Legislation

The UK government has a long-term strategy to improve air quality across the UK by discouraging the use of older, more polluting vehicles. In addition, its short-term goal is to reduce the number of areas where air pollution breaches legal limits.

As a result, central government tasked local authorities with improving air quality in their areas. Five cities were mandated to introduce a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) - Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton. The Government also named 23 other local authorities where it expected pollution levels to soon reach illegal levels.

Many local authorities are conducting feasibility studies and are going through the consultation process. Some had plans to introduce CAZs in 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that some of these plans have been delayed - for example, Newcastle.

In October 2020, a joint review by Leeds City Council and central government concluded that the planned CAZ for the city was no longer required.

Both Nottingham and Leicester have also cancelled their plans to introduce CAZs.

In Derby, the City Council is to deploy traffic management measures rather than a CAZ as its way of dealing with air quality issues.

In Southampton, central government approved the implementation of a Local NO2 Plan instead of the introduction of a charging CAZ.

Bristol’s CAZ has been delayed until summer 2022 in order to allow time for more financial support to be provided to help residents and businesses upgrade their vehicles.

In Oxford, the introduction of a Zero Emissions Zone (ZEZ) covering the city centre was delayed because of COVID-19 and will now be introduced in 2022.

In Scotland, Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in Dundee and Aberdeen are now scheduled to be introduced in May 2022 and Glasgow's Phase 2 LEZ will be enforced as of 1 June 2023.

Edinburgh’s LEZs are due to be introduced in 2022 and enforced in 2024.

In summary:

• Bath's CAZ went live on 15 March 2021. Further details here.
• Birmingham's CAZ went live on 1 June 2021. Further details here.
• London extended its existing Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on 25 October 2021. Further details here.
• Portsmouth's CAZ went live on 29 November 2021. Further details here and a webinar here.
• Bradford's CAZ is due to go live in January 2022. Further details here.
• Oxford's ZEZ is due to go live in 2022. Further details here.
• Dundee's LEZ is due to go live in 2022. Further details here.
• Aberdeen's LEZ is due to go live in 2022. Further details here.
• Edinburgh's LEZ is due to go live in 2022. Further details here.
• Manchester's CAZ is due to go live on 30 May 2022. Further details here.
• Newcastle's CAZ is due to go live in Summer 2022. Further details here.
• Bristol's CAZ is due to go live in Summer 2022. Further details here.
• Sheffield's CAZ is due to go live in late 2022. Further details here.
• Glasgow's Phase 2 LEZ is due to be enforced as of 1 June 2023. Further details here.

The rules for each CAZ vary but commercial vehicles that don't meet Euro 6 emissions standards will be charged to operate in a CAZ.

Protect your business against thousands of pounds going up in smoke! Contact your nearest branch today to discuss how you can avoid CAZ charges.

Further details about CAZs and their introduction are available from the UK Government website and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Road Freight and Logistics published a report on CAZs in November 2020.

14 July 2021. The UK government published its Transport decarbonisation plan – what it describes as a plan for cleaner air, healthier communities and tens of thousands of new green jobs, and the world’s first ‘greenprint’ to decarbonise all modes of domestic transport by 2050.

The Department for Transport has produced a video promoting the plan, which includes consultation on banning the sale of new non-zero emission HGVs up to and including 26 tonnes by 2035 and the sale of all new non-zero emission HGVs by 2040.

The consultation closed on 3 September.

In 2018, the government unveiled its Road to Zero strategy for transitioning to cleaner road transport - one of the most comprehensive packages of support for a move to zero-emission vehicles in the world.

On 10 August 2021, the DVSA launched a consultation survey on proposals to overhaul HGV driver testing and speed up licence testing capacity, in an effort to encourage new drivers into the profession and ease the nationwide driver shortage. The consultation closed on Tuesday 7 September.

Since the consultation closed, the government has announced that HGV driving tests will be overhauled.

Following consultation during 2020, the Government is to move forward with its proposed changes to the Highway Code making those that can do the greatest harm (for example, HGVs) have the greatest responsibility.

The proposals include plans to improve safety for the most vulnerable by introducing a hierarchy of road users, clarifying pedestrian and cyclist priority, and establishing safer overtaking.

In London, HGVs are disproportionately involved in fatalities with pedestrians and cyclists. The DVS scheme is designed to help improve road safety in the city, particularly HGV driver visibility of vulnerable road users.

The scheme was announced by the Mayor of London and Transport for London  (TfL) in October 2019 and came into force on 1st March 2021 when an enforcement zone was introduced into Greater London.

DVS uses star ratings, ranging from 0 to 5 and based on the HGV driver’s direct view out of their cab’s front and side windows. All vehicles over 12 tonnes GVW either entering or operating in the zone are affected and need to be either at least 1-star rated or comply with the scheme’s Safe System and have a Safety Permit in place.

Find out more by visiting the TfL website and download the DVS guide put together by our friends at Motormax.

From 6 April 2021, hauliers entering England from outside the UK will need to take a COVID-19 test within 48 hours of arrival. Free tests will be available at over 40 government advice sites and anyone failing to comply will face a £2,000 fine. 

As part of its push to reduce carbon, the government launched a consultation on proposals to amend the RTFO to increase the percentage of renewable fuels used in road transport. The consultation closed on 23 April, 2021.

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee conducted a public consultation on zero emission vehicles and road pricing. It included consultation on a date for phasing out the sale of new diesel HGVs. The deadline for submitting evidence was Wednesday 17 February.

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, gave the go-ahead for the widespread use of longer semi-trailers (LSTs) on Britain’s roads in February 2021. This was after a trial of LSTs (which started in 2012 and was paused in December 2020) and an industry consultation that ran until 1st February 2021 to gather views on whether the trial should be ended.

From 20 April 2021, HGV drivers moving between GB and the EU no longer need a Kent Access Permit (KAP) to enter Kent. The government introduced KAPs last December in the runup to the end of the Brexit transition period in order to prevent queues building up at the Channel ports.

However, drivers still need to:

• Check they have the paperwork needed to cross the border between Great Britain and the EU.
• Check if they need a coronavirus (COVID-19) test and when they should get one - this varies from country to country.

Following the end of the UK's EU transition period, the Northern Ireland Protocol came into effect, resulting in changes to the way goods are moved between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

See the latest information, including a government guide that highlights five key things you can do now. It also provides additional guidance and support.

In addition, the free-to-use Trader Support Service is available to help businesses of all kinds and sizes navigate the new rules. It:

• Provides a free end-to-end support package to manage import and safety and security declarations on behalf of traders.
• Educates businesses on what the Northern Ireland Protocol means for them, and the steps they need to take to comply with it. This includes online training sessions and webinars.
• Helps to complete relevant declaration forms for all businesses moving goods into Northern Ireland under new processes in the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Department for Transport has published its guidance for hauliers and commercial drivers who move goods between Great Britain and the EU.

The guidance (which is also summarised in a four-page leaflet) tells drivers and operators what they need to do following the end of the UK's EU transition period.

In the run-up to the end of the UK's EU transition period, the Department for Transport set up 45 centres at motorway service stations and truck stops across the UK where in-person advice is available for hauliers and commercial drivers who move goods between Great Britain and the EU. A list and map of the sites are available on the government's website.

After research commissioned by the Department for Transport and public consultation, the government announced that it will become illegal to fit tyres 10 years old or over to the front wheels of HGVs, buses and coaches plus on all axles of minibuses when fitted in a single configuration.

The move has been made to improve road safety.

The ban came into force in England, Scotland and Wales as of 1 February 2021, and also applies to re-treaded tyres.

New EU rules on drivers' hours for goods vehicles include changes relating to the international carriage of goods.Operators must now organise work so that, within each period of four consecutive weeks, drivers can return to either their normal base or their home.

Also, weekly rest requirements are more flexible when a driver accompanies a vehicle that is being transported by ferry or train.

See the government's summary of the rules on drivers’ hours.