The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has today spoken exclusively with Fix Radio about the impact the upcoming ULEZ expansion will have on tradespeople across the Capital. Speaking with Clive Holland, The Mayor said that ‘It’s in tradespeople’s’ interests to be having vehicles that are compliant because it means they take off less time from work by being unwell because of air pollution’. National research revealed by Fix Radio – the UK’s only national radio station for builders and tradespeople – has shown that the ULEZ expansion will have a direct and detrimental impact on close to a quarter of all construction businesses in Greater London, with another 21% saying that increased transportation costs have made travelling into cities with their van an impossibility, increasing to 23% in London.

With the average day rate of a tradesperson equalling £150 – according to Pier Consulting – the addition of the new ULEZ charges is now leaving tradespeople in London facing a loss of 21 workdays. For some tradespeople who have reported on Fix Radio that their daily costs have been as expensive as £300 to work in the Capital, the situation is much bleaker.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan speaking to Fix Radio said:

“The first thing to recognise is, you know, tradespeople are concerned about the amount of congestion on our roads, what we want to do is take off our roads, cars that don’t need to be there. So those people who need to be driving and they include many of your listeners and readers who needs to be driving can do so without being stuck in traffic, actually, by having more people walk, cycle and use public transport, it means less time stuck in traffic and leads to greater productivity.

“The second thing I’d say to you is we’ve been listening to some of the concerns raised by people who use a van. So for example, my scrappage scheme, which gives £5000 towards scrapping a van we’ve been told isn’t enough, because to buy a new van, you can’t buy a decent van for £5000 that’s ULEZ compliant. So what I’m announcing today is an extension of the amount of money that’s received from £5000 to £7000 for every van you have, but also I recognise that there are some small businesses which have more than one ban that is not used as compliance time, I’m giving those small businesses the finances of up to up to £21,000 scrap three vans

“Also, I’ve been told by tradespeople who have retrofitted their vehicle that actually I give them £5000 support towards retrofitting actually costs a bit more than that. So I’m announcing today £6000 support towards retrofitting your van. The final point to make is this, if you are a driver, driving a car that has to pay the ULEZ charge, it means you’re driving a vehicle where you’re breathing in more poison then you should be breathing in. So you should want to be driving a cleaner vehicle you should want to be driving a ULEZ compliant vehicle because it reduces your life expectancy and makes it more likely rather than less likely, you’ll get asthma dementia, heart disease or cancer.

“I understand, it’s particularly difficult now, tradespeople are taking time for work because of asthma and other health related issues caused by respiratory conditions. It’s in tradespeople’s’ interests to be having vehicles that are compliant because it means they take off less time from work by being unwell because of air pollution.”

Even for those who could afford the significant outlay to purchase a new van, a report commissioned by Transport for London estimated that 30,000 non-compliant vans currently use the ULEZ expansion area every day, despite the fact there are only 23,803 vans that meet the new requirements for sale in the UK.