FOI - ULEZ camera procurement and consultation [Mar 2023]

Your request

1. When did the Mayor first contact Siemens about the purchase of the cameras being used for the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion? What date exactly and under what circumstance did the contact take place? Were there any preliminary meetings, official or unofficial? 
2. Which personnel from the Mayor's office participated with dates?
3. Do these cameras have the ability to charge for road usage between each camera? 
4. When is the Mayor going to implement pay per mile charging? 
5. Can you confirm that this whole expansion scheme was based on 23,200 people who responded to the consultation with a positive response ignoring the negative majority 34,800 respondents (based on the almost 58,000 in total)?
6. Can you tell me the budget for the publicity for the original consultation and how it was distributed or in what form throughout outer London?
7. Can you tell me the current budget for the current publicity for television, for radio, for newspapers the all encompassing publicity?

Our response

Questions 1 - 3

The GLA does not hold information on the ULEZ camera procurement or operation. 

Transport for London (TfL) is the Mayor's transport authority and is responsible for 
implementing the Mayor's Transport Strategy, and for the design, procurement, delivery and operational running of road user charging schemes such as the ULEZ.

• You may wish to send a further request to TfL at [email protected]

Question 4 

Proposal 20 of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy states that the Mayor, through TfL, will keep 
existing and planned road user charging schemes, including the Congestion Charge, Low 
Emission Zone, Ultra Low Emission Zone and the Silvertown Tunnel schemes, under review to ensure they prove effective in further or delivery the policies and proposals of the strategy.

• You can read the Mayor’s Transport Strategy on the GLA website.

Although TfL has outlined how it could be possible to replace existing charges with a single, simple and fair road user charging scheme in the future, the technology required for this is still some years away, and the Mayor has been clear that there are no proposals on the table for such a scheme.

Question 5 

The Mayor decided to expand the ULEZ London-wide following a public consultation and after taking into account a detailed consultation report and integrated impact assessment.

The majority of respondents to the consultation said there was a need to go further to tackle poor air quality. The Mayor has been clear that this was not an easy decision but a necessary one, due to the impact of air pollution on people’s health.

• The Mayor’s decision and supporting documentation, including the full consultation report, can be found on the GLA website.
• The Mayor’s response to the consultation has been raised at Mayor’s Question Time.
• There are several further questions relating to this subject matter, with answers published on the GLA website (Search, keyword 'ULEZ' and filter by date – 1 Dec to today). 

Question 6

• TfL has previously received and responded to this request.

Question 7

The GLA has a responsibility to communicate with Londoners and keep them informed and 
engaged in our work, in particular of policies that may impact them. The GLA uses a mix of 
targeted communications channels to consult, reach and inform Londoners about the ULEZ expansion, the reasons for it, and the support available. 
 
In the financial year April 2022 to March 2023, the GLA spent: 

• £119,865 on radio adverts. 
• No money was spent on television adverts or newspaper adverts.

TfL also runs advertising to communicate the details of the ULEZ expansion, actions Londoners can take to check if they are affected, and support available.

• TfL has recently responded to a request about its spend on advertising relating to the ULEZ expansion.

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting 
reference MGLA160323-2691.