Roscobbc
Moderator
At least our Julia Lopez, our local MP and Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport is significantly 'on side'.
Quote:-
Dear Ross,
We have previously been in touch about the Mayor of London’s decision to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide from August of this year. I wanted to share with you the response I have just received from the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, to my most recent representations against the damaging ULEZ expansion on constituents' behalf. You can find a copy of this response on my website at: Mayor's Response To MP's ULEZ Objections
As you know, I am deeply opposed to the decision to enlarge the zone and have previously made both my own and constituents' concerns known to the Mayor during earlier public consultation and following his announcement. You can view each of these submissions on my website at the below address:
ULEZ Consultation Submission - ULEZ Consultation Submission
December representations - MP asks Mayor to rethink damaging ULEZ plan
When writing to the Mayor, I put to him that he has not done enough to reduce TfL’s own emissions, particularly those arising from TfL’s bus network. In response, the Deputy Mayor shares that as few as 9% of the vehicles on TfL’s bus network are zero emission and diminishes the Mayor’s own responsibility to improve this.
We are instead advised that the Mayor is committed to delivering a zero-emission fleet in London by 2034 but, with Government funding, this could be brought forward to 2030. TfL’s own statements confirm that the ULEZ expansion would cost circa £200m, a figure which does not include the £110m scrappage scheme - money which Conservative London Assembly Members have said could be put to better use by purchasing up to 500 electric buses. I believe that the Mayor should be looking to fulfil his own responsibilities to reduce TfL’s own emissions before taxing Londoners in this way.
The Mayor claims to be doing all he can to support Londoners with the cost of living, while establishing what is effectively a daily tax on those who can least afford a new vehicle, and the Deputy Mayor even goes as far as to suggest that the removal of a £10 per vehicle Auto Pay registration fee will help the drivers of non-compliant vehicles. I am not sure that this will come as huge relief to those facing a £12.50 daily charge for use of their vehicle.
The Mayor’s Scrappage Scheme is also held up as evidence of his assistance to Londoners in the face of current cost of living pressures, however a search of the local car market using Auto Trader does not show a high availability of compliant vehicles within the maximum scrappage award. Just 198 compliant family size (5 seat) vehicles were available within 20 miles of my Upminster office and demand for these vehicles will clearly soon increase.
Within her response, the Deputy Mayor argues that the Government should be contributing to the Mayor’s scrappage scheme. As the Minister for Roads and Transport stated in Parliament recently, since the beginning of the pandemic the Government have provided over £6 billion, or £650 for every Londoner, in funding to TfL. This overall funding package includes the most recent long-term funding settlement of August which provided TfL with £1.2 billion until the end of March 2024 helping to ensure that TfL remains protected against potential lost revenue following changes in post-pandemic demand. The suggestion that taxpayers should contribute further to support policies which the Mayor’s own consultation shows that Londoners do not want demeans the Mayor’s office.
Finally, the Deputy Mayor’s response is poor at addressing concerns that the ULEZ expansion is inappropriate in outer London because TfL’s public transport network is not good enough for most people to rely upon. The Mayor has touted in several documents that there will be an improvement in the bus connectivity between Harold Hill and Upminster. While this is welcomed, this is just one route in my constituency, and I do not believe that the Mayor is truly committed to the scale of improvements required to make public transport a viable alternative to many in Havering.
Last year the Mayor consulted on changes to inner London bus routes and initially proposed that 71 bus routes would be subject to a change of route and 22 routes would be withdrawn. Following consultation, the Mayor announced that, having listened to Londoners, only four routes would be changed and four would be withdrawn. When announcing this decision, the Mayor advised that this would mean tough decisions elsewhere, despite promising the biggest ever expansion of the bus network in outer London. It seems clear where the Mayor expects these tough decisions to fall.
A number of constituents have expressed a hope that the Government would be able to intervene to stop the Mayor from introducing this policy. Unfortunately, as I have already confirmed to many correspondents, the Mayor is using powers lawfully granted to him via the Greater London Authority Act 1999 in a position to which he has been democratically elected. The Government is therefore unable to obstruct the Mayor in implementing this policy. To overturn primary legislation like the GLA Act would be a lengthy and deeply controversial process, by which time the deadline to begin implementation would have passed and the Government would effectively be upending a democratically elected representative. However, while the Government is unable to block this policy, the Minister for Roads and Transport has confirmed that the Government will not provide any funding to support the implementation of the ULEZ expansion.
Finally, the Deputy Mayor has asserted that a number of constituents, in comments I had shared on an anonymous basis with the Mayor, had expressed their support for the ULEZ expansion. This is totally disingenuous. While constituents had joined in me in expressing an appreciation that air pollution is an issue which requires addressing, none had expressed support for the ULEZ and it is wrong for the Mayor’s administration to conflate the two positions.
I shall continue to work with colleagues in parliament and on the London Assembly to highlight the deep unpopularity of the Mayor's plan and the reasons why he should think again. I am also waiting clarification on whether local councils have any power to withhold consent for the installation of the necessary infrastructure to implement this scheme and asked the Leader of Havering Council about the Council’s own interpretation of this and if he will join other Outer London Boroughs in resisting ULEZ expansion.
I have received advice that the Council is awaiting feedback from legal Counsel on the validity of the Mayor’s consultation and possible flaws in associated documents. I shall continue to engage with the Council to encourage their opposition to this policy as robustly as it can and I would encourage constituents to contact the Council directly to ensure it is aware of the strength of local feeling on this issue. You can find the contact details for your own ward Councillors and the Leader of the Council at:
https://democracy.havering.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
I hope that this update is helpful. I will provide further updates on this issue when available.
With best wishes,
Julia
JULIA LOPEZ MP
Hornchurch & Upminster
Quote:-
Dear Ross,
We have previously been in touch about the Mayor of London’s decision to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide from August of this year. I wanted to share with you the response I have just received from the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, to my most recent representations against the damaging ULEZ expansion on constituents' behalf. You can find a copy of this response on my website at: Mayor's Response To MP's ULEZ Objections
As you know, I am deeply opposed to the decision to enlarge the zone and have previously made both my own and constituents' concerns known to the Mayor during earlier public consultation and following his announcement. You can view each of these submissions on my website at the below address:
ULEZ Consultation Submission - ULEZ Consultation Submission
December representations - MP asks Mayor to rethink damaging ULEZ plan
When writing to the Mayor, I put to him that he has not done enough to reduce TfL’s own emissions, particularly those arising from TfL’s bus network. In response, the Deputy Mayor shares that as few as 9% of the vehicles on TfL’s bus network are zero emission and diminishes the Mayor’s own responsibility to improve this.
We are instead advised that the Mayor is committed to delivering a zero-emission fleet in London by 2034 but, with Government funding, this could be brought forward to 2030. TfL’s own statements confirm that the ULEZ expansion would cost circa £200m, a figure which does not include the £110m scrappage scheme - money which Conservative London Assembly Members have said could be put to better use by purchasing up to 500 electric buses. I believe that the Mayor should be looking to fulfil his own responsibilities to reduce TfL’s own emissions before taxing Londoners in this way.
The Mayor claims to be doing all he can to support Londoners with the cost of living, while establishing what is effectively a daily tax on those who can least afford a new vehicle, and the Deputy Mayor even goes as far as to suggest that the removal of a £10 per vehicle Auto Pay registration fee will help the drivers of non-compliant vehicles. I am not sure that this will come as huge relief to those facing a £12.50 daily charge for use of their vehicle.
The Mayor’s Scrappage Scheme is also held up as evidence of his assistance to Londoners in the face of current cost of living pressures, however a search of the local car market using Auto Trader does not show a high availability of compliant vehicles within the maximum scrappage award. Just 198 compliant family size (5 seat) vehicles were available within 20 miles of my Upminster office and demand for these vehicles will clearly soon increase.
Within her response, the Deputy Mayor argues that the Government should be contributing to the Mayor’s scrappage scheme. As the Minister for Roads and Transport stated in Parliament recently, since the beginning of the pandemic the Government have provided over £6 billion, or £650 for every Londoner, in funding to TfL. This overall funding package includes the most recent long-term funding settlement of August which provided TfL with £1.2 billion until the end of March 2024 helping to ensure that TfL remains protected against potential lost revenue following changes in post-pandemic demand. The suggestion that taxpayers should contribute further to support policies which the Mayor’s own consultation shows that Londoners do not want demeans the Mayor’s office.
Finally, the Deputy Mayor’s response is poor at addressing concerns that the ULEZ expansion is inappropriate in outer London because TfL’s public transport network is not good enough for most people to rely upon. The Mayor has touted in several documents that there will be an improvement in the bus connectivity between Harold Hill and Upminster. While this is welcomed, this is just one route in my constituency, and I do not believe that the Mayor is truly committed to the scale of improvements required to make public transport a viable alternative to many in Havering.
Last year the Mayor consulted on changes to inner London bus routes and initially proposed that 71 bus routes would be subject to a change of route and 22 routes would be withdrawn. Following consultation, the Mayor announced that, having listened to Londoners, only four routes would be changed and four would be withdrawn. When announcing this decision, the Mayor advised that this would mean tough decisions elsewhere, despite promising the biggest ever expansion of the bus network in outer London. It seems clear where the Mayor expects these tough decisions to fall.
A number of constituents have expressed a hope that the Government would be able to intervene to stop the Mayor from introducing this policy. Unfortunately, as I have already confirmed to many correspondents, the Mayor is using powers lawfully granted to him via the Greater London Authority Act 1999 in a position to which he has been democratically elected. The Government is therefore unable to obstruct the Mayor in implementing this policy. To overturn primary legislation like the GLA Act would be a lengthy and deeply controversial process, by which time the deadline to begin implementation would have passed and the Government would effectively be upending a democratically elected representative. However, while the Government is unable to block this policy, the Minister for Roads and Transport has confirmed that the Government will not provide any funding to support the implementation of the ULEZ expansion.
Finally, the Deputy Mayor has asserted that a number of constituents, in comments I had shared on an anonymous basis with the Mayor, had expressed their support for the ULEZ expansion. This is totally disingenuous. While constituents had joined in me in expressing an appreciation that air pollution is an issue which requires addressing, none had expressed support for the ULEZ and it is wrong for the Mayor’s administration to conflate the two positions.
I shall continue to work with colleagues in parliament and on the London Assembly to highlight the deep unpopularity of the Mayor's plan and the reasons why he should think again. I am also waiting clarification on whether local councils have any power to withhold consent for the installation of the necessary infrastructure to implement this scheme and asked the Leader of Havering Council about the Council’s own interpretation of this and if he will join other Outer London Boroughs in resisting ULEZ expansion.
I have received advice that the Council is awaiting feedback from legal Counsel on the validity of the Mayor’s consultation and possible flaws in associated documents. I shall continue to engage with the Council to encourage their opposition to this policy as robustly as it can and I would encourage constituents to contact the Council directly to ensure it is aware of the strength of local feeling on this issue. You can find the contact details for your own ward Councillors and the Leader of the Council at:
https://democracy.havering.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
I hope that this update is helpful. I will provide further updates on this issue when available.
With best wishes,
Julia
JULIA LOPEZ MP
Hornchurch & Upminster
))) So take a BIG detour down to Newhaven ................ Burn more fuel........ Nonsense .............
