ULEZ legal battle to be decided today: High Court judge will give ruling over challenge brought by five Conservative-led councils against Sadiq Khan’s expansion of zone

• Ulez extension to encompass all of Greater London is due to begin on August 29
• But judge will give ruling over legal challenge brought by five Tory-led councils

The High Court battle over London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s controversial planned extension of the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) will be decided today.

A judge will give his ruling over a legal challenge brought by five Conservative-led councils against the expansion, which is due to come into force on August 29.

The outer London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council launched legal action in February over the Labour Mayor’s proposals to extend Ulez beyond the North and South Circular roads.

Mr Khan has admitted his plans could be ‘quashed’ if the court rules them illegal. He told ITV yesterday: ‘There are a number of things the court could say and some of those could lead to a delay – the court could quash the order I made to expand Ulez.

‘So there are a number of things it could do from quash the decision to expand Ulez to require, hypothetically speaking, to reconsult. I am someone who believes in the court of law.’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured in June 2022) wants to expand the capital’s Ulez area

The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) is due to come into force on August 29

Protesters against the expansion of Ulez outside BBC Broadcasting House in London on July 22

At a hearing earlier this month, the local authorities’ lawyers argued Mr Khan lacked the legal power to order the expansion of the zone by varying existing regulations.

What is Ulez and why is it being extended? 

Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to expand London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) zone from its current borders of the North and South Circular roads to encompass the outer London boroughs on August 29. Here is what it means for motorists in the capital:

– What is Ulez for?

Separate from the congestion charge, which is aimed at reducing traffic, Ulez is designed to cut air pollution in the capital by discouraging the use of high-emission vehicles through imposing a daily fee.

It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and aims to improve the health of Londoners by reducing the amount of particulate matter and nitrous oxides they breathe.

– What does it apply to?

All cars, motorcycles, vans, minibuses and other specialist vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tonnes.

Generally, petrol cars registered after 2005 and diesel cars registered after 2015 meet the emissions standards.

Cars older than this are charged £12.50 a day with a penalty for non-payment of up to £180.

– How do I know if my vehicle is Ulez compliant?

Drivers can check whether their vehicle meets the emissions standards on Transport for London’s (TfL) website by entering in their registration number.

Automatic number plate recognition cameras are set up along streets within the zone that check the registration with DVLA records to determine the vehicle’s age and therefore its compliance.

– Whose idea was Ulez?

The scheme was first approved in 2015 when Mr Johnson was London mayor but introduced four years later under Mr Khan’s stewardship.

Mr Khan has since been a strong supporter of Ulez and has been advocating for its expansion towards the outer boroughs.

– Why is it expanding?

At first, Ulez only applied to central London but in 2021 grew to border the North and South Circular roads as part of a pandemic bail-out agreement between TfL and the Government.

Mr Khan said he wants to expand the zone further to encompass the outer London boroughs from August 29 to lower the air pollution in those areas.

Opponents of the expansion believe the Mayor is using it as a way to make money for TfL.

– Why are people opposed?

Critics of the Ulez expansion say the scheme disproportionately affects poorer people who need to drive for work and that it discourages sole traders from outside London taking work in the city.

A scrappage scheme is in placing for people on benefits with older cars to receive up to £2,000 or a mixture of cash and public transport passes, but critics of this say the money is not enough.

– Could Ulez be ditched?

The Conservative-run outer London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon along with Surrey County Council have taken legal action against the Mayor of London in the High Court, saying he lacks the legal power to order the scheme’s extension.

They are expecting a judgment on that case today, which could delay the extension, making it a prominent campaign issue in next year’s mayoral and general elections and Labour may choose to reconsider backing it.

– How serious is air pollution?

Government health officials believe particulate matter and nitrous oxides kill between 28,000 and 36,000 people every year and estimate a £1.6 billion cost to the NHS between 2017 and 2025, with vehicle exhausts being the main source of those gases.

In 2020, Ella Kissi-Debrah became the first person in the world to have air pollution cited as a cause of death.

She died in 2013 at nine years old after suffering from an asthma attack brought on by ingesting traffic fumes near her home in south-east London.

Craig Howell Williams KC, for the councils, said there was an ‘unfair and unlawful’ approach to collecting views on the plans and that ‘key information… was not disclosed’ during previous consultation.

The barrister added that plans for a £110million scheme to provide grants supporting the scrapping of non-Ulez compliant vehicles were also unlawful because a ‘buffer zone’ for ‘non-Londoners’ affected by the extended charging zone was not considered.

But the Mayor’s legal team rejected the bid to quash his November 2022 decision to extend Ulez to all of London’s boroughs, arguing the move was ‘entirely lawful’ and that ‘ample information’ was provided for a ‘fair consultation’.

Ben Jaffey KC, representing the mayor and Transport for London (TfL) – an interested party in the case – said the ‘primary objective’ of the Ulez expansion was ‘to improve London’s air quality, in particular reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates’.

The barrister said Mr Khan’s decisions ‘will help to get London’s air quality closer to legal limits, where they are exceeded, and World Health Organisation guideline levels everywhere’.

If it goes ahead, the extended Ulez will see drivers in outer London pay a £12.50 daily fee from August 29 if their vehicles do not meet the required emissions standards.

The new borders will reach Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.

Mr Justice Swift is expected to give his judgment over the legal challenge at 10am today.

The ruling will come in the wake of last week’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip parliamentary by-election, where Labour’s failure to win ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s seat was blamed on concerns around the expansion of Ulez.

Right-wing Tories have since urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to review the deadlines around environmental measures after voter concerns helped their party hang on to the seat.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday agreed that the Ulez charge had lost Uxbridge for Labour, and blasted the tax.

‘It came up on the doorstep all the time,’ she told The Sun. ‘The richest people are able to upgrade their car every two or three years… it’s a tax on people with older cars, it’s not a progressive tax.’

Miss Reeves added: ‘With the cost of living, it doesn’t feel like the right time to clobber people with extra charges.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say if London’s charge on polluting vehicles should go ahead, saying it was a decision for Mr Khan, who has been asked to ‘reflect on’ how to reduce the impact of the scheme on people amid a cost-of-living crisis.

But sources close to Mr Khan insist that it was ‘a really difficult decision, but necessary to save the lives of young and vulnerable Londoners’.

Mr Khan is understood to be committed to implementing the expansion, but is open to ideas on how to mitigate the impact on Londoners.

His team has defended the policy, saying that nine in 10 cars driving in outer London are already compliant with Ulez regulations and will not be charged.

Officials have also pointed to the  £110million scrappage scheme recently topped up by City Hall.

However, Sir Keir previously backed his party’s unsuccessful Uxbridge by-election candidate who called for a delay to the plans.

And earlier this week he was accused of trying to ‘wash his hands’ of the Ulez expansion as he refused to say whether it should go ahead.

The opposition leader said it was up to Mr Khan to decide whether to press on widening the zone, but said it was not a ‘simple political decision’.

Yesterday Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate and net zero secretary, said Sir Keir was ‘100 per cent committed’ to green policies.

Dismissing as ‘tittle-tattle’ reports of unhappiness in Labour circles about the party’s green agenda, Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘I am far too experienced to be worried about that kind of thing.

‘Because the truth is you always get tittle tattle in Westminster.

‘The truth is that Keir Starmer is absolutely 100 per cent committed to the project of clean energy by 2030, which is the way to cut bills and give us energy security and tackle the climate crisis.

‘And he’s also absolutely committed, as is Rachel Reeves, to ramping up to £28billion a year of investment to bring the good jobs that we need for our country.

Protesters demonstrate against the Ultra Low Emission Zone at London’s High Court on July 4

‘And you know what? If Labour wins the election, we will never have had a prime minister and a chancellor so committed to this agenda and I’m incredibly proud to work alongside them.’

READ MORE Is this proof ULEZ restrictions are totally arbitrary? Scottish driver discovers his 2015 diesel Audi is banned in Glasgow but passes emissions test for London

Separately yesterday, Rishi Sunak sparked a row with Mr Khan after placing the London Mayor in ‘special measures’ for failing to build more homes.

In a highly unusual move, the Prime Minister ordered a government review of the Mayor’s multi-decade plan for London, amid concern it fails to address the housing crisis in the capital.

Mr Khan will now be required to work with Housing Secretary Michael Gove to improve the plan. Mr Gove has reserved the right to impose changes in the autumn if the London Mayor fails to deliver significant improvements.

A Government source said the move amounted to Mr Khan being placed in ‘special measures’ over his housing plans, which have delivered barely half the homes needed in the capital.

The review will examine options to ‘accelerate residential development’, particularly on former industrial sites in the inner city.

Mr Sunak said: ‘Labour’s Sadiq Khan has failed to deliver the homes London needs, driving up prices and making it harder for families to get on the housing ladder.

‘So I’m stepping in to boost housebuilding and make home ownership a reality again for Londoners.’

But the approach triggered an angry reaction from the Labour mayor.

Responding on Twitter, Mr Khan said: ‘Are you the same guy who dropped his house building targets?

Council representatives including Teresa O’Neill from Bexley Council (far left) and Matt Furniss from Surrey County Council (far right) at the High Court in London on July 4 for their Ulez case

Signage indicates the boundary of the Ulez scheme beside the South Circular Road in London 

‘Because I’m the guy who started building more council homes than the rest of England combined, exceeded your affordable homes targets and built more homes of any kind than since the 1930s. This is desperate nonsense.’

READ MORE Tory Mayor of London hopeful Susan Hall says a ban on new petrol and diesel cars ‘is not going to happen’

Also yesterday, the Tory hopeful taking on Mr Khan to be Mayor of London said a government ban on new petrol cars ‘is not going to happen’.

Susan Hall became the latest senior Conservative to pile pressure on Mr Sunak to drop the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

The Government’s target is designed to speed up the switch to electric vehicles as part of efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

But Ms Hall, who will face Mr Khan in the mayoral election next May, told the Spectator that the proposal was not achievable.

She said: ‘I think 2030 is not going to happen. We haven’t got charging points, there are so many issues. It’s an admirable aim, but I don’t think it will work.’

Ms Hall’s comments come after Mr Gove tried to shut down debate about the 2030 timetable this week, saying it was ‘immovable’.

But a government source said the Prime Minister was open to reviewing the target, after warning that net zero ambitions must be pursued in a ‘proportionate and pragmatic way’.

Tory peer Lord Frost said it was time to move away from high-cost policies designed to halt climate change and focus on cheaper measures that will reduce the impact of events such as flooding.

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