Drivers owe nearly £380m in unpaid Ulez fines

Ulez was expanded to include all of London in summer 2023

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said there would be a "clampdown" in a bid to recoup the £376m owed to Transport for London (TfL) in unpaid ultra low emission zone (Ulez) fines.

Mr Khan told the London Assembly TfL was "not unique" in having unpaid penalty charge notices (PCNs), and that 96% of vehicles in the capital were compliant with emission standards so faced no charge.

Ulez was expanded to all of London's 32 boroughs in August 2023 to tackle air pollution across the capital.

Neil Garratt, a Conservative assembly member, said the amount owed was "alarming" and the Ulez expansion was hitting the lowest paid.

The PCNs are issued when drivers of non-compliant vehicles fail to pay the £12.50 daily charge to drive within the zone.

The fine is £180 but this can be reduced by half if paid within two weeks, according to TfL's website.

Sadiq Khan says not paying the fine is breaking the law

Mr Khan said the majority of people driving non-compliant vehicles paid the daily charge, meaning only 0.27% of total drivers (including those driving compliant vehicles) received a PCN.

He told assembly members that TfL was working on "new ways of recovering debt" including working with the Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

"TfL is also increasing the pursuit of civil recovery through the use of county court judgements and other methods," he said.

"We will not stop until all avenues are exhausted and every penny we can recover is received."

The mayor said part of the reason behind the ballooning PCN debt was the fact that when drivers contested the fine, it could take several months to reach a final decision through independent arbitration.

Mr Garratt told the mayor: "I’ve repeatedly warned you, as you will remember, over several years about the problem of people on low wages with old cars in outer London who need their car and can't afford to replace it or pay the Ulez charge."

Neil Garratt said the level of fine debt owed to TfL is "alarming"

Mr Khan said there was no evidence fines were going unpaid "because of people's means".

He added: “£376m in unpaid fines is too big. If you break the law, you break the law.

“If you’re not paying the fine, you’re breaking the law and action should be taken."

'Turning the tanker'

At Thursday's Mayor's Question Time, Mr Khan also responded to a report by the police inspectorate that found the Metropolitan Police to be failing in almost all its areas of work.

Gareth Roberts, a Liberal Democrat assembly member, accused the mayor of presiding over eight years of "failure after failure" in policing the capital.

Mr Khan said: “We’ve begun turning the tanker around. An inspection done while it's still turning around shows it's still not right, I agree with that analysis.

"I will be supporting the commissioner in having that tanker completely turned around."

Following the report's publication last month, a Met Police spokesperson said the force was "using every available resource to deliver more trust, less crime and high standards for London".