Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has drawn-up plans to remove the congestion charge exemption for private hire vehicles - but the London Assembly is calling on the mayor to rethink his plans.
Private hire vehicles are currently exempted from paying the £11.50 daily charge.
The London Assembly voted today to support the congestion charge exemption for private hire vehicles.
Gareth Bacon AM, who proposed the motion said:
“This policy would fail to achieve its primary objective – it would not significantly reduce congestion. The Mayor’s own figures show that the number of PHVs in the Congestion Charge Zone would fall by only 600 a day or 1 percent.
“When businesses are hammered prices go up and the data shows that operators would have to increase their charges by up to 16 percent – hitting Londoners’ pockets.
“Unfortunately, this policy is just an excuse for the Mayor to raise some of the money he needs to plug the nearly £1 billion black hole in the transport budget. Talk of congestion and pollution is just a smokescreen.”
The full text of the motion is:
This Assembly believes that the case for removing the Private Hire Vehicles Congestion Charge exemption has not been made and therefore urges the Mayor to withdraw his plans to do so.
Notes to editors
- Watch the full webcast.
- The motion was agreed 16 votes to 3
- Gareth Bacon AM, who proposed the motion, is available for interviews. Please see contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Funmi Olutoye on 020 7084 2713. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100