Sadiq Khan today asked Rishi Sunak to double the size of his ultra-low emission zone scrappage scheme – as his Tory rivals at City Hall called for the Ulez expansion to be shelved.
The Mayor, in a letter to the Prime Minister, asked him to use a £30bn windfall in Government finances to double the size of the scrappage fund to £220m to allow it to be opened to drivers living in the Home Counties.
Mr Khan’s decision not to consult on widening the scrappage scheme to the Home Counties is one of the grounds on which five Tory councils are seeking to challenge the legality of the Ulez expansion to Greater London.
Last month Mr Sunak urged the mayor to “properly reconsider” the Ulez expansion plans amid a growing backlash from people and councils in outer London.
Last year the Government made it a condition of Transport for London’s £5bn of covid bailouts that none of the cash be used to expand the Ulez.
The zone, which charges drivers of non-compliant vehicles £12.50 per day, is due to expand on August 29.
Thousands of small businesses, charities and low-income Londoners have already applied for scrappage grants and the scheme is likely to be hugely oversubscribed.
Last week Mr Khan, who has enjoyed his own windfall from £188m higher than expected council tax and business rates revenue, refused to use any of this cash to boost the scrappage scheme.
Instead he is to spend £130m funding free school meals for London primary school children for a year from September.
It came as the City Hall Tories proposed a series of amendments to Mr Khan’s annual budget, which is being voted on by the London Assembly today.
The nine-strong Tory group want to suspend the Ulez expansion until after the next mayoral election – effectively turning the 2024 vote into a referendum.
They also want to cancel the near £40 average increase in Mr Khan’s share of council tax bills and would invest £500m in zero-emission buses, improving air quality by targeting the London bus fleet rather than the private motorist.
However, the proposals are likely to be rejected by the 11-strong Labour group on the assembly, which holds the balance of power and can safeguard Mr Khan’s budget.
Peter Fortune, deputy leader of the City Hall Conservatives, said: “Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion hits Londoners in the pocket without making a dent in air pollution, so we will stop this and let the people decide in the 2024 mayoral election.”
