ULEZ expansion, TfL: High Court ruling in favour of Sadiq Khan - latest reaction

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion will be introduced as planned on August 29, after a High Court judgement gave the all-clear to proceed with the scheme.

Five Conservative councils had taken the mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) to court over plans to extend the zone to cover all of greater London.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he will “do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have”.

Specifically, the three challenges heard in court in early July related to a failure to comply with the correct statutory requirements, with the scheme to have been launched as a separate legal entity rather than a variation of the current one; that it was unlawful due to consultation materials being unclear; and that it was unlawful due to a lack of consideration of the inclusion of non-Londoners in the scrappage scheme. Mr Justice Swift ruled in favour of the mayor on all three legal grounds.

The challenge was brought by Surrey, Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon councils. Surrey, along with most other authorities bordering London, has said it will not allow ULEZ signs and cameras on its roads.

In the ULEZ, only drivers of petrol vehicles dating from before January 2006 and diesel vehicles from before September 2015 will need to pay the charge.

London mayor Sadiq Khan

Mr Khan, said: "This landmark decision is good news as it means we can proceed with cleaning up the air in outer London on August 29.

"The decision to expand the ULEZ was very difficult and not something I took lightly and I continue to do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have.

"The ULEZ has already reduced toxic nitrogen dioxide air pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London. The coming expansion will see five million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.”

He said: "I've been listening to Londoners throughout the ULEZ rollout, which is why from next week I am expanding the scrappage scheme to nearly a million families who receive child benefit and all small businesses with up to fifty employees. I will continue to look at new ideas to support Londoners.

“Nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London on an average day are already compliant so won't pay a penny - yet will still see the benefits of cleaner air. Air pollution is an urgent public health crisis - our children are growing up with stunted lungs and it is linked to a host of serious conditions, from heart disease to cancer and dementia.

"This unambiguous decision today in the High Court allows us to press on with the difficult but vital task of cleaning up London's air and tackling the climate crisis."

Hillingdon Council

Cllr Ian Edwards, leader of Hillingdon Council, said: "I am hugely disappointed for our residents and businesses and I call on the mayor of London to further reflect on his plans.

"Even the mayor's own supporters are now saying that it is the wrong time to be expanding this scheme. Many thousands of low-income earners, vulnerable people ordinary workers and small businesses who are the beating heart of our borough will have to shoulder further costs which they cannot afford. It will cause even greater financial hardship and for some it will cause the loss of business or employment.

"We will continue our fight on behalf of our residents and business through Parliament and at next year's mayoral election. I am proud that we had the courage and conviction to stand up for our residents and businesses and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in or who has sent messages of support for our fight which, as I have said, will go on."

Bexley Council

Cllr Baroness O'Neill of Bexley OBE, leader of the London Borough of Bexley, said: "I'm extremely disappointed at the outcome of the judicial review and the impact it will have on our residents and businesses. They have told us time and time again how worried they were about ULEZ which was why we took this action on their behalf.

"The judge may have said that the mayor has the legal right to implement the scheme but, as we saw last week, there is also a moral judgment to consider. Even senior supporters of the mayor have voiced their concerns around the expansion of this scheme.

"The fact that the mayor of London has got his way and that his ULEZ expansion plan is to go ahead is devasting for the whole of outer London. This is especially true for Bexley because of our lack of transport links.

"I'm sure that jobs and businesses will also feel the effect as less out of borough residents will want to come to work or shop in Bexley because of this new charge. I know from speaking to carers who have to travel in and out of the borough to visit family members on a regular basis that they will be one of the groups who will suffer most.”

Bromley Council

Cllr Colin Smith, leader of Bromley Council, said: "Today's decision cannot be disguised as anything other than bitter disappointment for motorists in general, traders who will now have to consider ceasing business and laying off staff, those who will now have to change jobs and, most desperately of all, people who will no longer be able to support vital care networks for vulnerable people across the whole of outer London in particular.

"To all of them as well as the legion of families who will now have to trade in perfectly good cars at significant cost they can't really afford, for a newer vehicle they don't want or need, I can only say sorry. We've tried our very hardest to protect you but ultimately, today's judgement does mean that the mayor has taken another step closer to getting his way.

"However, do please be assured that this is not the end of the matter and this battle will continue. To draw a positive from this setback, we have been extremely successful in bringing the mayor's intentions both around ULEZ, as well as road price charging which is set to follow, to every front page and living room across the country in recent weeks, and what has become increasingly clear, is that the more that people see and learn of it, the less they like it.

"We will take that energy and build on it over coming weeks and it may well be that we will now need to turn to Parliament for a solution immediately upon their return from their summer recess at the beginning of September."

Harrow Council

Cllr Paul Osborn, leader of the London Borough of Harrow, said: "This is not the outcome we were hoping for and is hugely disappointing. It is a sad day for our residents and businesses who are worried about the impact the expansion will have on them when it comes into force in August. I firmly believe that ULEZ expansion is the wrong scheme for outer London. We had an arguable case, and the fact that we got this far in our challenge against this unpopular scheme shows that we were right to proceed.

"I am proud to have stood up for our residents and businesses. So many have spoken to me about how this scheme will impact them. I'd like to thank the thousands of people who have supported us. Unfortunately, the mayor will push ahead with his plans. I will continue to speak up for our residents on the expansion of the ULEZ and will press the government to give us the power to stop this expansion to our borough.

"I will also be lobbying for better schemes to further help improve air quality and public transport links in Harrow. I am already taking positive steps to improve air quality in our borough - this includes ensuring our fleet is as green as possible, and as of last night I approved plans to install 225 additional electric charging points to help our residents who want to switch to electric vehicles.”

Surrey County Council

Cllr Tim Oliver, leader of Surrey County Council, said: “Whilst we respect today’s court decision, it is incredibly disappointing. This has always been about protecting Surrey residents, many of whom will now be significantly socially and financially impacted by the mayor’s decision as they go about essential, everyday journeys, without any mitigation in place to minimise this.

“Our concerns, which have never been addressed by the mayor despite our continued efforts, forced these legal proceedings to ensure we did all we possibly could to have the voice of our residents heard. We met with Transport for London on 14 July 2023 in the hope of agreeing mitigation for Surrey residents. Sadly, nothing was offered.”

Susan Hall

The Conservative candidate for next year’s mayoral election, Susan Hall, said: “While it is a shame the High Court did not find the ULEZ expansion to be unlawful, there is no denying that Sadiq Khan’s plans will have a devastating impact on families and businesses across the city. If I am elected mayor, I will stop the ULEZ expansion on day one and set up a £50 million pollution hotspots fund to tackle the issue where it is, instead of taxing people where it isn’t.”

The ruling

The judge ruled against the three challenges, finding that the consultation materials provided the information people needed about the numbers affected to make informed responses to the proposals.

He said there was no obligation on the mayor to mitigate the impacts of the scheme with a vehicle scrappage scheme or to compensate for the impacts of the ULEZ expansion.

The mayor is providing £110 million for scrappage support for people, businesses and charities within the London boundary.

City Hall Conservatives

Keith Prince AM, City Hall Conservatives transport spokesperson, said: “While there was insufficient evidence the ULEZ expansion is unlawful, the evidence is clear that the policy will hit the poorest hardest, while having only a negligible effect on air quality. Sadiq Khan cannot ignore the overwhelming opposition of both Londoners and his own party forever. We will continue campaigning to get the ULEZ expansion scrapped, so we can tackle air pollution where it is instead of taxing where it isn’t.”

Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member and transport spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon said: “The Liberal Democrats have been clear throughout this saga, we support action to clean up London’s air, but this must be done with adequate financial support to help people through any changes.

“Twice in the London Assembly we have called on the mayor to introduce a more generous scrappage scheme, yet both times Labour rejected our calls. This is despite us being in the worst cost-of-living in living memory. We will continue to push Sadiq Khan to introduce a more generous scrappage scheme and for a longer lead in time for the scheme to be introduced.”

BusinessLdn

Chief executive of the not for profit advocacy group BusinessLDN John Dickie said: “The expansion of the ULEZ is critical for making London’s air cleaner. Not only will it save lives, it will make the city a more attractive place to live, work and visit.

“Given the cost-of-living crisis, it is right to have extended the scrappage scheme to help businesses and households make the transition.”

RAC on ULEZ

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Following today’s ruling, we encourage the mayor and the government to get around the table and take a more strategic and unified approach to introducing the new zone. Everybody wants cleaner air, but the scale of the challenge of getting many more people into ULEZ-compliant vehicles cannot be underestimated.”

He added: “While the principle of cleaning up London’s air is the right one, it has come at a time where drivers can ill afford to replace their vehicles during a cost-of-living crisis. This is being made by worse by new evidence which shows drivers are having to pay far more than they should have to purchase a compliant vehicle on the second-hand car market. We’d very much like to see additional support given to certain keyworkers, both inside the capital and in neighbouring counties, who depend on their vehicles to help them switch to cleaner ones as affordably as possible.”

ULEZ High Court challenge costs

The mayor’s office says is estimated that more than £1 million of the councils’ public money will have been spent on this court case.

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