MSA GB Newslink July

News
Clean air for Brum - but check your car’s okay
Birmingham has become the latest urban
area in the UK to launch its Clean Air
Zone, following Bath and with plenty
more cities to come.
The CAZ is within the area of the A4540
Middleway (but not the Middleway itself)
and will be used to encourage the drivers
of the most polluting vehicles to upgrade
or replace their vehicle. People are also
being encouraged to think about walking,
cycling or using public transport more –
especially for shorter journeys.
A daily fee will be charged on vehicles
that do not meet the emission standards
for the zone. If owners do not pay the
daily fee after this date the registered
keeper of the vehicle will be issued with
a penalty charge notice.
Cars, taxis and LGVs which do not
meet the Clean Air Zone emission
standard will be charged £8 a day and
non-compliant coaches, buses and HGVs
will be charged £50 per day.
The Clean Air Zone charge runs
midnight to midnight. Drivers can pay six
days in advance of their visit, the day of
their visit and six days after the day of
their visit, giving a total payment window
of 13 days. Payments can be paid
online using the Government’s payment
system or over the phone by calling
0300 029 8888 (Monday to Friday,
8am to 4:30pm).
To avoid being charged in a Clean Air
Zone, your vehicle must meet the
following minimum standard:
Buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles:
Euro VI
Vans, minibuses, taxis, private hire
vehicles, cars: Euro 6 (diesel) and Euro
4 (petrol)
Motorcycles: Euro 3.
A range of support measures have
been brought in to support those
immediately impacted by the changes.
This includes temporary exemption
permits and financial incentives as well
as the Heavy Duty Vehicle (HDV Fund)
– but there’s no support for ADIs.
However, the majority of modern tuition
cars – certainly those built in the past
6-7 years – should be okay. A test of the
system found that a relatively modern
Ford Kuga with a 1.5 Zetec engine is fine
but an older diesel (circa 2008) S-Max
would be hit by the £8 a day charge.
Cabinet Member for Transport and
Environment at Birmingham City Council,
Councillor Waseem Zaffar MBE has said:
“After more than two years of planning,
I’m delighted to launch Birmingham’s
Clean Air Zone. This is a bold move that
will help to address some significant
health inequalities in our city. This is also
an important step in encouraging people
to re-think how we all move around the
city.
“I’m confident that this initiative will
save lives, and provide a cleaner, greener,
safer space for our communities in a part
of our city that has a problem with poor
air quality.
“I would encourage everyone to check
their vehicles, familiarise themselves
with the charging process and check out
the support that is still available through
the Brum Breathes website.”
To find out the rules over whether your
car meets the critieria, click the panel.
Click here for
the full story
The Clean Air Zone.
For those less
knowledgeable about
Birmingham’s road
network, the CAZ is a
central area which
has the A4540 inner
ring road as its
boundary
AA reports surge in interest as people look for new career
New research by the AA Driving School
has shown that one quarter of people
have considered changing careers during
the pandemic.
In the survey, 24 per cent of adults said
they had looked into changing their career
or had actually moved jobs in the last six
months due to the pandemic, as many
workers reflect on their future goals and
work interests.
Of those, nearly two in five (18 per
cent) said they had considered
changing careers but had not
made the move yet.
Unfortunately, three per cent
said they had been forced to
change careers due to the
pandemic.
Official government statistics
estimate the most recent unemployment
rate, 4.9 per cent between December
2020 to February 2021, has risen by 0.9
per cent since the start of the pandemic.
At the same time, visits to the AA
Driving School’s driving instructor training
course website have risen by 300 per
cent since last year, suggesting many of
those looking for a switch in career are
considering becoming an ADI.
Robert Cowell, AA Driving School
Interim Managing Director said: “Since
the start of the pandemic many
people have looked into changing
careers and we’ve seen this
reflected in the numbers looking
at our driving instructor training
courses.
“People interested in training with
us have re-assessed what’s important to
them during the pandemic. Their attitude
to work has shifted and many are now
placing greater emphasis on a better
work-life balance in a job that gives them
personal satisfaction.
“Driving instructors work flexibly, control
the hours they work and how much they
charge per lesson, and make a real
difference to people’s lives at a pivotal
moment. Added to that, during lockdowns
driving lessons were suspended creating
pent-up demand for lessons and the
perfect market conditions to join the
industry,” he added.
More on AA Driving School’s training
courses and varied franchise options at
www.theaa.com/driving-school
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NEWSLINK n JULY 2021