Sadiq Khan has announced he is extending financial support for people hit by the expansion of the Ultra low emission zone (Ulez) – after Labour’s leader urged him to re-think it.
The mayor of London said he remained “committed to seeing through” his decision to expand the clean air scheme to the whole of the capital but that he had “listened to concerns”.
The scheme raced to the top of the political agenda last month after Keir Starmer and his allies blamed it for Labour’s shock loss at the Uxbridge by-election in outer west London.
Under the Ulez charge anyone with a vehicle deemed to be more polluting – around 10 per cent of those on the roads – has to pay a £12.50 daily charge to drive it.
The mayor had already announced a £110m scrappage scheme to help people replace cars and vans that did not meet the emissions standards, but has said he will now expand it to all Londoners.
An additional £50 million from City Hall’s cash reserves will be pumped into the scrappage scheme, bringing its total funding to £160m.
It means any Londoner with a non-compliant car will be able to get £2,000 towards replacing it. City Hall says it has found 5,000 Ulez compliant cars for sale for under £2,000 within 200 miles of central London on one major vehicle trading site alone.
Additional changes to the scrappage scheme will also see the grant per van raised from £5,000 to £7,000, with small businesses able to get up to £21,000 to replace their fleet with greener vehicles.
Payments for wheelchair accessible vehicles will also be doubled from £5,000 to £10,000 after feedback from disabled people.
In the aftermath of the Uxbridge by-election Sir Keir told Mr Khan to “reflect” on the clean air policy, which he said had cost votes. He also criticised the government for not providing funding for a scrappage scheme.
The financial support was previously open to Londoners on low and middle incomes, with qualification open to those claiming a range of social security benefits – including some available to people on higher incomes like child benefit.
Mr Khan said: “I have always said that expanding the ULEZ to the whole of London was a difficult decision, and not one I took lightly – but it’s a decision I remain committed to seeing through.
“I’m not prepared to step back, delay or water down vital green policies like ULEZ, which will not only save lives and protect children’s lungs by cleaning up our polluted air but help us to fight the climate crisis.
“I have continued to listen to the concerns of Londoners over recent months, and today I can announce a huge expansion to the scrappage scheme that means that all Londoners with non ULEZ-compliant cars will now be able to get financial support to switch to greener, less polluting vehicles.
“As we continue to build a greener and healthier London for everyone, I’m determined that no Londoner and no London business is left behind. We need to take people with us on the path to a sustainable future. We are ensuring that help is now available for everyone – and I urge Londoners to come and get it.”
Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely every year from the effects of toxic air, according to research by Imperial College London – with fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) the main culprits. Huge swathes of the capital regularly breach World Health Organisation legal limits on air pollution – and there is evidence that the Ulez policy in central and inner London is already helping to clean it up.
In the first 10 months of Ulez being live in central London, road transport nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions fell by 35 per cent in the zone, and CO2 emissions by 6 percent.
A study by Imperial released in February this year found that the expansion of the scheme to the north and south circular in 2021 had also had an effect, and that progress had continued in the centre. It found that NO2 levels were 46 per cent lower in central London and 21 per cent lower in inner London than they would have been without the scheme.
All in all the study found this was achieved by having 74,000 fewer qualifying vehicles driving in the zone, a cut of 60 per cent since expansion in October 2021. The scheme will be extended to the whole of Greater London on 29 August 2023.
