Clean Air Zones (CAZs) are the UK Government’s key mechanism for reducing NO2 from road transport to legal levels “in the shortest possible time”, but they illustrate the Government’s over-reliance on local government to deliver progress. CAZs were already being held up before the pandemic by delays in national funding, lack of national support and local delays. The Government’s updated CAZ- timetable provides only a partial picture with regards to all the local authorities that had been dire...

Clean Air Zones (CAZs) are the UK Government’s key mechanism for reducing NO2 from road transport to legal levels “in the shortest possible time”, but they illustrate the Government’s over-reliance on local government to deliver progress. CAZs were already being held up before the pandemic by delays in national funding, lack of national support and local delays. The Government’s updated CAZ- timetable provides only a partial picture with regards to all the local authorities that had been directed to consider whether to introduce CAZs. Many CAZs have been further held up by the pandemic so a concerted effort is needed to achieve faster progres Type: recommendation | Number: 11 | Paragraph: 87 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: The measures implemented by local area—including CAZ—are developed by local areas and informed by local modelling data and area needs. The Clean Air Zone Framework (CAZ) in England first published in 2017 ensures consistency between CAZs