Almost 1 in 5 local authority vehicles not low emission zone compliant

Scotland is not doing enough to support local authorities down the road to low emissions vehicles as he revealed that almost 1 in 5 local authority vehicles is not compliant with current and proposed low emission zones.

Scottish Liberal Democrats submitted freedom of information requests to all 32 local authorities asking what proportion of their vehicles would not comply with low emission zone legislation of the type introduced in Edinburgh and Glasgow. They have now revealed:  

• Out of 17,364 vehicles owned by local authorities, 3,089 (18%) are not LEZ compliant.  

• However, the proportion varies widely, with Highland council’s entire fleet meeting the requirements but almost 300 vehicles in Perth and Kinross (68%) failing to meet LEZ standards.  

• Other local authorities which perform poorly include Glasgow – which has already introduced a city centre LEZ (53% fail to meet standards), Dumfries & Galloway (47%), Moray (42%) and Argyll & Bute (42%).

• 14 local authorities were yet to produce a net zero plan.

Three local authorities were unable to provide the requested information

Commenting on the figures, Daniel O’Malley said:  

“Low emission zones can cut pollution in our towns and city centres and reduce stubbornly high levels of transport emissions which have barely budged in a generation.

“These figures show that many local authority vehicles would not meet low emission zone criteria.  

“The public knows the benefits of low emissions vehicles, and surveys show many are eager to make the switch, they just need to know that a robust charging network is in place.

“When a government or local authority vehicle reaches the end of its lifespan, there should be a robust presumption in favour of replacing it with an electric alternative.  

“This will motivate our sluggish government to build a charging network that people can trust and spare us the spectacle of council vehicles having to pay fines because they have fallen foul of the local low emission zone.”  

Additional Information:

A spreadsheet of responses can be found here.

Details of the criteria that vehicles visiting the Glasgow LEZ must meet can be found here. Details of the Edinburgh LEZ can be found here.

Scottish Liberal Democrats introduced amendments to the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) Act 2019 which require ministers to explicitly set how they will support public procurement of ultra-low emission vehicles.