ULEZ rant

[CapturedLeprechaun]

I live outside the ULEZ zone, but work as a social worker in a london Borough that falls inside the new expansion zone.

My car is not ULEZ compliant (2006 plate diesel) but runs perfectly fine. I use my car for work purposes for visits to homes and schools, and can claim back 45p per mile on expenses.

My borough has said they will not be allowing ULEZ charges to be claimed on expenses, but will instead provide a bus pass for those that need it. I have worked out the journey time for an average week, and I'll spend approx 6+ hours more a week making my visits by bus than I would by car.

It's so frustrating- that's basically almost a whole day extra a week I'll "lose" in working hours sitting on a bus, yet I'll have the same amount of work to get through. It just seems so shortsighted, and I'm so annoyed. I explained this to HR, and said that if they paid the ULEZ charge for one or two days a week, I could do all my weekly visits on those days and wouldn't lose any working hours sitting idly on a bus, and it makes more financial sense to the council than to have a social worker being unproductive for 6+ hours a week. They're not budging.

So bloody frustrating.

This will come down to specific wording in your contract.

Are you paid for time, or by the case, If you are paid for time, follow their plan, and as long as you are working, any work not done is their problem.

It might get tricky if your contract specifies 'use of' your own vehicle, as that could be interpreted to include all of the associated running costs including ULEZ etc minus whatever allowance is specified in the contract. In that situation if the bus isn't working practically, they could insist you use your car, or find another job. If there's no specification for a car in your contract, then you'll be on much steadier ground.....

Constructive dismissal may be a goer, I suspect the defence would be that it isn't the actions of the company, it's an external imposition that has changed things. And since it doesn't sound like it falls under any discrimination legislation, they probably don't need to make reasonable adjustments, in the same was as they might have to for somebody that couldn't use public transport for a reason that was protected....

Agree it's tremendously short sighted and probably a result of compartmentalisation - the travel budget person just sees that it would cost £X,000 per year to pay for everyone, but that that it would cost £X0,000 to replace a skilled and experienced worker.

The expansion of ULEZ is a Conservative policy. TfL (led by a Tory minister), told the mayor to expand the zone to raise money due to COVID.

The initial plan was also created by Boris Johnson when he was mayor.

'The tories expanded the congestion zone.

Also no one is liking the Tories here- but the Torie councils rejected many of these initiatives eg. LTNs.'

Councils may have rejected this for their own reasons. The truth is Grant Schapps wanted Khan to expand the congestion charge to the same area that covered the old Ulez zone. Making everyone in those areas pay the £12.50 per day charge. Khan refused and instead widened the Ulez zone for the most polluting cars. This is just political propaganda from the Tories and their councils. They wanted Khan to do their dirty work. No way will a Tory mayor backtrack on this policy.

It was a Tory Mayor (Johnson) that came up with the scheme in the first place and a Tory government that has forced the expansion as a condition of bailing out TFL after the pandemic

It wasn't really a condition of the bailout. It barely makes any money, and when mentioned it was in the sense of "will still continue" not "must happen"

change your car. Honestly you will have to eventually anyway, what's the point in all this faffing? the environmental policies are only going to become more and more stringent

The chances that ‘Susan’ will win are vanishingly remote.

And if she does she won’t reverse it. No none should be making plans on the basis that in a years time the ULEZ expansion will be reversed.

I'd change your car asap. Come 2030 the government are banning the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars.

Maybe OP cannot afford to change her car - its not exactly free

ULEZ is a Tory policy.

@Ciarianna with a car of that age it could break down anytime. there's got to be a contingency plan to replace it when she uses it for her livelihood.

Have you ever been to some of these areas covered by the expansion?

They aren't like Central London which does have a fantastic public transport network, they don't have the tube covering them, they have sporadic bus services and the overground train stations are like everywhere else in the country

Log down all the time you spend on a bus or waiting for a bus or walking to a bus. Any cancellations etc.

I suppose one could also ask,have you ever been to Birmingham, Bradford or Sheffield? Or Bristol or Bath? Or Portsmouth? Or Tyneside?

Because ULEZ exist in the "everywhere else in the country" too.

I love the way people are saying change your car as if its an immediate or cheap option!

Mmmn so are children dying in countries due to emissions where chemicals are mined, and car components are made and cars built due to the fact a perfectly decent workable car is scrapped in favour of a brand new ULEZ compliant one.
We've just shoved the problem to another part of the world.

Everyone with a non-compliant car is eligible for a £2000 scrappage payment

Changing my car isn't possible right now - I can't afford to. I live outside the ULEZ zone so I'm not eligible for the 2K scrappage scheme. I work full time but pay over £2.5K a month in rent and childcare alone, let alone utilities and bills. I do receive some UC but we're basically on the poverty line right.

My car is old, yes, but it passed its MOT with flying colours last month and only has 110K miles on it, it would be good to last me another few years, when my childcare costs would reduce and I'd be able to save for a new car. But again, the price of second hand cars is outrageous right now, and I need a 7seater automatic car (can't drive a manual), failed my test 6 times trying 😂 and I honestly can't find a car that isn't three times the price of what I paid for my current one.

I plan to work within my working hours and nothing more, which means the job won't be done as well. But as some have said, that's my employers problem, not mine. I have purposely outlined my concerns in writing to my director and HR so when I'm suddenly getting 6 hours of work less done a week, it's very clear as to why.

I'm not part of a union (it was expensive and money I can't spare right now) but I assume there is little they can do anyway.

Like others have said, no tubes where I am. The transport network is fantastic in central london, much much less so on the outskirts. I'm just frustrated. I think my employer should have foreseen this problem and either been willing to cover the ULEZ charge for those affected on one or two days a week, or have a supply of "pool cars" parked at the office that we can sign out and use. Neither have been done, so less productivity it is.

£2,000 will not buy a new car

a)I don't think its available to everyone in the ULEZ area and OP lives outside the area buy travels in to work
b) 2k (+ OPS car resale value) is almost certainly unlikely to buy a ulez compliant car

Only if you live inside the ULEZ zone. I live literally 2miles outside of it, so even though I work inside the ULEZ zone I'm not eligible for any of the schemes, and whilst 2K wouldn't get me a 7seater compliant car, it would at least go some way towards mitigating the cost, but I'm not eligible.

a) yes it is available to everyone inside the ULEZ zone - this is a change from the original policy which is why I mentioned it as nobody else had. Irrelevant to OP though.
b) it may not buy a ULEZ compliant car (although my 19 year old petrol car is compliant, so, you know… but as nobody else had mentioned it I thought it would be useful as £2,000 is definitely better than £0

Surely having to scrap perfectly good cars, because people can't afford the extra charges. So have no choice but to by a new one Is far far worse for the environment!

You don't have to live inside the ULEZ zone to be eligible for the scrappage scheme - just in a London Borough

Scrappage scheme - Transport for London (tfl.gov.uk)

Fully appreciate that £2K isn't going to get you a decent car, though, never mind a ULEZ-compliant one.

No need to buy a brand new car. There are plenty of second hand ones that would be fine

All london boroughs are now in the ULEZ zone of this week. There is no london borough (even the outer ones) that are outside of it after the expansion of the zone.