Andy Burnham has said he is ‘open to any solution’ that might cut pollution to legal levels without jeopardising jobs - as the region is poised for further meetings with ministers on the controversial Clean Air Zone.
At his weekly press conference this afternoon the M.E.N. asked him to elaborate on comments he made on Friday, in which he suggested an ‘alternative’ might be found to the second phase of the scheme.
That phase, currently due to be introduced in May 2023, would charge non-compliant vans and taxis a daily rate to drive into or within Greater Manchester.
But the plan has caused public outcry in recent weeks, while research by the combined authority has found that the cost of replacing vehicles with cleaner versions has rocketed during the pandemic.
The mayor said on Friday that he felt there was ‘a possibility that we can do something different, but still achieve compliance’.
Pushed today on what that might mean, he said he did not want to pre-empt a meeting of councillors later this week that is expected to trigger further discussions with government.
But he added: “We have to get the air down to legal levels. Government is requiring us to do that. We want to do that, to clean up the air, without losing a job, a business or putting anybody into hardship.
“And we are obviously open to any solutions that can obviously help us achieve that.”
He said an initial conversation with ‘levelling up’ secretary Michael Gove on Friday, during the minister’s visit to Manchester, had been ‘positive’.
This Thursday members of a Greater Manchester-level air quality committee - chaired by Trafford council leader Andrew Western, who holds the portfolio for clean air - will meet to discuss whether to formally go back to government on the issue.
If agreed, that would see Greater Manchester ask ministers for a pause on the funding scheme for phase two of the zone in order for further negotiations to take place, in the hope that more financial support can be secured for people who fear losing their livelihoods as a result of the charges.
The recommendation to councillors also states that a ‘review’ of the policy would be sought, however, opening up the possibility that the zone could be changed.
Currently Greater Manchester is under a legal instruction to slash air pollution to legal levels by 2024 by introducing the zone in its existing form, meaning any such move would mean the agreement of ministers.
Councils also fear legal action by environmentalists if that goal is not achieved.
But in recent weeks the public backlash against the plan has made itself felt and as well as seeking extra funding, the mayor now also hopes the review - if agreed first on Thursday by councillors and later with ministers - will include a look at any potential alternatives to charging vans and taxis, in the hope that an another way can be found to reach the same air quality goal.
An initial conversation with Gove had gone well, he said.
“We had positive engagement with the government last week when Michael Gove visited," he said.
"I think there is an understanding of the situation we are in and we very much want to work with the government to get the right solution.”
Speaking to the M.E.N. on Friday, Gove said he was open to what Greater Manchester had to say.
“We both have a commitment to making sure people have an environment which is healthy," he said of the mayor.
"But we also know that requires a partnership between central and local government. So I have an open mind about what we can do in order to help."
Declining to make any 'specific promise', he said he wanted to gain 'a proper understanding of the pressures' faced by the mayor, 'so that we can then review what it is that we can do to help'.
