Businesses have a chance to respond to consultations regarding the announcement of a £220 million Clean Air Fund and how this money will be best allocated to minimise the impact on businesses and individuals affected by new measures to reduce pollution.

The consultation will close on January 5, with funds being made available in 2018.

The Clean Air Fund is available to English local authorities with the most challenging pollution problems and will focus on how best the funds can benefit those affected by local air quality plans.

This includes looking at retrofitting existing fleets with emissions reduction technology such as the Eminox SCRT, which has already been approved as one of five suppliers for the £86.1 million Transport for London project to retrofit 5,000 buses. It is also the only technology to be approved to the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme.

With 28 local authorities across England (in addition to London) drawing up plans to solve local pollution problems, vehicles are an obvious target for improvement measures. There are already schemes in place to fund bus retrofit, so this is an opportunity for owners of other vehicles to have their say and possibly get a share of funding for retrofit.

Retrofit has been highlighted as an option in this consultation as it is the most cost-effective way to be able to get older heavy-duty vehicles to the latest low emission standards without having to replace the vehicle.

We encourage anyone who will be impacted by local Air Quality Plans to read through and respond to consultations.