A local authority in a major city has been left millions of pounds out of pocket after drivers refused to pay Clean Air Zone fines.
Bristol City Council is facing a significant financial challenge after reports found that the local authority is owed £32million in unpaid CAZ fines.
The shortfall is part of a greater £229million total debt owed to the local authority over the past year.
The amount owed by drivers was revealed in a recent council document which highlighted how the figures, accurate as of March 31, represent a substantial portion of the council’s outstanding debts.
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Bristol launched its Clean Air Zone in 2022
PA
The unpaid fines also include £52million in council tax losses and nearly £19million in overpaid housing benefits.
Council leader Tony Dyer warned that Bristol could follow in the footsteps of other struggling local authorities like Birmingham and Nottingham if urgent measures are not taken to address the financial crisis.
However, the council stated that the £32million in unpaid fines is a significant component of Bristol City Council’s debt burden.
The CAZ was launched in November 2022 and has been in places across specific locations with the aim to reduce public exposure to nitrogen dioxide.
The council report highlights that bills in Bristol are higher than the national average, putting additional strain on residents’ finances.
Administrative challenges also play a key role, the council detailed. It found that additional reminder notices mean unpaid cases take longer to progress through the system.
Court backlogs have also made it difficult for the council to obtain timely hearings before magistrates, further delaying debt resolution.
Due to the residue impact of the cost-of-living crisis many residents are struggling to prioritise payments, with council debts often taking a back seat to more immediate financial pressures.
The council document read: “Due to the nature of the processing of Clean Air Zone PCNs, not all PCNs for contraventions that occur in a given financial year are issued in that financial year.
“An estimate is made at year-end of the PCNs yet to be issued, and these are included in the year-end liability.
“Data in the tables above represents that estimated debt position at each year end. Actual PCN numbers will be different.”
The council also stated that long-term CAZ debt is expected to be in line with the parking and bus lane debt although “it will always be higher in financial terms because the initial debt”.
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Drivers can be fined £9 for entering a CAZ area, but if this fee is ignored the penalty can increase rapidly to £100, although this can be halved if paid within two weeks.
