Sunak hits out over Ulez but Khan says charge is vital for clean air

1. Ulez - the Ultra Low Emission Zone scheme - has expanded to cover almost all of Greater London
2. The scheme, aimed at improving air quality, charges people a daily £12.50 fee for driving vehicles that don't meet certain emissions standards
3. The expansion is divisive - Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says it's not the right time as families struggle with the cost of living
4. But Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan says it's "vital" to bring cleaner air and improve the health of Londoners
5. Earlier in the summer, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer blamed the scheme for losing a by-election in Uxbridge
6. Ulez was developed by Boris Johnson when he was mayor, but was implemented by Khan - it initially covered central London and was expanded significantly in 2021

London shifts gear as Ulez takes effect

After months of challenges, London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan to create the world's largest low emission zone has finally come into being.

From today, owners of polluting cars face a £12.50 daily charge to drive in any part in the capital.

Not everyone was pleased with the expansion of the Ulez: PM Rishi Sunak says he wishes it hadn't been implemented, and Labour leader Keir Starmer believes his party lost a by-election over it. But Khan is adamant it's vital to improve air quality, and the data is on his side.

Today's live coverage was brought to you by our writers Oliver Slow, Liz Jackson, Jacqueline Howard, Thomas Mackintosh and Emily Atkinson; the page was edited by Dulcie Lee, George Bowden and Alexandra Fouché.

For more Ulez coverage, read our news story here.

'I was advised to buy a diesel car'

Maureen from Worcester Park on the London border has told BBC Radio 5 Live she lives 100 metres outside of the Ulez boundary, but that all the facilities he uses are in the London borough of Kingston, if she wants to go to the doctor's, the bank or the hospital.

"Because we're out of London, we couldn't join the scrappage scheme, so I had to buy a new car and I got £1,000 for my old car," she says.

"I'm waiting for a replacement knee and I've got arthritis in my spine so I need a car."

The 77-year-old added she was fortunate enough to have been able to afford to replace her car, but felt misled because she previously had a diesel car "which was the greenest car you could buy at the time. That was the one you were advised to buy".

The drivers fined after using scam websites

Harry Low

BBC London News

BBC

I've been speaking to some of those caught out by copycat scammers who target people wishing to pay the Ulez charge with websites which look like Transport for London's (TfL).

Bobby Sharp thought she had paid the Ulez charge online after going to the Chelsea Flower Show in May, but twice paid scammers £17.50 (£5 more than the real levy) and says she "doesn't want to go anywhere near London now" following her £540 fine from TfL.

The 65-year-old said: "Let's just say I felt quite ill and quite faint afterwards because I thought I'd done the right thing by paying and then found out I hadn't paid at all."

TfL says it works with search engines to remove results and its own website is the only place to pay online.

Read more here.

BBC Verify

Mark Poynting

Has Ulez ‘reduced air pollution by almost 50%’?

This morning, Sadiq Khan told the BBC: “We started the Ulez in central London [in 2019] and saw a reduction of toxicity - the main pollutants - by almost 50%”.

This figure comes from a City Hall report, reviewed by Imperial College London.

The report suggested Ulez had reduced roadside levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 46% in central London and by 21% in inner London by October 2022.

NO2 is generated from the exhausts of petrol and diesel cars, among other things, and is one of the most damaging pollutants for human health.

Another major pollutant is fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which comes from brakes, tyres and exhausts.

Levels of PM2.5 have also fallen, the City Hall report shows, but by less than nitrogen dioxide. However, it’s difficult to pinpoint how much of the PM2.5 fall is due to Ulez alone.

Other research has come to different figures on the effect of clean-air zones, including Ulez, as studies use different methods to calculate their effect.

For example, a 2021 study suggested Ulez had reduced NO2 levels by less than 3% when averaged across London, rather than just next to the roadside. However, this research only considered the first stage of Ulez, which covered a much smaller area in central London.

Most studies show clean-air zones do reduce air pollution, as Khan claims.

• Do clean-air zones reduce air pollution?

Mayor defends timing of scrappage rollout

BBC

Speaking to BBC London during a visit to Lewisham marking the expansion, London's Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "This is a landmark day for our city because from today, five million more Londoners will be breathing clean air.

"I've always been clear that the decision to expand the Ulez was a difficult one, but it's a vital one because we know, the evidence is quite clear [about] the consequences of pollution."

Asked whether the timing of the scrappage scheme rollout to all Londoners - eight days before the expansion - gave people enough time to apply before it was implemented, Khan said City Hall had waited until they "were confident those who needed the help had the help".

The mayor said City Hall would release "new information into those vehicles which are compliant and non-compliant" in a month's time, but "nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London on an average day" were compliant, he added.

How does the Ulez fee compare to the rest of the world?

Getty Images

A charge of £12.50 a day must be paid by anyone entering London's Ulez in a non-compliant vehicle. That may seem steep in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, but how does it compare with others around the world?

In Paris, if you drive inside the A86 ring road in a non-compliant vehicle, you'll have to pay €135 (£115).

For Berlin, driving within the S-Bahn ring without complying to the rules means paying €80 (£68).

Up in Glasgow, any polluting vehicle which doesn't meet the standard and enters the city centre zone faces a £60 penalty charge.

Speaking to the BBC's World Business Report, Forbes transport correspondent Carlton Reid described it in the global context as "somewhat of a bargain to be able to pollute".

Some signage and cameras not yet installed

Tom Edwards

Transport Correspondent, BBC London

Some of the Ulez signage and cameras on the boundaries of London haven’t been installed yet.

The photo below was taken in Worcester Park, Sutton.

Tfl says it has “an extensive camera and signage network which is sufficient to support the effective operation of the scheme”.

BBC

'It's fine if you can afford a new car'

Oliver Slow

Live reporter

My father-in-law, Chris, is driving from Bristol to London to visit us next week, and as someone with a non-compliant vehicle, says the Ulez expansion is a mild annoyance.

“I do have to think about it, but given I visit pretty infrequently, I’m not heavily impacted by it,” he says. “A lot of other people are far more impacted than I am.”

Bristol also has its own Clean Air Zone - introduced last November - and Chris’s car, a 2006 diesel, is non-compliant there as well.

“I don’t drive around Bristol that much, but when I do, I have to try and skip around the zone a bit to avoid the charges,” he says.

Chris has considered buying a new car that’s compliant, but says his current one is economical.

"It gets a lot to the gallon," he says.

I also spoke to Nick, who works outside London and has to travel to Heathrow a few days a week for work.

His old car was a 2014 diesel, and he’s had to buy a new one because of the Ulez expansion.

“It’s fine if you can afford to change your car, but otherwise it’s an issue,” he says.

“It’s like anything related to sustainability and carbon reduction, it only works if you’ve got the money to do it or are incentivised heavily.”

Ulez - the absolute basics

Reuters

Just getting up to speed? Don't worry, we've got you.

Ulez is a daily fee charged by Transport for London (TfL) to drivers for using the road if their vehicle does not meet emissions standards.

The fee depends on the vehicle, but for most road users driving non-compliant cars, it will be £12.50.

Compliance is monitored using cameras on the road with automatic number plate recognition technology.

Ulez operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year, except on Christmas Day.

What to know before you hop in the car today

Getty Images

Keys, phone, wallet, Ulez.

From today, there's another item on the mental checklist for those driving in London. Here are five things to think about:

1. Ulez has expanded across Greater London, meaning drivers of the most polluting vehicles must pay a £12.50 daily charge
2. Check your vehicle to see if you have to pay to drive in the zone here
3. Know where Ulez applies by checking out our map or entering a postcode here
4. Suss out your options if your car isn't Ulez compliant - there's a scrappage scheme available for Londoners
5. Stay across the latest - the Ulez expansion has been dramatic, politically speaking. PM Rishi Sunak says he wishes London Mayor Sadiq Khan hadn't implemented it - but Khan says it's vital to improve air quality

BBC Verify

Lucy Gilder

How much money has Ulez raised?

Earlier, Transport Secretary Mark Harper described the Ulez expansion as “a money-raising exercise”. Is he right?

In 2019, its first year of operation, Ulez contributed £39m to Transport for London's net income.

In the following years the scheme raised:

• 2020: £91m
• 2021: £38m
• 2022: £111m

London is one of the only cities in the world that does not receive government funding to support the operating costs of its transport network.

Transport for London (TfL) says Ulez revenue is reinvested into the network - some of the funds will go towards improving bus routes in outer London, for example.

TfL also receives income through Low Emission Zones (Lez) charges. The scheme, which started in 2008, targets the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles driving in London.

TfL predicts that the Ulez expansion, along with the current Lez scheme, will generate net proceeds of under £200m per year for the first two years from 2023-24.

But City Hall says that net revenue from the Ulez expansion will stop “within just a few short years”. It projects this will happen by 2027 as more people drive less polluting vehicles.

'I've given up my floristry business over Ulez'

Let's hear now from florist Vanessa, from Sutton in south London, who says she's given up her business due to the impact of the expanded Ulez.

"My van was perfectly good, was well maintained, but the cost of delivering my flowers... is just not feasible," she says.

She explains she cannot find any vans for sale for less than £19,000 and "would have had to go into debt to purchase a van".

She has now handed her business over to one of her employees but adds "because she's owned the business for less than a year, she's not entitled to the scrappage scheme either", so thinks existing support doesn't go far enough.

Get more details on the scrappage scheme here.

Has Ulez improved air quality so far?

Ulez has already been in place for a number of years in a smaller area of London. It's already made a difference, but it isn't all good news.

The scheme aims to reduce levels of two damaging air pollutants from petrol and diesel vehicles - nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

Within the previous Ulez area, it is estimated that NOx emissions have fallen by 26% since 2019, with PM2.5 emissions falling by 19% over the same period.

Air quality has improved as a result. But all Londoners still live in areas exceeding the World Health Organization's guidelines for safe levels of both pollutants.

Meanwhile, the number of older polluting vehicles that enter the previous smaller Ulez zone has fallen dramatically, with 97% now meeting the cleaner standards benchmark.

Anti-Ulez protesters gather outside Downing Street

PA Media

Dozens of anti-Ulez demonstrators have been holding a protest outside Downing Street.

Protesters are carrying placards saying “stop the toxic air lie” and “Ulez all about money” as they blow whistles and bang drums.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is the focus for many of the protesters - with some holding mocked-up car registration plates reading “get Khan out”, while a smaller number take aim at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Four Ulez questions - including a cheeky one

We’ve been getting heaps of questions about the Ulez expansion - let's look over a few of them:

I've already purchased a new car to replace my non-compliant one - will I get backdated payment as compensation?

No, sorry, there isn't any retrospective scrappage. More on the scrappage scheme here.

Is Heathrow in the Ulez zone?

Yes. Heathrow bosses and unions have had concerns about airport workers having to pay. And overnight workers who have non-compliant cars could have to pay twice as the Ulez runs from midnight to midnight.

My neighbour who is a pensioner and has a non-compliant car doesn't have a smart phone or internet. How is she meant to apply for scrappage or pay for charges?

TfL says you could fill out her form on her behalf, or there's a phone number she could call - 0343 222 2222.

Can I buy an old car, just so I can apply for £2,000 scrappage?

Nice try. The car needs to have been registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to you (or someone who lives at your address) since 30 January 2022 or earlier.

How things work for our European neighbours

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London is far from the only place with a low emission zone - there are several in a number of European countries, and they vary by vehicle type and emissions.

Italy has the most zones in Europe - some of them permanent, many seasonal - followed by Germany, according to the Urban Access Regulations website.

In Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has introduced a number of measures to curb traffic and pollution over the years, including a car-free day in the centre of the city on the first Sunday of each month. The city has plans for a zero-emission zone in 2030.

How much of London is covered by Ulez?

In short, nearly all of it.

In most cases, if you live in Greater London, you live within the Ulez area. We've annotated the below map of the expanded zone with a few more places to help you see the scale of the zone:

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The reason we say "in most cases" is because things get a little complicated around the border - on the map you can see the Ulez coloured in red, and the boundary of Greater London outlined by the thin grey line.

To check whether a destination is within Ulez, pop the postcode into Transport for London's checker here.

'I've no clue how I'll afford to get to work'

One of those affected by today's changes is Linda Quayle, who owns a bridal shop in Bexley in south-east London and lives outside the capital.

She says she'll have to pay the Ulez charge every time she travels to her shop.

"I understand about children's health. I'm asthmatic and I have a granddaughter who is chronic asthmatic - but he [Sadiq Khan] needed to have given us longer than eight to nine months to sort out our businesses, cars etc," she says.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she adds: "Right now I really haven't got a clue on how I'm going to afford for myself to get to work and to keep my business going.

"I don't know how long I can sustain it for."

Political impact could stretch beyond Home Counties

David Cornock

Political correspondent

The political impact of the expansion of Ulez may stretch far beyond the Home Counties.

Victory against the odds in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election gave the Conservatives hope that they could extend their criticism of the Labour mayor of London to his party in the run-up to the general election.

Rishi Sunak announced he was “on the side” of the motorist as he ordered a review of the roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods across England.

Labour accused him of hypocrisy, pointing out that Ulez was introduced under a Conservative mayor (Boris Johnson) and its initial expansion had been suggested by the government.

But with the Conservatives hoping to use traffic reduction measures as a “wedge issue” in the election, Labour’s leader has been wary of defending Ulez expansion.

Keir Starmer has suggested Sadiq Khan should reflect on the policy and its impact on people during a cost-of-living crisis.

Could your historic vehicle be exempt?

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We'll admit not many people have historic vehicles (even if it might feel like it at times...), but if you do and it's registered in the UK, it could be exempt from the Ulez fee if:

1. It was built before 1 January 1973; or
2. It is more than 40 years old and has been registered with the DVLA for a historic vehicle tax class.

If your vehicle meets the above criteria but is registered outside the UK, it is also exempt, but you will need to register it before travelling in the Ulez area.