Mayor’s air quality plans could cost small businesses, FTA warns

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has responded to the Mayor of London’s proposed air quality plans with ‘mixed feelings’, raising concerns that they could create a significant cost burden on small businesses.

Mayor Sadiq Khan launched new plans to clean up the capital’s air, including proposals for a £10 charge on top of the congestion charge for the most polluting vehicles, which would apply to all vehicles with pre-Euro 4 emission standards.

He also announced pans to introduce the London Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) a year early in 2019, as well as extend the zone to the North and South Circular from 2020.

Christopher Snelling, FTA’s head of national and regional policy, did not dispute the need to improve air quality, but cautioned that more support could be essential for smaller businesses.

Snelling suggested that the plans could cause significant issues in the van sector, where there will only be two-and-a-half to three years’ worth of compliant vehicles in the fleet.

Many smaller businesses rely on second hand vehicles that are more than four years old and the FTA estimates that up front costs to small businesses with five vans or more could be as high as £100,000, which could lock some businesses out of London all together.

Snelling said: “No-one disputes the need to improve air quality. What we do object to is the one-sided nature of these measures – all burden and no support. London could improve air quality more quickly, and reduce the burden on businesses at the same time by offering a temporary discount to the Congestion Charge for compliant vehicles prior to the ULEZ starting.”

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