Sunderland and South Tyneside taxi drivers left out of Newcastle Clean Air Zone grants with millions unspent

Drivers in the boroughs have been excluded from the scheme, which offers grants of up to £16,000 to help people buy cleaner vehicles and avoid CAZ tolls. Newcastle City Council recently confirmed that applications for the grants will close on January 30.

The money is intended to help individuals and businesses swap high-polluting vehicles that don’t comply with the CAZ’s regulations for newer models.

Despite more than 1,100 grants being issued since 2022, around £8 million of an original £15 million provided by the Government for the scheme remains unused and is now expected to be handed over to help bus companies upgrade their fleets.

But members of the Durham Taxi & Private Hire Association are now pleading with decision-makers to make the grants available to them – and to drivers in Sunderland, South Tyneside and Northumberland – having been excluded up until now.

Taxi drivers based in Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside have been eligible to apply for funding of up to £3,500 per vehicle. But those in neighbouring areas have long complained about being left out, saying it has effectively priced them out of making journeys into Newcastle.

Taxis that do not meet the CAZ’s environmental standards are charged £12.50 per day to drive into the city centre, which drivers have argued leaves them either forced to increase fares or refuse to take passengers within the CAZ.

Mike Anderson, chair of the Durham Taxi & Private Hire Association, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “If you are taking a job from Durham into Newcastle and you aren’t Euro 6 compliant, you are paying £12.50 a time. A lot of people have had to make arrangements to drop people off outside the CAZ area, or otherwise you are having to add £12.50 to the passenger’s bill. Either way, it makes it uncompetitive.”

Calling for the grant scheme to be opened to taxis in Durham, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland, Mr Anderson said he feared the leftover funds would be going to “the multi-million and multi-billion pound bus companies, not to the sole traders and small companies”.

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “So far more than 600 taxi drivers have received grant funding totalling £2.2m to help towards the cost of vehicle upgrades.

“Funding for taxis is targeted towards those most likely to be affected by the CAZ, including those who have no choice but to operate within the zone and those more likely to make regular journeys into the zone.

“This not only ensures financial support is provided to those who need it most but is also targeted towards the vehicles more likely to be having the biggest impact on our air quality.

“Now that the majority of these applications have been processed, we are looking at how best to use any remaining funding once the grants scheme closes, again taking into account where we might achieve the biggest improvement in air quality.

“The data we have indicates that directing funding towards further improvements to the city’s bus fleet will achieve a significant improvement in air quality and help to maximise the impact of the available funding for the benefit of everyone who lives, works and spends time within the area.

“We are currently in early discussions with government and bus operators about how this funding could be used.”