Councils accuse Mayor of London of “staggering level of contempt” as ULEZ cameras installed before challenge heard in court

Five councils are “calling out” the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, for starting to install signs and ANPR cameras in the outer London boroughs which are challenging the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

The London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon and Surrey County Council announced on 16 February that they would challenge the expansion in the High Court on five grounds:  

• Failure to comply with relevant statutory requirements.
• Unlawful failure to consider expected compliance rates in outer London.
• The proposed scrappage scheme was not consulted upon.
• Failure to carry out any cost benefit analysis.
• Inadequate consultation and/or apparent predetermination arising from the conduct of the consultation.

However, the councils have revealed that while the challenge is yet to be heard in the courts, residents in the London boroughs have been “dismayed to spot ULEZ signs and ANPR cameras popping up overnight without warning”.

The coalition of councils noted that some residents appear to have “mistakenly assumed the appearance of the cameras - on local traffic light columns - was a sign that the boroughs have reneged on their position and cowed to the mayor’s will".

They added: “The coalition would like to make it abundantly clear, that this is not the case.”

As of August 2023, drivers of cars that do not meet the emissions standards will have to pay £12.50 a day to enter the Greater London Authority boundary, following Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand London’s ULEZ.

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that TfL and the five councils seeking a judicial review of the Mayor’s decision to expand ULEZ have asked the High Court to expedite the claim.

According to the Evening Standard, both sides want the matter resolved before the August 29 “go live” date.

TfL’s head of law Howard Carter told the TfL board on Wednesday that an initial decision from the High Court was expected “any day now” on which, if any, parts of the judicial review application will proceed to trial.

A spokesperson for the London Borough of Bromley said: “We are expecting to hear whether the joint JR application is accepted fairly shortly”.

Cllr Ian Edwards, Leader of Hillingdon Council, said: “The installation of these cameras across Hillingdon shows a staggering level of contempt from the Mayor, not just for the feelings of residents who are overwhelmingly against his expansion proposals, but also for the pending legal challenge from the five boroughs.

“One of our grounds for challenge was that the outcome of last year’s ULEZ consultation was predetermined. The appearance of these cameras is further evidence that for the Mayor this expansion proposal is a fait accompli.

“But this coalition will not flex to his will and questions the lawfulness of this installation by stealth of his cameras, which has understandably caused huge upset to residents who are relying on us to protect them from the financial devastation the ULEZ expansion would cause for so many families and businesses.”

It has been reported that a number of the new enforcement cameras have been vandalised by “anti Ulez” protestors.

Sadiq Khan told the Evening Standard: “Vandalising Ulez cameras, vandalising TfL property, is not acceptable. It’s a criminal offence, and not unreasonably the police and TfL take it very seriously.”

He added: “We have asked for the court case to be decided sooner rather than later.”

Lottie Winson