Birmingham City Council fines itself £470,000 for breaking Clean Air Zone rules
Birmingham City Council has fined itself more than £470,000 after its own vehicles breached the council’s Clean Air Zone policy.
Since the scheme, known as Jazz, began in the city center five years ago, non-compliant vehicles from the council’s fleet have resulted in 3,262 daily charges and fines worth £472,253.
Clean Air Zones charge fees for vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards, while others use measures to improve air quality, such as refurbishing certain vehicles or rerouting traffic.
The daily charge for cars, vans and taxis is £8 in Birmingham, and £50 for HGVs and buses, unless there is a valid exemption. Those who fail to pay within six days of entering the zone will face a £120 fine, which will be reduced to £60 if payment is made within 14 days.
data, Obtained by BBC He did not say whether the council had paid higher fines for late payment over all five years, using the Environmental Information Regulations. The most recent fines under municipal purchasing cards in the last financial year were paid in full by City Operations.
Despite a bin strike in the city since January 2025, the majority of vehicles facing daily charges were from the waste department.
A spokesman said the council “historically owned and operated a large fleet of more than 1,100 vehicles”, many of which were not Jazz compliant and were therefore subject to a daily charge.
However, last year’s renewal program reduced this number to 142; these are all being reviewed and are “on track to be removed from the fleet” so that “the entire waste, street cleaning and off-road fleet is now fully compliant with the Clean Air Zone”.
In a statement, a Birmingham City Council spokesman added: “Further changes have also been made to other vehicles that have been decommissioned or replaced with electric alternatives.
“The council’s policy is that drivers are responsible for paying any fines they incur when using their own vehicles for work, unless there is evidence that the penalty was caused by an issue or error on the part of the council.”
