Birmingham City Council has developed a new website to help operators understand pending clean air zone requirements and provide fleet upgrade advice.

Business Breathes features information on low-emission vehicles, grants and incentives that will be available if businesses need to upgrade their vehicles to avoid charges.

It also provides online tools such as a CAZ postcode checker and a calculator to work out costs and savings of new vehicles being explored.

Information on public refuelling facilities and funding to install work-based or home-charging points is also provided.

Birmingham’s CAZ will start in January 2020 and require all diesel vehicles to be Euro-6 to avoid a penalty charge. Vehicles not meeting the emissions requirement face a proposed £50 daily fee.

The council has proposed a series of business support packages for locally affected fleet operators, including money towards retrofit systems, vehicle upgrades or to pay off finance agreements early.

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Birmingham is currently awaiting the green light from the government to its final proposals, which it submitted in December.

Councillor Waseem Zaffar, cabinet member for transport and environment at Birmingham City Council, said: “The clean air zone will represent a significant change in terms of the way people travel around the city, so it is important that those who rely on the use of vehicles for their business are able to make the necessary preparations and access the relevant support ahead of its implementation in January 2020.

“The Business Breathes website provides a valuable one-stop shop for fleet managers and self-employed drivers to access the information they need to make the switch to greener, cleaner transport options, ensuring Birmingham stays open for business while also helping the city achieve cleaner air for those who live and work here.”

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