The NHS has spent nearly £65 million to ensure hundreds of ambulances align with London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ulez scheme. The Mail has the story.
Under Ulez, drivers must pay £12.50 a day to drive in the capital if their vehicle fails to meet emissions standards.
It was expanded to cover the whole of Greater London in August.
Freedom of Information requests sent to NHS ambulance services in the South of England reveal the agreements made with Transport for London that exempt them from the expanded Ulez for a short period while their fleet is made compliant.
Each vehicle costs £140,000 to replace. The South East Coast Ambulance Service has until October 2025 to replace 279 vehicles.
The London Ambulance Service said 27% of its frontline fleet is not compliant, so 255 vehicles need replacing.
The charge has also hit staff and patients travelling to hospitals in the zone in non-compliant vehicles.
Following the Uxbridge result, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that Mr. Khan should “reflect” on Ulez due to the “impact it’s having on people”.
Tory chairman Richard Holden said: ”These revelations are shocking – even by Mayor Khan’s standards.
“Taxing hardworking people to simply drive their cars was bad enough – but Mayor Khan hammering our NHS ambulance services with tens of millions of pounds of extra cost, just to do their job and get to patients to hospital is downright disgraceful.”
Worth reading in full.
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