This plan still needs government permission but the transport minister has appeared to quash the idea.
Ms Alexander said: “The government does not have any plans to enforce clean air zones on cities across the country where local leaders don’t want to have them. There’s lots of ways to clean up the country’s air, and the challenges will be different in different towns, different cities and so there will be different approaches.”
When pressed she added: “We’ve got no plans whatsoever to enforce a paid-for clean air zone in Greater Manchester. I could not be clearer: this is for local leaders.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service writes that Mr Burnham was “obviously very encouraged by what the secretary of state said” speaking at the joint press conference in Wythenshawe to mark the completion of implementing Bee Network buses.
He added: “We were worried if we introduced a charging zone where people could not avoid the charge because they couldn’t afford to change their vehicle, it would make the cost-of-living crisis worse for a lot of our residents.
“We will await the formal decision because it’s not [Heidi Alexander’s] department, it’s the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who will make that decision.”
Bev Craig, Manchester city council leader, welcomed the change in the government’s stance, but said there was “a bigger job at hand to clean up our air”.
The city of Manchester not only has poor air quality, it also has some of the poorest health outcomes in the country.
