What happens next now Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion has been …

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan won a major political and personal victory last week, as the High Court ruled that the capital’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) can legally be expanded on August 29. Minutes after Justice Sir Jonathan Swift’s judgement was published, Mr Khan confirmed that the enlargement of the £12.50 daily fee – which will see the boundaries stretch to parts of the London-Essex border – would be going ahead as planned.

The policy has garnered much opposition from motorists and politicians and will see drivers of non-compliant vehicles (broadly pre-2005 petrol and pre-2015 diesel) charged to travel around all the city’s boroughs. The scheme is intended to help improve London’s air quality as, the Mayor says, 4,000 premature deaths in London can be attributed to dirty air every year.

Speaking to MyLondon on Friday^[1] (July 28), Mr Khan said that the first ULEZ – introduced in 2019 – caused a 50 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide levels and a further 21 per cent reduction in Inner London. He added: “We’re hoping to have a further 10 per cent reduction in Outer London.

“To give you an idea of what that would mean is we’ve managed to reduce, in Inner London, nitrogen dioxide by 230 tonnes. The expansion could lead to a reduction by more than 360 tonnes. We’ve also at the same time reduced carbon emissions of the past few years by more than 800 to one thousand tonnes, which is the equivalent of 1.1 million flights between London and New York.”

The Mayor has also previously said that it will be a year before officials can check what effect the expanded ULEZ has had on the air quality in the city’s outer areas.

More scrappage scheme support

But, before the zone is made larger, City Hall has a couple more things on its to-do list. Next week, more than 800,000 more families, businesses and charities will be made eligible to apply for money from the £110 million scrappage scheme. Nearly £33 million has been handed out to drivers as of June 25. Each person eligible could get £2,000 to scrap a car or £1,000 to scrap a motorcycle.

Alternatively, motorists can choose to retrofit their vehicle, and wheelchair-accessible vehicle owners can also apply to receive £5,000 to scrap or retrofit to the ULEZ emissions standards.

Here is a full list of the extra measures that are due to be introduced this week:

• Allowing all Londoners receiving child benefits to apply for the scrappage scheme. There are currently 874,710 London families in receipt of child benefits, with 578,315 in outer London.

• Allowing businesses registered in London with fewer than 50 employees to apply for the scrappage scheme. Currently, only those with up to 10 staff can apply.

• Allowing charities operating in London to scrap or retrofit up to three vans or minibuses instead of just one.

• A new grace period for sole traders, microbusinesses, small businesses, and registered charities who have ordered brand-new compliant vehicles, but have been informed that delivery will be delayed past 29 August when the larger zone goes live – or if they have booked an approved retrofit appointment for a non-compliant light van or minibus before that date.

ULEZ expansion can go ahead – and the scrappage scheme isn’t needed beyond the Greater London boundary, the High Court has ruled (Image: Lucy North/PA Wire)

After the Conservative candidate in the Uxbridge^[3] and South Ruislip^[4] by-election unexpectedly beat Labour’s pick, Danny Beales, Mr Khan has been under pressure to introduce further measures to mitigate the financial impact of an expanded ULEZ on some motorists, including from his own party’s leadership. When asked if any further support can be expected, he said that if people continue to “fall through the cracks”, City Hall would “look into” further support.

He said: “We recognised although we had targeted support for those low-income Londoners, some may have fallen through the cracks, as you’ve said. So, what I’ve done is looked at where these concerns are and announced from next week a massive expansion of the scheme. But, I’ll carry on listening and engaging with Londoners. So, if it’s the case that after the massive expansion next week, there are still people who fall through the cracks who have a non-compliant vehicle, we’ll look into that.”

Is there enough money in the scrappage scheme pot?

Critics of the Mayor’s policy have suggested that there is not enough cash available for Londoners to claim in order to replace or retrofit their non-compliant vehicles. Mr Khan has previously said that he expects the number of applications from people in need of financial health to increase as the expansion date nears, curving upwards like a “hockey stick”.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London: “The decision to expand the ULEZ was very difficult and not something I took lightly” (Image: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire)

For now, despite the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer suggesting on BBC^[5] Radio 5 Live last week that more could be added to the pot, Mr Khan continues to insist that City Hall is providing enough. He told MyLondon earlier this week (Thursday, July 27): “The point that Keir wasn’t aware of is that other parts of the country like Bristol and Birmingham and Manchester and Portsmouth […] have got huge support in relation to their clean air zones from the Government.

We’ve not had a single penny from this Government, so Keir is going to be lobbying the Government for more support for a scrappage scheme – that’s really important.” He also said in June^[6]: “We always keep these things under review, I always watch them.

“At the moment, there’s plenty of money in the scrappage scheme, I’m not worried at all about running out.” But, he did not rule out topping up the amount if it were needed.

The Mayor added: “I’ve always given more money in the past to the scrappage scheme if it proves to be more popular than was otherwise predicted, and I’ll do the same again, monitor what happens with this scheme.”

ULEZ cameras

Criminal cases have been brought against some Londoners opposed to the ULEZ expansion who have damaged or stolen some of the newly installed automatic number plate recognition devices (ANPR) inside what will be the scheme’s new border. The Mayor, however, has said that these vandals will not delay his policy.

Anti-Ulez protesters outside the High Court in London (Image: Lucy North/PA)

He said: “I’ve spoken to TfL today. They’ve confirmed they’re on track to make sure the scheme goes live on August 29.” The Evening Standard has reported^[7] that almost two-thirds of the required ULEZ cameras have so far been installed ahead of August 29.

The Mayor said on July 3^[8]: “The reason why TfL has been tight-lipped [about how many devices have been damaged] is because of commercial sensitivities. Because they have contracts with various private companies and so forth, they don’t want to breach those commercial sensitivities. What we do know [is] the police have made some arrests. We do know there are cases going through the courts. We’re still on course to get the expansion at the end of August.”

TfL has in the past week also revealed that it is considering deploying mobile cameras to stop drivers who do not take public transport and attempt to avoid stationary cameras in their vehicles after the charge is enlarged to Outer London boroughs. A spokesperson said: “Cameras are an effective way to ensure drivers coming into and travelling around the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) are compliant and support the scheme’s objective of millions of Londoners breathing cleaner air.

“We are looking at the potential use of a small number of mobile cameras to supplement our existing extensive network at strategic locations.” MyLondon also asked, if the cameras would be mounted on vehicles, what kind they would be attached to, and how long for and where they would be deployed, but officials did not provide those details.

Continuing opposition

The Conservatives and motorists vehemently against the Mayor’s plan have indicated that they will not cease their opposition after the High Court threw out their legal challenge. The Tories’ candidate to take on Mr Khan next year in the mayoral election, Susan Hall AM, re-emphasised her commitment to scrap the expansion “on day one” if she were elected in May.

Conservative activists have also started to share anti-ULEZ petitions in an effort to garner critical voices. Some home county councils have also attempted to make things more difficult. Conservative-controlled Thurrock Council, which borders Havering^[9] in Greater London, said that Transport for London (TfL) will not be allowed to place signs for the zone^[10] in its borough.

Hertfordshire County Council also warned that ULEZ signs and cameras would not be allowed within the county’s borders, should the zone be expanded as planned in August.

But, ultimately, little now stands in the way of the next stage of Sadiq Khan^[11]’s plan to, as he says, ‘save Londoners’ lives’ and tackle climate change. On Friday, when asked if he plans to introduce even more measures to tackle pollution in the capital, the Mayor said: “I intend to be Mayor for the next nine years at least, so let’s wait and see.”

References

1. ^{^} Speaking to MyLondon on Friday (www.mylondon.news)
2. ^{^} Thurrock Council says Transport for London won’t be able to put up ULEZ signs in borough (www.essexlive.news)
3. ^{^} Uxbridge (www.mylondon.news)
4. ^{^} Ruislip (www.mylondon.news)
5. ^{^} BBC (www.mylondon.news)
6. ^{^} in June (www.mylondon.news)
7. ^{^} The Evening Standard has reported (www.standard.co.uk)
8. ^{^} said on July 3 (www.mylondon.news)
9. ^{^} Havering (www.mylondon.news)
10. ^{^} will not be allowed to place signs for the zone (www.essexlive.news)
11. ^{^} Sadiq Khan (www.mylondon.news)