Glasgow City Council Makes Almost £500,000 From LEZ Fines

A detail view of signage indicating the new boundary of the LEZ and ULEZ expansion on August 29, 2023. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Since the low emission zone (LEZ) was introduced in Glasgow in June 2023, the city council has made £478,560 in penalty charges, latest figures show.

Under LEZ rules, drivers whose vehicle is non-compliant with emission standards, must pay a penalty charge of £60.

This is followed by doubling for each contravention, capped at £480 for cars and light good vehicles, and £960 for bus and HGV.

If drivers pay the charge within 14 days, it gets reduced by 50 percent. Further, if there are no subsequent contraventions within three months, the penalty is reset to £60.

According to figures, published by Glasgow City Council, there were 20,134 LEZ fines issued between June and the end of September.

In the first month of the LEZ enforcement, the local authority issued 2,897 fines. In August and September, the council issued almost double that number. This could be due to a period of familiarisation in June, when non-compliant vehicles received a maximum of one Penalty Charge Notice.

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The revenue of £478,560 is meant to be reinvested in schemes reducing air pollution, according to the council. However, no specific decision has yet been made regarding the surplus revenue spent.

“Penalties are reduced by 50 percent if paid within 14 days, with all revenue above that incurred in running Glasgow’s LEZ scheme itself only used for activities that help reduce air pollution or contribute toward achieving our climate change targets,” a council spokesperson said.

LEZ Across UK

Creation of LEZ zones in Scotland is enabled by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. Glasgow LEZ was the first across four major cities in Scotland to be enforced. It will be followed by Dundee in the end of May next year, and Edinburgh and Aberdeen in June 2024.

Low emission zones will help meet Scotland’s commitment to reduce car kilometres travelled by 20 percent by 2030, said Transport Scotland.

When the LEZs announcement was made in 2022, the then Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth called it a “truly significant public health moment for Scotland.” The decision was supported by health charities.

“With one in five Scots developing a lung conditions like asthma and COPD in their lifetime, for them, it [air pollution] can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks and exacerbations,” said head at Asthma+Lung UK Joseph Carter.

Critics of the LEZ scheme have argued that it affects people on lower income, unable to replace their cars at a time of a cost-of-living crisis.

Businesses have also voiced concerns over LEZ restrictions affecting pub and nightclub goers. Fearing they won’t be able to get home at night, customers would avoid going to pubs and clubs as often as they used to.

In other parts of the UK, an ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) was expanded to cover London’s outer boroughs on Aug.29.

Under London’s ULEZ scheme, drivers of non-compliant vehicles must pay a £12.50 daily fee. Failure to pay the fee leads to a £180 penalty charge, which is reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

Transport for London (TfL) reported that in the first month of London’s ULEZ expansion, around 60,000 vehicle owners paid the £12.50 daily charge.

It is estimated that the TfL receives approximately £730,000 a day in ULEZ fees. According to the TfL, all money received from the scheme is reinvested into developing London’s transport network.

ULEZ penalty charges are a hefty addition to the expenses of London households and businesses, faced with the cost-of-living crisis and high inflation. A former MEP and co-deputy leader of the Reform UK party, called the ULEZ expansion a “war on the working class.”

Mr. Khan has admitted that ULEZ expansion was “not an easy” decision to make but he was set to see it through.

Clean Air Zones (CAZs) are operational in a number of UK cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford, Bath, Bradford and Portsmouth.

Unlike London’s ULEZ and other CAZs across the UK, the LEZs across Scotland do not offer a daily charge for drivers to pay. Non-compliant vehicles get a penalty straight away.