If Boris Johnson has his way, London contractors may all be subject to an additional tax/charge of £12.50 a day to enter a new proposed ULEZ zone (Ultra Low Emission Zone) in vehicles unless they are "Euro 6" emission compliant. The main hit will be to Diesel vehicles, especially vans/lcvs.
Consultations started last week and run through to January 2015. Seen as a tax on SME's (who will be worst equipped to fund vehicle changes), the move currently being discussed could become law within next few years.
Help is supposedly available to help business switch to newer style vehicles, but I wonder in reality what this will actually be....
If implemented, is it fair to expect this zone to grow in size and become an easy cash-cow for budget strapped TfL & LA's ?
Better make sure those mutli-year contracts being negotiated have budgets / break clauses or RPI clauses to cover this 'daily tax' if it comes in :-(
From TfL:
"Next steps: A public consultation on the ULEZ is taking place between 27 October 2014 and 9 January 2015. This includes proposals to introduce a vehicle emissions charging scheme in central London, alongside proposals for buses and revised taxi and Private Hire Vehicle licensing requirements.
For more information about the proposals and to have your say, please visit our the ULEZ consultation portal."
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Thanks for the heads up, this will definitely be one to keep an eye on! Could have a pretty negative effect on the selected zone with reduced competition or higher priced work.