Mayor of London has no financial plan if ULEZ legal case lost

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

City Hall has no financial plan if it loses a legal challenge over its attempt to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), Sadiq Khan has confirmed.

The Mayor of London revealed that no budgetary preparations had taken place for the eventuality of losing the legal challenge brought against City Hall by the Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon councils, along with Surrey County Council.

The five councils are all opposed to the ULEZ expansion and have together filed a lawsuit, which claims the move would be unlawful.

The question of whether there would be any impact on City Hall’s budget if it lost the legal challenge was raised by Conservative London Assembly Member Nick Rogers at a meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Khan replied: “What you don’t do is work on the basis that you’re going to lose a legal challenge, you work on the basis that the plans that we have will go ahead.

“So there aren’t any plans about the consequences to the budget of those five Conservative councils succeeding in their judicial review.”

Mr Rogers, who represents Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond on the Assembly, followed up: “So you’ve no contingency plans for if the case is lost?”

“If the councils win, no,” said Mr Khan.

The ULEZ currently covers the area inside the North and South Circular Roads, but Mr Khan intends to expand the zone to cover all of Greater London – effectively taking it up to most roads inside the M25 – on August 29. Drivers of non-compliant vehicles will have to pay a daily charge of £12.50.

The expansion plan has come up against opposition from councils in outer London and the home counties, who mainly argue that the zone’s expansion will do little to improve air quality – and is being introduced at the worst possible time owing to the cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Khan claimed that five million more Londoners will breathe cleaner air if the ULEZ expands to cover the whole city, and often points out that about 4,000 premature deaths in London per year are due in part to poor air quality.

Mr Khan said no pausing to the ULEZ timetable had taken place in the wake of the legal challenge.

Mr Khan’s chief of staff, David Bellamy, confirmed enforcement cameras to monitor the expanded ULEZ had started to go up.

Pictured top: London Mayor Sadiq Khan (Picture: Noah Vickers)