Today, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has sent a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, urging the Government to back the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and its scrappage scheme. Rishi Sunak is being asked to help double the size of the Mayor’s unprecedented £110million London scrappage scheme, which was launched last month.
The letter calls on the Prime Minister to help clean up London’s toxic air and help people in the Home Counties to retrofit or replace vehicles that are not compliant with the ULEZ.
The boundary of the ULEZ will expand again on August 29, 2023, and include all London boroughs and the City of London.
The Mayor has already established the largest scrappage fund ever offered in the UK, totalling £110million for Londoners, without financial support from the Government.
Mr Khan is therefore also asking the Prime Minister to replicate the funding offered by Government when other cities established their clean air zones and double the size of his scrappage fund for Londoners, allowing thousands more polluting vehicles to be taken off the roads.
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The request comes as it is reported the Chancellor has received a £30billion windfall in the public finances ahead of the Spring Budget next month.
The Mayor believes there is no better use for a small percentage of this money than to help clean up the capital’s air.
In the letter, Sadiq Khan said: “there is more to be done, which must include proper national action to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis.
“So I urge you to use some of the unexpected £30billion windfall in the public finances to not only match the funding allocated for scrappage in London, but to introduce a targeted scrappage scheme that provides help to those based in the home counties who drive into London with the most polluting vehicles.
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“I also hope my approach on eligibility for scrappage and exemptions can be followed nationally.”
The Mayor points out that Greater Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Bradford all received funding from Government for their own scrappage schemes.
Despite this, London and the Home Counties have received nothing despite being net contributors to the Treasury every year and Londoners paying £500million of vehicle excise yearly, which is then spent on maintaining roads in other parts of the country.
Greater Manchester received £120million for its scrappage scheme, even though the Clean Air Zone has not launched.
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Meanwhile, Bristol received £42million, Birmingham was given £38million and £30million was allocated for Bradford’s scrappage scheme.
Mr Khan claimed that If no additional action is taken, it is estimated that around 550,000 more Londoners would develop diseases attributable to air pollution over the next 30 years.
This would “condemn a generation of children to ill-health” and cost the NHS and social care system in the region of £10.4billion.
The ULEZ has been described as a highly targeted scheme, designed to get only the most polluting vehicles off the road.
Forecasts show that 85 percent of vehicles seen driving in outer London already meet the required emissions standards and are not liable for the new charge.
The letter concluded: “So I urge you to become a doer, rather than a delayer, when it comes to climate action and reducing air pollution, and to bring an end to the failure of leadership we have seen at the top of national Government on these vital issues for far too long.”
Toxic air caused by traffic is still leading to children growing up with stunted lungs and nearly 4,000 premature deaths a year – with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in London’s outer boroughs.
Earlier this month a major new report showed that harmful pollution emissions have reduced by 26 percent within the current ULEZ area – compared with what they would have been without the 2021 expansion coming into force.
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