Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) - Sutton and Cheam Labour Party

This page purely sets out information on what is operating and the Mayor’s reasons for it. For more information ULEZ go to Transport for London’s ULEZ information and links here. If you have any questions you can ask them by going to the ULEZ Contact Page here. A useful set of answers to common questions has been published by the BBC here and also here. You can also check whether your vehicle is affected here. Most local vehicles are already compliant (around 80% of all vehicles and 95% of those actually still being driven) and thus will be exempt from the charge.

The Mayor of London introduced the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across all London boroughs from Tuesday 29 August 2023. A map of the area is above and shows more than 90% of the London Borough of Sutton will be covered by the scheme. The two main excluded areas are the southern two thirds of Cheam Ward and most of Worcester Park South Ward.

Anyone driving within the ULEZ, including the expanded area from Tuesday 29 August 2023, whose vehicle does not meet the emissions standards, could face a daily charge of £12.50. This includes residents of the ULEZ. However, you will never need to pay the ULEZ charge if you are parked inside the zone and don’t drive.

More than four out of five vehicles already meet the emissions standards. To see if your vehicle meets ULEZ emission standards, use the TfL vehicle checker.

The Mayor’s explanation for the scheme

Poor air quality is impacting the health of Londoners, and it’s mainly caused by polluting vehicles. The latest data from the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI, 2019) shows that, although improvements are being made, road transport is the single biggest contributor of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter emissions in Greater London. Find out more about the impact of air pollution on health.

Londoners are developing life-changing illnesses such as cancer, asthma and lung disease, and there is a higher risk of dementia in older people. Air pollution even contributes to the premature death of thousands of Londoners every year. It’s not just a central London problem. In fact, the greatest number of deaths related to air pollution occur in outer London areas. That’s why the ULEZ is expanding across all London boroughs (see map above).

Further changes to address Cost of Living Issues

In addition to the ULEZ expansion, the Mayor of London announced further changes to the currently existing scheme that address issues around delivering it at a time when there are challenges with the Cost of Living. These are set out below:

Scrappage scheme

Londoners receiving certain low-income or disability benefits can apply to the Mayor of London’s £110 million scrappage scheme. Eligible applicants could receive a payment to scrap their vehicle, or choose a lower payment plus one or two TfL Annual Bus & Tram passes worth more than the payment alone.

From Monday 21 August 2023, TfL announced that anyone living in one of the 32 London boroughs or the City of London with an eligible vehicle would be able to apply to scrap a car or motorcycle.

Grant payments for eligible small businesses (under 50 employees), micro businesses (up to 10 employees), charities and sole traders have been increased and the Mayor is also providing greater support for disabled Londoners by increasing the grant payment to scrap or retrofit a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV).

Charities operating in London can apply to scrap or retrofit up to 3 vans or minibuses, and may reapply even if they already received a grant payment for one vehicle as part of this scrappage scheme or received a grant through the previous scrappage scheme. From Monday 21 August 2023, eligible businesses and sole traders are able to apply for up to 3 vans or minibuses in total, even if they had received a grant payment for one vehicle as part of this scheme.

London-based small businesses, micro businesses, sole traders and charities with new vans or minibuses ordered, or non-compliant vans or minibuses being retrofitted that will not be ready until after the ULEZ expansion, may also be eligible for the Mayor’s new short-term grace period.

ULEZ Support Offers

There are also ULEZ support offers for successful scrappage scheme applicants, as well as offers for all Londoners to take advantage of.

Discounts and Exemptions

To help disabled Londoners and community transport providers the existing ULEZ grace periods (temporary exemptions) have been extended, and new grace periods have been introduced.

Auto Pay and Penalty Charge Notice changes

The £10 annual fee to register a vehicle for Auto Pay has been removed. Auto Pay lets drivers who register their vehicles avoid the risk of forgetting to pay the daily ULEZ charge and incurring a penalty charge.

The value of ULEZ and Congestion Charge penalty charges incurred have increased from £160 to £180 (reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days).

New Bus Services for the Suburbs

As part of the transport changes to outer London being planned at the same time as the ULEZ, the Mayor has launched the “Superloop” of express outer London buses which will directly improve things for us locally.

This expansion is happening quite rapidly now and all the introductory dates for services are listed here.

From Saturday 19 August 2023 the X26 express bus through Sutton to Croydon and Heathrow became the SL7 Bus Route and increased in frequency from half an hour to 15 minutes. This significant improvement more than fully address the recent changes made to the frequency of the 213 bus route. in the west of the borough. The evidence a few months later has seen a 62% increase in passengers on the SL7 route.

More information on this and other potential public transport service changes we are campaigning for are set out on this website here.