Apology for CAZ fine blunders
Council leader says sorry after drivers sent penalty despite being hundreds of miles away
AN apology has been made to drivers slapped with incorrect Birmingham Clean Air Zone (CAZ) fines after it was revealed a woman received 19 of them – despite living 160 miles away.
Council leader Cllr Ian Ward made the apology at a full council meeting on Tuesday after a litany of bizarre penalties since the introduction of charges in June.
But Cllr Ward said the blame must be shared with the Government, which set up the administration of the scheme. He said the council was making it aware of recent errors.
In the meeting Cllr Gareth Moore (Con, Erdington) listed cases including Phillip Morton, 73, who was preparing to watch his grandson appear in a school nativity play 145 miles away at the time he was said to be driving in the CAZ.
Separately, a man from Wolverhampton received £1,300 in fines despite never having driven in the Clean Air Zone.
And Ruth Costello, 57, who lives in West Sussex, received 19 fines totalling £2,280 despite never having driven in Birmingham.
Cllr Ward (Lab, Shard End) said: “I would like to apologise to anyone from anywhere in the country who has been incorrectly charged or fined.
“To anybody who has received a fixed penalty notice when they have not driven in the zone – I would like to apologise unreservedly to them.
“The problem here is that the way the scheme is administered has been set by the Government.
“We have been writing to the Government, making them aware of these deficiencies in the system and we continue to lobby the Government to learn the lessons from the cases that Cllr Moore has highlighted.”
But when asked whether the cameras should be turned off until the glitch can be rectified, Cllr Ward said: “With regards to turning off the cameras, I would suggest Cllr Moore has a word with his own Government.
“Because they would take a very, very dim view of the cameras being switched off.
“I do not accept that the Clean Air Zone is an unfair tax on drivers moving around this city.
“What I would set out to Cllr Moore is that what we are doing in this city is taking measures to reduce air pollution and those measures are a public health crisis in this city and elsewhere around this country.
“So I make no apologies for the introduction of the Clean Air Zone. It’s a public health issue – we are cleaning up the air in this city for the benefit of the people of Birmingham.”
The Clean Air Zone has been introduced to tackle poor air quality in the city responsible for a reported 900 deaths per year.