Sutton and Cheam Labour Party Sutton and Cheam Constituency Labour Party, London Borough of Sutton
Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)
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).
There has now been a full analysis of the impact of ULEZ (July 2024) here and it showed:
- PM2.5 exhaust emissions from cars and vans in outer London are estimated to be 20 per cent lower than they would have been had we not expanded ULEZ to outer London.
- Harmful roadside NO2 concentrations are estimated to be 21 per cent lower in outer London than they would have been without the ULEZ and its expansions.
- A larger proportion of vehicles recorded driving in London are cleaner. The London-wide compliance rate for vehicles subject to the ULEZ standards after the first six months was 96.2 per cent, up from 91.6 per cent in June 2023 and 39 per cent in February 2017, when changes associated with the ULEZ began.
- In the expanded outer London area, ULEZ vehicle compliance is now 96.2 per cent, up from 90.9 per cent in June 2023. This is nearly the same level of compliance as seen in inner and central London, with 96.5 per cent and 96.4 per cent, respectively.
- In outer London, over 97 per cent of cars now meet the ULEZ standards, up from 92.4 per cent in June 2023. Van compliance in outer London has increased by 9.5 percentage points, now 89 per cent, up from 79.5 per cent in June 2023.
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 £215 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. The Sperloop 1 series of bus routes have now been implmented.
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.