Bradford taxi drivers set for share of £1.7m vehicle grant to help switch to electric cabs
A new funding of £1.7m to increase the electric vehicle grants is now available for taxis licensed with Bradford Council.
The Government has granted the council an extension of the lead in period to the Clean Air Zone and, instead of going live in January 2022, the CAZ will now be introduced in the Spring.
This will allow businesses more time to use the Clean Air Funding available and upgrade their vehicles.
It will also provide more time for council systems to integrate with the Government’s national IT infrastructure which manages all Clean Air Zones across the country. The Council will make an announcement early in the New Year with the confirmed go live date.
Whilst many taxi owners are opting for petrol hybrid vehicles, they can also opt for an electric taxi with increased £10,000 grants from a new £1.7m fund announced.
The council has said it recognises that some taxi proprietors may be struggling to upgrade their vehicles and so we will be launching a taxi scrappage scheme early in the New Year; the first in the country.
The council has already confirmed that, after extensive lobbying, the Government has allowed the daily charge for non-compliant taxis entering the CAZ to be reduced from £12.50 to £7, making it the lowest daily charge in the UK.
The Bradford Licensed Taxi trade has achieved 60% CAZ compliance so far and is constantly improving with increasing numbers of taxi owners taking advantage of the grants on offer.
The council says it recognises the work of taxi owners that has been carried out to date and to support this work, it has provided a comprehensive funding package with the highest grant available in the UK to upgrade private hire vehicles (PHV).
Taxi owners with non-compliant taxis will be able to apply for the grant to be paid up front on condition that either a compliant taxi is purchased within 4 months from application or the non-compliant taxi is de-licensed after this period.
The council will also continue to provide the current grant scheme to enable owners to be paid grant funding once they have licensed their new vehicle.
Taxi owners will also be able to use the current grant scheme to apply for increased grants if they wish to upgrade to an electric vehicle. For owned or leased electric taxis, the owner can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 for a wheelchair accessible vehicle or up to £6,000 for a non-wheelchair accessible vehicle. Should any taxi owner who has already upgraded their vehicle feel that they would have made a different decision, had this funding been made available earlier, then please contact the Council so that we can discuss options.
Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places said: “I want to thank Bradford Licensed Taxi trade for all they are doing to make the air cleaner in Bradford district.
"With many successful grant awards we are making significant progress. The new funding available alongside the extended lead in period means that there are more opportunities for taxi owners to apply for increased grants if they wish to upgrade to an electric vehicle.
“The Council is providing the most extensive exemptions programme of any CAZ authority, with businesses and residents allowed to exempt certain vehicles.
"The Council has lobbied Government to make sure that the daily charge for non-compliant taxis entering the CAZ has been reduced from £12.50 to £7, making it the lowest daily charge in the UK.
"The Bradford Clean Air Exemptions Programme will be launched early in the New Year. If you are interested in this programme then you can register your interest on the Breathe Better Bradford website and the Council will notify everyone once the scheme is launched.”
