City’s CleanAir Zone may be delayed again
THE implementation of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) could be delayed further after officers failed to undertake due diligence with the tendering of contracts.
A decision on the provision of infrastructure for the CAZ such as signage, poles and cameras was called in by the council’s Resources Overview and Scrutiny meeting on Wednesday after it was revealed that officers failed to produce a Full Business Case for the works, as is normal procedure.
This in turn meant that the business case used for the procurement of services was outdated, making reference to a July implementation date despite the fact that this date has now passed.
In short, the mistake by council officials opens the council up to legal challenges around the tendering of the contracts, three of which have already been agreed.
As such the decision has now been sent back to cabinet for further consideration, meaning the tendering process – which has already been pushed back by the ongoing pandemic – will be delayed further, as was confirmed by committee Chair Cllr Sir Albert Bore (Lab, Ladywood).
“If this committee called in this decision, the consequences would be that cabinet would have to consider this report,” he said.
“In other words, the three smaller contracts would not go out, there would be a delay – there would be a possible delay in the three larger contracts not yet out to tender, and there would be a delay possibly in the extension of the Siemens contract.”
Speaking at the meeting, deputy leader of the opposition, Cllr Ewan Mackey (Cons, Sutton Roughley), said that the decision needed to be returned to cabinet so that the ‘confusion’ could be cleared up.
And he added that small businesses needed to be provided with a level playing field if they were to bid for contracts around the CAZ.
“I think it really needs to go to cabinet for them to explain to us how the report can talk about a July opening when we’ve already passed that, and we’re looking at a January opening at the earliest I would have thought.
“Because it’s the SMEs that miss out here. These are the businesses we should be looking to support. And when things get as confused as this it’s only the big PLCs that can take action against the council to make things happen, and I think really it needs to go to the council and it needs to be a level playing field for everyone.”
The CAZ should have come into operation in the summer of 2019 but was postponed until January this year when it was delayed again.
The council began to erect Clean Air Zone signs in early February in anticipation of finally launching the scheme last month.
But just weeks later with the coronavirus sweeping the country, full lockdown was imposed from March 23.
It was then decided to postpone the CAZ until at least January 1, 2021 in order to give everyone a bit of breathing space.
AA research suggests an average of 38,000 non-compliant cars are currently being driven into Birmingham every day.
They would face a daily charge of £8 to cross the middle ring road into town CAZ. The fee would be £50 for lorries and buses unless their vehicle meets certain standards, depending on fuel type.