Sadiq Khan's ULEZ expansion gets green light as High Court rules against Tory-led councils judicial review

Sadiq Khan's plans to expand London's Ultra Low Emission Zone will go ahead as five Conservative-led councils lost their High Court challenge.

The outer London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council launched legal action in February over the Mayor of London's proposals to extend the ULEZ across the whole of Greater London.

The ULEZ requires a £12.50 per day charge for the most polluting vehicles. It currently extends to the North and South Circular, but Khan wants to expand it to on 29 August. City Hall says that 4,000 Londoners die each year prematurely due to causes linked to air pollution, with the greatest number of premature deaths in outer London.

It became a key battleground in the recent Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, which Labour narrowly lost, with Keir Starmer urging Khan to reconsider the expansion. However City Hall confirmed today that the it would go ahead - which could create a headache for the Labour leader.

In the High Court case, the councils claimed the variations to the original Low Emission Zone (LEZ), first introduced under Ken Livingstone in 2007, represent “significant” changes to the scheme.

They argued it would be “surprising if the statute allowed such a significant scheme to be introduced by way of a variation order”, and so a whole new entity should have been created from scratch in order to justify the planned expansion to cover all of greater London.

However Mr Justice Swift ruled in favour of Khan: “I am satisfied that the mayor’s decision to expand the ULEZ area by amendment of the present road charging scheme, rather than by making an entirely new … scheme, was within his powers.”

The judge added that, having “carefully considered” the consultation process, he was satisfied that enough information was given for people who wished to respond to provide “informed responses”. He also said the consultation on the scrappage scheme was “not in depth”, but was “lawful”.

After the ruling, Khan said: "This landmark decision is good news as it means we can proceed with cleaning up the air in outer London on 29 August.

“The decision to expand the ULEZ was very difficult and not something I took lightly and I continue to do everything possible to address any concerns Londoners may have. The ULEZ has already reduced toxic nitrogen dioxide air pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London.

“The coming expansion will see five million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.

“I’ve been listening to Londoners throughout the ULEZ rollout, which is why from next week I am expanding the scrappage scheme to nearly a million families who receive child benefit and all small businesses with up to 50 employees. I will continue to look at new ideas to support Londoners."

Khan will be seeking costs from the councils, thought to be worth millions, with a source saying "he does not believe Londoners should foot the bill".

While Keith Prince, transport spokesman for the Conservatives in City Hall, pledged to continue opposing ULEZ expansion.

He said: "While there was insufficient evidence the ULEZ expansion is unlawful, the evidence is clear that the policy will hit the poorest hardest, while having only a negligible effect on air quality.

"Sadiq Khan cannot ignore the overwhelming opposition of both Londoners and his own party forever. We will continue campaigning to get the ULEZ expansion scrapped, so we can tackle air pollution where it is instead of taxing where it isn’t."

Despite the focus on the ULEZ expansion in the Uxbridge by-election, polls show 58% of Londoners support the low-emission zone. The most recent poll, from Redfield and Wilton, found 47% in favour of the expansion while 32% of people are opposed.

Despite both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak coming out against the ULEZ expansion, wider polls around the environment show Britons are hugely in favour of reaching net zero, and believe the government needs to go further.

What is the ULEZ?

The ULEZ is an area of London where vehicles that don’t meet certain emission standards are liable for a daily charge. The zone was created to improve air quality in the city by reducing the number of older, more polluting vehicles on the roads. The aim of expanding the zone this August is to cut nitrogen dioxide by around 30%.

Transport for London says the zone is designed to discourage drivers from using these vehicles and encourage them to use alternative forms of transport or switch to newer, cleaner vehicles. There is a £12.50 daily charge for cars which an non-compliant.

City Hall estimates that fewer than one in 10 cars are non compliant, and there is an £110 million scrappage scheme to help low-income Londoners, disabled Londoners, charities and sole traders replace their vehicles.

Where does the ULEZ cover?

The ULEZ initially covered the same central area as London’s Congestion Charge zone but in October 2021 was expanded to cover all parts of the city within the North and South Circular roads.

It takes in all parts of the city from Haringey in the north and Southwark in the south to Newham in the east and Ealing in the west. It does not include the North and South Circulars themselves (A406 and A205, respectively).

Where will the ULEZ cover after the expansion?

From August 2023 the ULEZ will be expanded beyond the North and South Circular roads to cover the whole Greater London area, encompassing most of the area within the M25, meaning around five million people in total will live within the ULEZ.

Transport for London (TfL) estimates that on an average day about 160,000 cars and 42,000 vans that use London’s roads would be liable for the ULEZ fee. Transport officials believe that by the end of next year the expansion of the scheme will have encouraged tens of thousands of drivers to switch to ULEZ-compliant vehicles or other forms of transport.