London Councils concerned at Mayor’s intention to press ahead with London LEZ

London Councils has voiced concerns that the Mayor is pressing ahead with plans to introduce a London Low Emission Zone (LEZ) - despite warnings that it would prove hugely expensive while providing minimal benefit for Londoners. 

When the Mayor consulted on the proposals in February 2007, London Councils warned that the LEZ would bring very little improvement to the capital's air quality despite costing around £600 million to introduce and enforce.

Despite these warnings, the Mayor has announced today that he has approved plans to introduce the LEZ in February 2008. Under the scheme vehicles like heavy goods lorries, vans, coaches and buses will have to pay to enter Greater London.

Responding to Transport for London's consultation on the LEZ, London Councils said that while it is committed to seeking ways to improve London's air quality there are significant questions about the worth of the scheme currently proposed.

TfL's figures show that with the LEZ, London's air quality could improve overall by 11.6 per cent by 2010. However, their figures also show that even without the LEZ, the capital's air quality will improve by 11.3 per cent by 2010 as a result of European standards on emission levels for new vehicles.

According to TfL's own figures boroughs, hauliers, van operators and bus and coach firms now face compliance costs of £470 million to make their existing vehicles comply with the zone's restrictions. Further, TfL also estimates it would cost around £130 million to introduce and enforce the LEZ.

London Councils is also concerned about how the LEZ will be enforced, especially for foreign registered vehicles. In total, around 95 per cent of the penalties issued in London to drivers of vehicles registered abroad go unpaid as there is no way of enforcing them. The Freight Transport Association estimate that there are around 10,000 foreign registered heavy goods vehicles in the UK each day.

London Councils believes an effective way forward would be for the Government to introduce tougher emissions standards for all vehicles through the annual MOT test. This would remove any need for additional expensive extra enforcement to be taken.

Chairman of London Councils Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Daniel Moylan, said:

"While we share the Mayor's aim of improving London's air quality we cannot support a scheme that uses public money so recklessly. The LEZ will waste millions of pounds of taxpayers' money and add huge financial burdens to London's businesses.  Despite this huge expenditure, the Mayor's proposed LEZ will achieve only miniscule benefits for Londoners. Six hundred million pounds for a 0.3 per cent increase in air quality is a poor return by anyone's standards. 

"It appears our evidence has not been heeded and that the Mayor is intent on pressing ahead with his plans irrespective of the cost. Perhaps he is more interested in grabbing the green headlines rather than doing what is best for London. Instead of rushing through a new tax on Londoners, the Mayor's strategic role would be far better employed in lobbying government on behalf of the capital to lower emissions levels for all vehicles through the MOT test."

For details of London Councils response to the LEZ consultation from February 2007 please follow the weblink below.  

For press enquiries please contact: Chris Hogwood on 020 7934 9757 Chris.hogwood@londoncouncils.gov.uk  Fax 020 7934 9769

For non-media enquiries contact: London Councils, 59½ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL Tel 020 7934 9999 www.londoncouncils.gov.uk

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