London Mayor brands ULEZ scrappage scheme a success
The London Mayor extolled the benefits of his controversial Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scrappage scheme this morning.
A new report has found that the scrappage scheme has seen 35,094 cars and 17,964 polluting vans in London taken off the streets in exchange for grants.
According to City Hall, ULEZ has decreased carbon emissions equivalent to 1.5m round-trips between London and New York, or the equivalent of one year’s worth of all passenger car trips in Los Angeles.
Sadiq Khan boasted that air quality in London is improving at a faster rate than the rest of England, with deprived communities living near London’s busiest roads seeing the biggest benefits to their health.
Environmentally, the report found that 29 per cent of car and motorcycle scheme recipients elected to not spend their grants on a greener replacement vehicle, and other recipients have
What is the scrappage scheme?
ULEZ – introduced by Khan in 2019 – requires older, heavily polluting cars to pay a daily £12.50 charge to drive in the restricted area. The zone covers almost all of the area within the M25 motorway, encompassing all 32 London boroughs.
From January 2023 to September 2024, a joint City Hall and TfL initiative allowed individuals and businesses in outer London to scrap, donate or retrofit a vehicle that doesn’t meet emissions standards in exchange for cash – ranging from £1,000 to £11,500.
Some 88 per cent of scheme beneficiaries were in London’s outer boroughs, where travelling longer distances is the norm and there are fewer public transport facilities available.
From these vehicles, 680 were donated to support medical and humanitarian efforts in Ukraine in partnership with British-Ukrainian Aid (BUA).
Khan, said he is “proud” of the scheme, which has “made a huge difference to our air quality, and also encouraged many Londoners to take up more sustainable ways of travelling, which will make a lasting difference to our capital.”
ULEZ has its critics
While City Hall is eager to present the benefits of ULEZ, many vehicle-owners have responded negatively to the requirement that they pay to drive through the city, particularly as people feel the pressure of the cost of living.
TfL is also floating the idea of hiking up the congestion charge by 20 per cent, from £15 to £18, which has been poorly received by business groups.
Five Conservative-run councils took legal action against the decision to expand ULEZ in 2023, though the High Court dismissed their efforts.
Proponents of the scheme argue that – environmental case aside – clean air can lower asthma, cancer and dementia rates.