As of 29 August 2023, central London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will spread beyond its existing confines- up to, but not including, the North Circular Road (A406) and South Circular Road (A205)-and expand to all 32 boroughs of Greater London. This will take in an additional five million residents of the outer boroughs, where air pollution deaths are reportedly higher, as the zone is extended to London’s borders with its surrounding counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and Surrey. ULEZ, a favoured project of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, was introduced in April 2019 in central London, and extended to its present borders on 25 October 2021.
ULEZ aims to reduce air pollution and thereby improve air quality in London. The Mayor claims that around 4,000 Londoners die each year from air pollution, requiring urgent action. According to Transport for London (TfL) data, emissions from road transport have been identified as the single largest contributor of emissions of nitrogen dioxide (44 per cent of emissions) and particulate matter (31 per cent of emissions of PM 2.5-with particle diameter less than 2.5 µm), as well as accounting for 28 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions in London. The idea is to reduce these emissions by replacing older and polluting vehicles with newer and greener ones. To meet ULEZ emission standards, motorcycles must meet Euro 3, petrol cars Euro 4, and diesel cars Euro 6 standards. Most petrol cars and vans from 2005 onwards and diesel cars and vans from 2015 onwards already comply with these standards. Buses, minibuses, and lorries are exempted from the daily ULEZ charge of £12.50, but selected vehicles may need to pay a LEZ charge. The penalty for non-compliant vehicles that choose to skip the ULEZ charge is £180 per violation. According to TFL, money from ULEZ charges and fines is being reinvested usefully, to both maintain and improve London’s transport network.
To soften the financial blow from ULEZ expansion on residents and businesses, the Mayor of London announced a £110 million scrappage scheme earlier this year, to support Londoners on low-income or disability benefits, sole traders, as well as micro-businesses (up to ten staff) and charities with a registered address in London. The scheme was expanded in July 2023 to include anyone receiving child benefits, some care workers, and businesses with up to 50 employees.
Five Conservative-controlled councils, responsible for four London boroughs (Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Hillingdon) and the county of Surrey, have challenged ULEZ expansion in the High Court, where permission for a Judicial Review was granted on 12 April 2023. This appeal related to failure to comply with relevant statutory procedures and failure to consider the potential for inclusion of non-Londoners in the scrappage scheme, while three other grounds for legal challenge were turned down. On 26 May 2023, the High Court accepted two additional grounds for appeal-concerning failure to consider expected compliance rates in outer London, and inadequate consultation over the scrappage scheme. The Judicial Review has been scheduled for 4 July 2023.
Opponents of ULEZ expansion maintain that it will unfairly target low-income and younger residents, who cannot afford to replace non-compliant cars in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, especially in areas where public transport services are considered deficient. According to the Mayor, however, nine out of ten vehicles in outer London are already ULEZ compliant. Opponents also quote the Mayor’s Integrated Impact Assessment, which predicts minor to negligible benefit from ULEZ on exposure to air pollution, and consider the concept of “toxic air” to be based upon inaccurate data or even reflect yet another elite conspiracy to undermine the masses. Some others consider alternatives such as investment in zero-emission buses are more cost-effective under the circumstances.
London’s ULEZ has its counterparts in other English cities, with Clean Air Zones being introduced in Bath (15 March 2021), Birmingham (1 June 2021), and Bristol (18 November 2021). The continuing move for cleaner air is indeed a global phenomenon, driven by many examples of urban atmospheric disasters. London itself has come a long way since the Clean Air Act of 1956 first effectively tackled emissions from domestic coal fires and industrial furnaces and tackled the city’s intractable smog problem.
ULEZ expansion may be well-intentioned, but it has mobilised many detractors in outer London, who seem unconvinced by the environmental and public health arguments in favour and are actively opposing its implementation on economic grounds. The expansion scheme has turned into a political stand-off between a Labour Mayor and his opponents to the right, who have weaponised the issue as part of their package to fight the Mayoral election in May 2024. Instead of being seen as a means of further reducing traffic-related air pollution and tackling congestion on the roads, the scheme is being framed as a tax on drivers, aimed at hurting people’s pockets and inflicting financial harm on small businesses. ULEZ expansion may be delayed by the judicial process, but if it does eventually go ahead, as seems likely, we should be able to judge its benefits, or otherwise, with the passage of time.
Ashis Banerjee