Chamber to monitor CAZ impact on business

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) has worked closely with Birmingham City Council (BCC) to help businesses prepare for the city 's Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which came into force this week.

And since the CAZ was mandated by the government, the GBCC has worked with the BCC on bringing forward several measures.

They included the reduction of fines for non-compliant vehicles; money generated from the CAZ to be put back into the city 's transport infrastructure; transparency on how much money is generated and where it is being spent and ensuring that the BCC secured a suitable amount of money from the government to offer financial support for impacted businesses

Henrietta Brealey (pictured), the GBCC 's chief executive, said: "At the heart of it, this is about improving air quality but this is a precarious time for city centre hospitality in particular and their needs and any negative impact must be understood and acted on as soon as they emerge.

"Over the past two years, the Chamber has worked hard on behalf of its members to ensure that businesses were aware of the Zone but also lobbied vigorously on their behalf to ensure the financial support structures were in place to help those firms most affected.

"Over the next few weeks and months, we will continue to monitor feedback from businesses to understand any immediate and longer term impacts. We will continue to champion businesses ' needs while also helping them access the support available.

"Anyone still unsure on how the Zone might impact their business should take a look our Business Toolkit, which contains a raft of information on how to check whether your vehicle is compliant with the new rules, information on accessing financial support, implementing travel plans and how to upgrade vehicles if necessary."

Birmingham 's CAZ will cover all of the roads within but not including the A4540 middle way ring road and were mandated by central Government. Consultations over the zone have taken place over the last two years

The BCC recognises that smaller businesses and people who are self-employed may need extra support.

Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) with coaches or heavy goods vehicles may be eligible to apply for support through the Heavy Duty Vehicle Fund. This can help with the cost of retrofitting non-compliant vehicles or purchasing/leasing compliant vehicles.

The funding will be available from 2021 (postponed from summer 2020 following the impact of Covid-19). For more information and to complete an expression of interest form click here.

Click here to access the GBCC ”s Clean Air Zone Business Toolkit and click here to view the Clean Air Zone page on the Chamber website here.