Council fails to factor £4m in CAZ postage costs

A city council failed to take into account nearly £4m of printing and postage costs relating to fines sent to drivers who went through a clean air zone (CAZ).

A report sent to Bristol City Council's Strategy and Resources Committee found the costs were not factored into the costing of a contract with Xerox.

The CAZ was launched in Bristol in 2022 in an effort to bring down pollution levels to within legal limits and it raised £26m in fines in its first full year. The council's current contract expires next March and it is looking to extend it until 2028 while a new supplier is sought.

The council report said: "It's estimated CAZ would total £3.9million of contract spend to 31 March 2028."

It added: "The CAZ is income generating [and] this contract spend is necessary in order to recover CAZ income."

The report said the current spend was forecast to be £14.1m by March 2027 and £17.8m in 2028, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A further spend of £339,000 was also committed to meet the increased printing demand.

The additional costs are currently being paid for by fines from the CAZ so does not affect the council's overall budget.

The report also said the cost of postage has increased by 137% during the time of the contract.

Despite the law stating correspondence for fines had to be first class post, the number of letters being sent was dropping as "compliance increases", a Bristol City Council spokesperson said.

They added there was no impact to "overall council finances".

Councillors are looking to re-procure the contract during the 12-month extension and increase levels of digital communication as a way of saving costs.

"The [contract] extension is deemed suitable, only on the basis that will allow the service to re-tender and re-procure for the print and mail contract, as the current contract is not deemed to be fit for purpose anymore," the report said.

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