The High Court will preside over a legal challenge to Sadiq Khan’s proposed extension to the London ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) in July, after making a judgement allowing a court case to proceed.
The London boroughs of Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley and Harrow, along with Surrey County Council, launched the court action challenging mayor Khan’s proposal to extend the boundaries of ULEZ, which is currently contained within the North and South Circular roads. If Khan gets his way, the boundary will expand to cover the entire Greater London Authority Area. That means anyone driving a non-ULEZ-compliant vehicle inside most of the area bounded by the M25 motorway will face a daily charge of £12.50.
Non-compliant ULEZ cars include those that can’t meet Euro 4 or Euro 6 emissions standards for petrol and diesel engines respectively. Campaigners say this means it is an unfair tax on drivers of older cars, who typically are least well-placed to pay. The ULEZ applies 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
Boroughs seeking to block the extension issued a legal challenge on a number of different grounds, but the High Court has accepted only two. The first is that there may have been a failure to follow statutory procedures, as the proposed zone alterations are so large as to effectively constitute a new scheme. The second is that there was insufficient consultation on a proposed scrappage scheme designed to assist certain eligible Londoners.
The mayor’s office continues to push the scheme in spite of the legal challenge, describing the changes as ‘lifesaving’. It told the MailOnline: “Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely every year due to air pollution. This is a health emergency and the Mayor is not prepared to stand by and do nothing while Londoners are growing up with stunted lungs and are more at risk of heart disease, cancer and dementia due to our toxic air.”
Aside from the legal challenges, the fight against the ULEZ expansion has seen demonstrations in London, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently told parliament he believed the plans should be rethought.
David Simmonds, Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons. He said he had “a great many car-dependent older and disabled constituents, many of whom are horrified to read that the Mayor of London may have manipulated the outcome of his own consultation in order to impose a unwanted £12.50 daily charge every time they go to a medical appointment or attend hospital.”
Simmonds asked Rishi Sunak if he agreed that the expansion of ULEZ should be halted pending further investigation, to which Sunak responded: “My honourable friend rightly points out that transport in London is devolved to the Labour Mayor of London. It is disappointing that the Mayor, backed by the Leader of the Opposition, is choosing not to listen to the public and expanding the zone against the overwhelming views of residents and businesses. I urge the Mayor to reconsider properly and to respond to those serious concerns.”
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