The Mayor of London should introduce the ULEZ sooner than 2020 but it alone cannot ensure compliance with legal limits for NO2.
The London Assembly Environment Committee says central London’s air pollution kills thousands each year and needs to be tackled sooner and more effectively.
In response to the Mayor’s consultation on the proposed ULEZ, the Committee makes a number of recommendations:
Implementation sooner than 2020, with the initial non-compliance charge set to increase over the zone’s first years.
Discussions with boroughs on the costs, benefits and practicalities of a wider ULEZ should be progressed, with a view to widening the ULEZ beyond the Congestion Charge Zone, as soon as possible.
The standards of the ULEZ must be kept under review, and should be tightened to drive the uptake of lower-emissions vehicles as they become more widely available.
Stephen Knight AM, Chair of the Environment Committee said;
“The Mayor’s argument that owners need time to adjust their purchasing decisions doesn’t wash because non-compliant vehicles will not become unusable, they will just be subject to charges. TfL has said that nearly three quarters of the traffic in central London will meet the proposed ULEZ standards by 2020 even without the zone. The financial costs to a small number of drivers must therefore be weighed against the worrying number of Londoners affected by respiratory problems and thousands of early deaths linked to the capital’s air quality.”
The Committee says the Mayor, boroughs and government should examine how the whole of London could achieve full compliance with air pollution limits by 2020.
Notes for Editors:
Read the London Assembly’s ULEZ response (below).
The response is the view of a majority of the Committee. The GLA Conservative Members’ dissenting views are set out in a minority opinion within the response.
Stephen Knight AM, Chair of the Environment Committee, is available for interview – 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 Mary Dolan on 020 7983 4603. 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.