Glasgow council rakes in over £1m from low emission zone penalties

Official documents reveal that of the 1,415 public sector vehicles operating in the SNP-led local authority, some 534 are still not LEZ compliant - nearly a year after enforcement of the zone began.

That is just 82 less than when enforcement was introduced to improve air quality in the city centre.

READ MORE: Glasgow 'shambles' as nearly half of council vehicles don't comply with LEZ

Now it has been confirmed that the council has received £1,010,585 to April 13, this year in fines, having issued 38,294 penalties since enforcement began in June.

The council said that the revenue can only be used "to support the operation of the LEZ, and projects and activities that either enhance the city’s air quality or help it achieve its net zero targets".

It said: “The council’s recent budget process identified potential to direct £250,000 into urban greening and a further £250,000 to support local community climate action projects. However, a more defined picture of the revenue available for projects will only become known following an assessment of operating costs after the LEZ scheme’s first full year of operation.

“Given the range of potential projects which could be supported, an evaluation process will help determine the allocation of resources.”

But Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP was critical of the fines.

“Since its introduction almost a year ago, it is clear Glasgow’s low emission zone is continuing to hammer hard-pressed motorists," he said.

“The scheme was shambolically rolled out by the SNP-led council and they have failed to learn any lessons over the past 12 months.

“We know that nearly 40% of the council’s own vehicles are still not compliant, yet motorists have been hit to the tune of over £1m in fines.

“It is crucial that other cities who are about to introduce their own low emission zones do not repeat Glasgow’s mistakes, while SNP-led Glasgow must be fully upfront about what this money they have raked in is being spent on.”

The council say that only compliant vehicles operated within Glasgow's low emission zone with the non-compliant vehicles "visibly identifiable". They are due to be replaced through a "programme of fleet modernisation".

It is known that the council has had to hire vehicles because some of its fleet does not meet new rules on emissions.

As of August, some £100,000 was spent to hire vehicles to replace those that were non-complaint. It is understood the council by September of last year had been fined 27 times because its vehicles breached the rules.

The council's fleet includes a variety of cars, buses, lorries and vans used to carry out various aspects of council business.

The LEZ covers an area from the M8 motorway to the north and west of Glasgow, the River Clyde to the south, and the Saltmarket/High Street to the east.

The restrictions were introduced last June but similar restrictions have been in place for buses and heavy good vehicles since 2018.

Every non-compliant vehicle detected in the LEZ zone initially faces a fine of £60 but this doubles each time the vehicle enters the restricted zone. Fines are cut by 50% if they are paid within the first 14 days of being issued.

Cars and light-goods vehicles face fines of up to £480 per day for repeated breaches of the rules, known as surcharging, with penalties of up to £960 for buses and HGVs.

Exemptions are available for blue badge holders, motorbikes, mopeds and emergency vehicles.

But in general petrol cars made before 2005 and diesels built before September 2014 are not allowed in the zone.

Between June 12 and July 14, last year, the council had spent £95,344 hiring 131 vehicles to cover fleet vehicles that do not meet LEZ standards.

This included two eight-tonne DAF trucks, a Skyking cherry picker, a Mercedes refrigeration van, 52 Ford Transit vans and 22 Vauxhall Corsa cars.

The council said some of the 131 vehicles were hired to replace older non-compliant parts of the fleet that were earmarked for removal as part of a planned process, rather than specifically because they were required in the LEZ zone.

It said £74,128 was spent in the two months from 1 June on hiring 50 vehicles for LEZ compliance purposes.

Some 21 of its vehicles had been issued penalty charge notices by July 27, last year.

But nine were subsequently cancelled as the vehicles were found to be LEZ compliant.

It comes as enforcement of vehicles registered to a residential property within the zone area will start on June 1.

On the six months after LEZ's introduction on June more than 25,000 fines were issued.

And some £478,560 was raised in fines by the end of September.

In December, more than 1,300 Glasgow motorists escaped low emission zone (LEZ) fines after they were written off by the council.

A tribunal decision in October said any LEZ fines issued by non-tracked post were not enforceable, impacting all fines from June to October.

During the transition from non-tracked to tracked post, 1,388 fines "timed out" as they were not served within 28 days of the LEZ breach.

These fines were then not issued but a council spokeswoman said there was no obligation to refund penalties which have already been paid.

All LEZ fines are now sent by tracked post, according to the council, making them legally enforceable.

The council has previously said it was appealing against the decision by the Transport Appeal Tribunal for Scotland which said the initial fines were not enforceable.

It says the revenue earned by the LEZ can legally only be spent to reduce air pollution or meet the council's climate change targets.

In November, a court action aimed at stopping the enforcement of Glasgow's low emission zone (LEZ) failed.

William Paton, the local garage owner who fronted a judicial review of the scheme saying that it was unlawful said the ruling from Lady Poole in the Court of Session was a "kick in the teeth".

Mr Paton, who runs a 60-year-old accident repair business in Glasgow's Townhead believes that showed it was unnecessary for an LEZ to be introduced in Glasgow.

Lawyers for Glasgow City Council (GCC) and the Scottish government had been contesting the action.

Enforcement using the penalty charges structure is due to be brought in in Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen in June.

At the centre of the city council challenge were concerns that the extension of the LEZ to cover cars was not required - because an initial phase directed at buses had already proved effective in meeting the legal standards.

In the UK, the law on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution – one of the most harmful pollutants – says annual average concentrations cannot exceed 40 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air).

According to the Scottish Government's air quality database the annual mean at the eight monitoring sites around Glasgow never exceeded 40 µg/m3 in 2022. The LEZ was extended to cars from December 31 of that year.

The highest mean concentrations were Glasgow Central Station with 39.1, while Byres Road was 25.3, Dumbarton Road was at 24.4, and Nithsdale Road was 22.1. The lowest concentrations were at Anderston where it was 21.6, High Street (20.9), Great Western Road (19.8) and Townhead (16.8).

In 2021, one of the eight was above the legal limit - Glasgow Central Station at 45.1.

Glasgow’s scheme works differently from the clean air zones in Bath, Bristol and Birmingham, plus London’s ULEZ, because while those cities allow drivers to pay a fee of between £8 and £12.50 to enter, Glasgow’s LEZ bans older, more polluting cars outright in a model that is being copied in Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.

The square mile city centre LEZ zone is aimed at improving Glasgow’s air quality and unlike other UK cities has a fine structure working on an escalating scale.

When the LEZ zone was launched campaigners hailed the move as a “big moment” for the city that will save lives by giving residents “more breathable air”.

Road transport is estimated to be responsible for about 50% of total emissions of nitrogen oxides, which means that nitrogen dioxide levels are highest close to busy roads and in large urban areas. Gas boilers in buildings are also a source of nitrogen oxides.

When the first low-emission zone in Scotland was introduced in Glasgow from December 31, 2018, it was directed at buses.

Phase Two directed at cars came into effect in December 2022 while the scheme was enforced through fines by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) from the start of June, this year.

The council says it is only aimed at a minority of older vehicles which are the most polluting - with up to 90% of cars thought to already meet the requirements.

The council have been unable to answer questions on how much it has spent on new vehicles to replace those that are non-compliant.