According to a survey, Sadiq Khan's contentious Ulez expansion into outer London failed to reduce pollution levels. Bromley Council's environment committee heard in June that pollutants generated by vehicles increased after a £12.50 daily levy was imposed last August.According to the Telegraph, the council found no "overall lowering in pollution" in the months after Mr Khan enlarged the zone to cover all of London. According to the research, three months following Ulez's expansion, levels of pollutant nitrogen dioxide were higher across all of the borough's 32 air quality monitoring sites than they were in August.

The increase was attributed to "seasonal weather and temperature variations," and just eight of the places had higher nitrogen dioxide in December last year than in August 2023. When comparing the data to 2022, the paper concludes: "What cannot be seen at present is an overall lowering in pollution levels that can be directly attributed to the implementation of Ulez in outer London."City Hall contends that its own data, published in July to assess the efficacy of the Ulez extension in decreasing air pollution, demonstrates that the plan is functioning "even better than expected". Bromley councillor Simon Fawthrop, who opposed expanding the clean air zone, accused Mr Khan of a "tax grab" to increase money.

Meanwhile, youngsters living in London's ultra-low emission zone were nearly four times as likely to commute to school by cycling, walking, or scootering than those living outside, according to recent study. A University of Cambridge research, published on Wednesday, looked at 2,000 youngsters aged six to nine from 84 primary schools in London and Luton.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: "The Mayor is committed to improving air quality in London and has taken world-leading action to tackle toxic air pollution, which prematurely takes the lives of an estimated 4,000 Londoners each year.

“One year on, millions of Londoners are now breathing cleaner air and all the evidence shows that it was the right decision. The London-wide ULEZ six month report shows the scheme is working even better than expected, with pollutant emissions lower than if the Mayor hadn’t expanded the scheme. Air quality in London is improving at a faster rate than the average for the rest of England, and with 96 per cent of vehicles now ULEZ compliant, thousands of Londoners have made the switch to cleaner vehicles.

"It’s thanks to the ULEZ and the other policies the Mayor has put in place to tackle air pollution that we are now set to get London’s air within legal limits by 2025."