ULEZ: Charities accuse Khan’s planned expansion of causing ‘immeasurable amount of stress’

Charities have accused Sadiq Khan’s planned Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion of causing “an immeasurable amount of stress”, amid accusations the scrappage scheme is “woefully inadequate” for those in the sector.

City Hall Conservatives have spoken to several charities due to be impacted by the ULEZ’s intended extension on August 29, after which date most drivers of non-compliant vehicles in greater London will have to pay the £12.50 daily charge.

One of those concerned, Dogs on the Streets, which delivers healthcare services for dogs with homeless/vulnerable owners, posted on Twitter last month that it will have to give up its address in Enfield because of the ULEZ.

The charity previously said it was told by the deputy mayor for environment, Shirley Rodrigues, that it should fundraise to pay the charge, after telling Ms Rodrigues it was ineligible for the inner London scrappage scheme in 2021.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said Ms Rodrigues and senior Transport for London (TfL) officers had met with the charity ahead of the 2021 ULEZ expansion to understand its concerns and offer support.

Specifically, they said TfL offered scrappage for both of the charity’s vehicles equivalent to £9,500 per van, a three-month grace period from the charges so the vans could be retrofitted, and help identifying funding sources to contribute to the cost of retrofitting or replacing vehicles, all of which the charity rejected.

Another charity, Sutton-based Wallington Animal Rescue, recently said it has had to sell one of its two rescue vehicles due to it not being ULEZ-compliant. The charity added that replacing the other vehicle would cost more than £17,000, much more than what is covered by the scrappage scheme.

Michelle Clark, founding director of Dogs on the Streets, said: "Our dog transport vehicle which is used on a daily basis is not retrofit compliant, therefore we may have to cease using it when the ULEZ expansion takes effect. It would cost the charity £20,000-£30,000 to change the vehicle altogether, which is money we just don’t have.”

Amanda Blackwell and Neil Blackwell, founders of Wallington Animal Rescue, said in a statement: "The whole ULEZ issue has caused our rescue an immeasurable amount of stress. We had two vehicles covering the London Borough of Sutton, we’re now down to one.

“This whole issue is costing us thousands of pounds, money we can ill-afford. We’re a small charity that is struggling under a huge amount of pressure post-Covid and in the cost of living crisis. We’re seeing a huge increase in people looking to surrender animals for financial reasons. We are seeing a decrease in what little funding we receive anyway.

“The situation in the animal rescue world is absolutely reaching a crisis point. ULEZ will be the final nail in the coffin for many small independent rescues."

Nick Rogers, City Hall Conservatives transport spokesperson, described the ULEZ expansion as “cruel and unnecessary”, and that Mr Khan is implementing it “because of his own financial mismanagement of TfL”.

‘Not easy’ but ‘necessary’

A spokesperson for the mayor reiterated Mr Khan’s belief that the decision to expand the ULEZ London-wide may not have been easy, “but it was necessary”.

They said: “Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to toxic air, children are growing up with stunted lungs and thousands of people in our city are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma.

“Nine out of ten cars driving in outer London are already ULEZ-compliant and will not have to pay the charge, and for those charities or Londoners who are disabled or on low incomes and have a non-compliant car, a £110m scrappage scheme is available to support them.

“The mayor recognises the vital role charities play in our communities and the GLA and TfL continue to do all they can to support charities to transition to cleaner vehicles with grants of up to nearly £10,000 available to charities. Were the government to give London scrappage funding as they have done for Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth, even more families and charities could benefit greener vehicles and cleaner air.”

What does the ULEZ scrappage scheme offer?

The mayor of London announced the £110m scrappage scheme accompanying the ULEZ expansion in January this year to support those having to purchase cleaner vehicles.

Under the scheme, grant payments are available for a range of non-compliant vehicles, ranging from £5,000-£9,500 for vans and minibuses, up to £2,000 for a car, £1,000 for a motorcycle, and £5,000 for wheelchair accessible vehicles.

A spokesperson for the mayor added the existing grace periods for London’s disabled drivers, wheelchair accessible private hire vehicles and community transport minibuses run by not-for-profit organisations have been extended by two years, pushing the date by which such minibuses need to be ULEZ-compliant to October 2025, and vehicles driven by disabled drivers and wheelchair-accessible vehicles to October 2027.

The scope of the scrappage scheme has however come under criticism.

Mr Rogers said: “The scrappage scheme is woefully inadequate and will do next to nothing to address the damage his ULEZ expansion plans will cause. Sadiq Khan needs to scrap this disastrous policy, which an overwhelming majority of Londoners have told him they do not want.”

A judicial review launched by a coalition of councils into the ULEZ expansion is due to go to trial in July, after a judge accepted two of the five grounds presented are arguable in court.

Research compiled by the RAC estimated nearly 700,000 drivers will have to pay the fee if the ULEZ is extended. However, TfL said its own data showed more than 90% of cars being driven in outer London now meet the ULEZ standards, a percentage it said demonstraed “the effectiveness of the scheme”.