Letters exchanged by Sadiq Khan and a former Transport Secretary have revealed that the Government proposed in 2020 an expansion of London’s £15 Congestion Charge at the same time as the Ultra Low emission zone (ULEZ) in October 2021. This comes Sadiq Khan faces backlash from opposition politicians and some of the city’s residents over expanding ULEZ to all London boroughs on August 29.
In a correspondence, provided to MyLondon by a source close to the Mayor of London, addressed to Mr Khan dated October 1, 2020, the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s then head of transport, Grant Shapps wrote: “We propose that you maintain the Congestion Charge at its current level and hours of operation, and returning the tightening of the Low Emission Zone for lorries and coaches as close as possible to your original starting date of October 26, 2020.”
Mr Shapps added: “Given the significant rise in congestion in inner London, we also propose the extension of the central London congestion charging zone to cover the same area as the Ultra Low Emission Zone [which the Mayor had already announced in 2018 he was planning to expand to the North circular and south circular roads] and at the same time, October 2021.”
Mr Khan then rejected Mr Shapps’ idea on October 6. He wrote: “Your letter proposes the widening of the congestion charging zone to the North and South Circular from October 2021. I do not accept this proposal.
“While we need to avoid the damaging effects of a car-based recovery, this blunt approach would have a catastrophic effect on the economy of inner London and beyond, at a time when our focus must be on recovery; and it would rightly be bitterly opposed by business groups, communities, and local authorities of all political colours.
“In addition, this proposal would not have any material financial impact on the short-term funding package you have chosen to propose, and where attention should be focused. As it is, the condition imposed by the Government to bring forward proposals to widen the level and scope of the congestion charge is a factor in businesses in Central London seeing reduced custom particularly at weekends.”
On October 25, 2021, the ULEZ was expanded by Mr Khan to cover the Inner London area inside the North Circular and South Circular roads. But, the congestion charge zone was not enlarged. A separate document sent by Mr Shapps in May 2020, which set out an ‘extraordinary funding and financing agreement for Transport for London (TfL) for the period to October 2020’ called for ‘the immediate reintroduction of the London Congestion Charge, LEZ and ULEZ and urgently bring forward proposals to widen the scope and levels of these charges, in accordance with the relevant legal powers and decision-making processes’.
A debate about what this proposal meant has recently ensued ahead of the mayor’s planned expansion of the ULEZ – which would see non-compliant cars (broadly pre-2005 petrol and pre-2015 diesel) charged – to nearly all of London’s roads at the end of this month. Information watchdog Full Fact clarified on August 9 that ‘the Department for Transport says this referred to existing plans to extend the boundary as far as the North and South Circular Roads, not the expansion across all of Greater London which is set to take place later this month’.
TfL is a devolved body, and any decisions on transport in the capital – including regarding the ULEZ – remain ultimately a matter for the Mayor, as Chair of the authority, and TfL officials. MyLondon asked the Department for Transport (DfT) for a comment on Mr Shapps’ proposal of an expanded congestion charge. A spokesperson did not supply a response.
But, the DfT has previously emphasised, according to Full Fact, that it did not impose the upcoming expansion of ULEZ on the Mayor, and that the funding agreement set out in the May 2020 letter is not associated in any way with the Mayor’s policy to enlarge the zone.
It has added that the reference to bringing forward “proposals to widen the scope and levels of these charges” was referring to proposals as regards the operation times of the congestion charge, and the potential expansion of ULEZ to an area up to the North and South Circular Roads. This Mr Khan had already proposed in 2018.
Recently, Mr Shapps has voiced his opposition to the Mayor’s planned ULEZ expansion. He tweeted in July: “It looks like he [Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer] will painfully sit on his fence and allow Khan to clobber drivers with needless and painful charges… Labour will take this as a win, but hardworking people will lose because Sadiq Khan doesn’t care about hitting drivers with unneeded costs.”
Mr Khan previously told MyLondon: “We’re not anti-car. We’re not anti-people being able to use their car. What we’re ‘anti’ is poison in the air that causes children to have stunted lungs, around 4,000 premature deaths a year, adults with a whole host of health issues from asthma to cancer, dementia to heart disease.
“So what we’re encouraging people to do is to get rid of their non-compliant vehicles, which means when they’re driving these vehicles they’re breathing in the poison, kids in the back are breathing in the poison as well. We’re encouraging them to either get compliant vehicles or cycle or use public transport where they can.”
