies were appointed to deliver work for the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone:  

  • Egis: Responsible for the installation and maintenance of around 900 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, and a Clean Air Zone office to handle payments, discounts, exemptions and financial reconciliation along with any penalty charge notices (PCNs) that are issued to non-payers of the charge.  

  • McCann & Company Limited: Five-and-a-half-year contract to design, manufacture, install, maintain and decommission more than 2,200 signs to support the Clean Air Zone.  

  • Legal Services Alliance: A collaboration of Squire Patton Boggs and BDP Pitmans advising TfGM on the project.   

TfGM, acting on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, contracted with McCann & Co Ltd for the installation, maintenance and decommissioning of around 2,200 signs needed across 18 local authorities for a Greater Manchester wide Clean Air Zone. These included the ten Greater Manchester local authorities and the eight neighbouring authorities of Calderdale, Kirklees, Derbyshire, Cheshire East, Warrington, St Helens, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen. The value of the contract is £3.04m. Expenditure to the end of November 2023 on this contract was £2,160,089. This figure will be updated and reported here each quarter, a quarter in arrears.   

In February 2022, after the review of the Clean Air Plan was announced, signage installation on the local road network was paused and a sticker to cover the planned opening date on installed signs was required. A further order was awarded to McCann for £120,000 for 1,309 ‘Under review’ stickers and to apply them. McCann was responsible for applying the stickers to the signs in the following local authorities: Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Calderdale, Kirklees, Derbyshire, Cheshire East, Warrington, St Helens, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen. The following local authorities applied the stickers to the signs in their own areas at a total cost of £69,300: Bolton (£11,500), Bury (£6,900), Salford (£14,200), Stockport (£17,000), Tameside (£3,500), Trafford (£9,300) and Wigan (£6,900).  

The cost of the signage, including any need to update it, is funded or underwritten by JAQU.   

National Highways is responsible for the work carried out on signage on the Strategic Road Network, which includes motorways. We don’t have details of the costs for this work. 

The ANPR cameras installed for the formerly planned Clean Air Zone have helped us to better understand the current vehicle fleet on the city-region’s roads. 

We’ve been able to use this data – as we develop our investment-led Clean Air Plan - to identify vehicles* that could be upgraded.  Where ANPR cameras are next to air quality monitoring stations, we have also been able to analyse how specific vehicle types might be contributing to overall emissions – and see the vehicle types that are travelling most regularly through areas where NO exceeds legal limits.  

The cameras have also helped us understand how vehicle fleets have naturally renewed over the development of the Clean Air Plan, and what impact the pandemic may have had.  

Once Greater Manchester’s local authorities meet their air quality legal limits, the ANPR cameras will no longer be used for Clean Air Plan purposes. Greater Manchester Police have advised that the disclosure requests from the cameras have been very useful in detecting crime Greater Manchester. GM wants to work with government to consider whether they could be used for potential law enforcement activity related to the detection of crime. There would be a full public consultation on any such measures.  

*The ANPR cameras are purpose built and mounted on either lamp posts or dedicated poles. They are designed to achieve a specific field of view and are fixed to ‘look’ at the highway and record the Registration Number of passing vehicles so that the DVLA can advise us of the specific type of vehicle and the emission standards of its engine. The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan privacy policy explains how Greater Manchester’s local authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester will use and process data for the Plan, including data collected by the ANPR cameras.  

TfGM, acting on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, contracted with Egis Projects SA to deliver the Clean Air Zone service contract required for a Greater Manchester-wide category C charging Zone. This included the installation and maintenance of ANPR cameras, a public-facing Clean Air Zone office to handle payments, discounts, exemptions and financial reconciliation along with any Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). Expenditure to the end of November 2023 on the contract, including ANPR cameras, was £21.6m. In addition, the operational expenditure for the Clean Air Zone up to the end of November 2023 was £11m. 

All reasonable costs associated with the Clean Air Zone, including the installation of ANPR cameras, continue to be funded or underwritten by government.   

This figure will be updated and reported here each quarter, a quarter in arrears.