![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1_Burnham-presser-of-out-of-area-Taxis.jpg\")
The Greater Manchester Mayor says that a charging clean air zone \u2018would have trapped people paying a charge but unable to afford to change their vehicle\u2019(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\nThe number of children admitted to Manchester hospitals with breathing problems has soared by hundreds in just one yearThe Greater Manchester Mayor says that a charging clean air zone \u2018would have trapped people paying a charge but unable to afford to change their vehicle\u2019(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n
Andy Burnham insists a charging Clean Air Zone \u2018would have not made the difference\u2019 to pollution which parents say is contributing to an epidemic of serious lung problems and respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\n
The number of children, toddlers and babies admitted to Manchester hospitals with breathing problems has soared by hundreds in just one year, clean air campaigners say.<\/a><\/p>\n And parents say a non-charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) – confirmed by the government earlier this year<\/a> – \u2018lacks ambition and won\u2019t go nearly far enough to cut illegal levels of pollution\u2019 plaguing the city.<\/p>\n But the Greater Manchester Mayor says that a charging CAZ, which would have seen some motorists charged up to \u00a360 a day<\/a>, \u2018would have trapped people paying a charge but unable to afford to change their vehicle\u2019.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s comments come after the Manchester Evening News reported on new figures obtained by campaign group, Mums for Lungs, under the Freedom of Information Act. The numbers show that in the last two years nearly 8,500 children were admitted to the specialist paediatric respiratory services at Manchester University Foundation NHS<\/a> Trust, or seen as outpatients.<\/p>\n The hospitals include Royal Manchester Children\u2019s Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital<\/a>, and North Manchester General.<\/p>\n The number of under-18s attending hospitals has gone up by 520 in only 12 months, the figures show.<\/p>\n Babies and toddlers are particularly affected. Young children aged three or under admitted to hospital or attending outpatient services for specialist respiratory medicine has jumped by 33 per cent from 654 to 872.<\/p>\n And speaking to BBC<\/a> Radio Manchester this morning (April 24), the mayor said: “[Mums for Lungs] are right to raise the health impact on kids of poor air quality. We can’t turn away from the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cFive years ago, we had 129 locations where there was too much nitrogen dioxide in the air, above the legal limit. It\u2019s fallen by half, there are 64 now and it’s coming down all the time as we bring in more and more electric buses to the Bee Network.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s the biggest change that\u2019s driving this reduction. There’s no complacency here.<\/p>\n “For those that say we should have had a charging Clean Air Zone, the conclusion we reached was it would have not made the difference because it would have trapped people paying a charge but unable to afford to change their vehicle.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would not have achieved the clean air goal in the way that we all want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n The most up-to-date verified figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) air quality compliance hub, from 2023, show that Manchester has the worst air pollution levels in the country.<\/p>\n The annual limit set by government for nitrogen dioxide is 40\u03bcg m\u207b\u00b3 , while Manchester\u2019s was 55 \u03bcg m\u207b\u00b3. The UK government instructed Manchester to become compliant with air pollution laws by 2024.<\/p>\n Levels of nitrogen dioxide in Manchester increased by six per cent from 2021 to 2023, and it is the only local authority in excess of legal limits that is continuing to see an upward trajectory, according to the DEFRA numbers.<\/p>\n But Mr Burnham said the region’s new transport network would help resolve the issues.<\/p>\n “The Bee Network is the answer,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt does not just deal with nitrogen dioxide out of the exhaust pipe. It also reduces particulates \u2013 the stuff in the air that comes from brakes and tyres, that\u2019s another part of air pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cBy getting more people on public transport, you reduce the number of cars, you therefore reduce particulates as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say that\u2019s a much better way of reducing air pollution. Electric buses are entering service all the time, and air pollution is dropping week by week.”<\/p>\n ‘I wish our leaders would take action’<\/p>\n This morning, the M.E.N. reported how one mum visited A&E as many as seven times over the course of her son\u2019s first five years as he \u2018struggled for breath\u2019. She believes her child’s condition was made worse by pollution around her home near the Didsbury<\/a> village area of Wilmslow<\/a> Road \u2013 one end of what is often referred to as the \u2018busiest bus route in Europe\u2019.<\/p>\n Dr Sinead Millwood, an NHS GP in Levenshulme<\/a>, said: \u201cAll the evidence shows that there is a clear connection between high levels of air pollution and respiratory conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can lead to poorly developed lungs, asthma and respiratory infections as well as affecting their brain development and ability to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cI often see kids with these preventable illnesses and wish our leaders would take the action needed to address this.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to the M.E.N., Clean Air Greater Manchester have said its latest data suggests pollution levels are now falling across the region, and TfGM remains ‘committed’ to “cleaning up the air that we breathe”.<\/p>\n The latest air quality monitoring data undertaken in Greater Manchester by the Clean Air Plan (CAP) for 2023 is also understood to show air pollution has fallen overall in Greater Manchester compared to 2022, and is significantly lower than levels recorded pre-pandemic in 2019.<\/p>\n ‘All evidence shows CAZ won’t go far enough’<\/p>\n The region shelved plans for a charging Clean Air Zone after leaders said their ‘investment-led’ plan – which included introducing 117 new lower and zero-emission buses and giving cabbies \u00a38m to upgrade their vehicles – would cut air pollution in the shortest possible time<\/a>, no later than 2026<\/p>\n However, clean air campaigners have argued that this alternative plans do not go far enough.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2_HVR_MEN_230425_pollution3_02.jpg\")
The Mums for Lungs Manchester group(Image: Sarah Pull)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3_GP-on-Clean-Air-Zone.jpg\")
GP Sinead Millwood<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2_HVR_MEN_230425_pollution3.jpg\")
Liz Godfrey, parent-of-two, who set up the Mums for Lungs Manchester group(Image: Rebecca Lupton Photography)<\/p>\n