Decision details

Sheffield and Rotherham have been identified by the Government in its National Air Quality Plan as areas of exceedance for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) gas concentrations.

In order to comply with the European health based limits, the Joint Air Quality Unit (‘JAQU’) which is a setup of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (‘DEFRA’) and the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) has directed Local Authorities to lower the limits.

This resulted in the submission of an Outline Business Case (‘OBC’) to the JAQU on 21 December 2018 for our preferred option of a CAZ C charging zone in Sheffield plus additional measures across Sheffield and Rotherham (therefore referred to as ‘CAZ C+’) in order to achieve legal compliance by 2021. 

The JAQU has already awarded Sheffield City Council (‘SCC’) a total revenue grant of £1.2m in order to develop our OBC and complete our Full Business Case (‘FBC’).

This report is to accept further revenue grant of £500k from the JAQU in order to complete our FBC together with an initial £3.2m capital grant to start implementing a charging CAZ in Sheffield.

The JAQU continues to working closely with SCC and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (‘RMBC’) to submit the FBC by specified deadlines, as detailed in this report.

This Report is for SCC to accept and spend the additional revenue and capital grant funding, noting that further grant funding will be made available by the JAQU in 2019 / 2020.

1.         To approve acceptance of the additional Clean Air Zone (‘CAZ’) revenue grant of £500k and initial capital Grant of £3.2m from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Transport to enable the Council to comply with its statutory duty through the measures described in this report.

a) To note the approval of the Executive Director of Resources for the Council to be the accountable body for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

b) To note the previous delegation by Cabinet (Clean Air for Sheffield 21.11.2018) to the Executive Director, Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and Development and the Director of Finance and Commercial Services to commence procurement for any necessary infrastructure, goods and services to implement the Clean Air Zone.

c) To the extent that this is not covered by existing delegations, to delegate authority to the Executive Director, Place, with  the Director of Financial and Commercial Services to agree contract terms and approve contract awards for any necessary infrastructure, goods and services to implement the Clean Air Zone, in accordance with all relevant provisions of the Council’s Constitution including Contracts Standing Orders and all applicable Procurement rules and the Leader’s Scheme of Delegations.

1.    The grant will provide an opportunity to prepare a plan to tackle the problem of high Nitrogen Dioxide levels. The reduction of the levels is required by The Environment Act 1995 (Feasibility Study for Nitrogen Dioxide Compliance) Air Quality Direction 2017.

2.    Accepting and spending the grant will enable the Council to comply with its statutory obligation under the Environment Act 1995 (Sheffield City Council and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council) Air Quality Direction 2019.

3.    Accepting and spending the grant and submitting a FBC will also engage partners, local businesses and the general public to address traffic-related emissions.

Not Applicable – The Council has been legally directed by the Secretary of State to undertake complete the FBC.