Your guide to ULEZ compliance

If you’re worried that something like the increasingly controversial Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) that’s recently been expanded to cover all of Greater London might also spread to Manchester, don’t panic. While thousands of London motorists have been forced to contemplate how much is my car worth before deciding whether to sell up or part-exchange in favour of a newer, less polluting model, drivers in Manchester are currently facing no such threat.

This is because the proposed Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone was put on halt in May 2022 – as the government decided it would be inappropriate to place an additional financial burden on residents in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sounds like great news for drivers – but is it also bad news for the environment? And will Manchester remain ULEZ-free forever?

How is Manchester reducing pollution now?

While the original Clean Air Zone plans have been eliminated, the UK government is still insisting air quality in Manchester should be improved and has set a deadline of 2026 at the latest.

So now a group of local authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester – the local equivalent of Transport for London – have come together to propose an alternative solution under the umbrella of Clean Air Greater Manchester.

But rather than target individual motorists, the new Clean Air Plan for Greater Manchester submitted in July 2022 proposes an investment-led approach to reduce harmful nitrogen oxide levels. It would require £120-million in UK government funding, rather than passing the cost and responsibility onto drivers of private cars.

That money would be used to convert the most heavily polluting vehicles – such as buses and lorries – to low emission or zero emission technology.

The government, however, is yet to agree to the expense, and is actually reviewing its existing bus upgrading programme due to ‘variable’ results. The Clean Air Greater Manchester campaign is continuing to gather evidence in support of its proposals, even so.

Will Manchester drivers have to pay a ULEZ charge in the future?

While there’s no way of predicting everything that will happen over the next few years, Clean Air Greater Manchester remains convinced it can achieve its – and the UK government’s – pollution-reduction aims without resorting to daily charges for ordinary drivers.

So, it seems Manchester and its existing cars are safe for the time being.

How does ULEZ compliance work?

Taking London as the obvious example, in order to be ULEZ compliant, motorists must drive a car that meets a stringent emissions standard. If not they have to pay a charge every day they drive in the ULEZ area.

In London, this means petrol cars that meet the Euro 4 emissions standard and diesel cars that meet the Euro 6 emissions standard. Roughly speaking, this means no earlier than 2005 for petrol cars, and 2015 for diesel cars – there are some exceptions – so you can understand why many London motorists feel aggrieved about the amount of money they would have to pay to buy a newer vehicle.

And that’s with a £2,000 scrappage allowance. The alternative to a replacement car is a daily cost of £12.50 – or a £160 fine.