Car ownership in London

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  London’s poorest households are least likely to own a car.  Of the households that earn less than £10,000, 78% do not own a car and 64% of households that earn between £10,000 and £19,999 do not own a car.  In outer London, 70% of households that earn less than £10,000 annually do not own a car and 53% of households that earn between £10,000 and £19,999 do not own a car.  London’s poorest households are also more likely to be affected by the impacts of toxic air caused by traffic and congestion, and it is estimated that the most deprived areas of London experience average concentrations of NO₂ that are 13% higher than the least deprived areas.  Cleaning up our air is a matter of social justice. 

The data for 2021 and 2022 shows that a higher proportion of ULEZ Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) are issued by TfL to keepers of cars registered in outer London than inner London.  This is likely because the ULEZ does not yet cover the areas of London where these people live, so until recently these people might not have thought to register to pay on Auto Pay, be as aware of the ULEZ to pay the charge, or apply for the scrappage schemes and upgrade their vehicles.  This is borne out by the fact that a much higher proportion of ULEZ PCNs are issued to people who live outside of London, around 52% of all PCNs in 2021/22.

Toxic air leads to around 4,000 Londoners dying prematurely each year, with the outer London boroughs of Bromley, Barnet, Croydon and Havering seeing the most premature deaths attributable to air pollution.  Expanding the ULEZ Londonwide is forecast to combat air pollution by reducing NOx emissions.  It will also save 27,000 tonnes of CO₂ in outer London, nearly double that which the central London ULEZ achieved in its first year of operation.  As a result of these changes the 5 million residents of outer London will breathe cleaner air. 

I am deeply concerned though about the impact of the cost of living crisis on Londoners and that is why I launched the biggest ever scrappage scheme, dedicating £110 million to supporting the poorest Londoners, as well as those on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, charities, sole traders and microbusinesses to replace or retrofit their polluting vehicles or seek alternative, greener forms of travel.  I am also providing further support by removing the annual £10 per vehicle Auto Pay registration fee.  This has made it easier for people with non‑compliant vehicles to pay and avoid incurring a penalty charge. 

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  Exactly a year ago, March last year [2022],
Assembly Member Fortune asked you about the claim that you have made repeatedly that the poorest Londoners do not own cars.  That exchange between you and him descended into acrimony with you mocking him for the very idea that the poorest Londoners might own cars.  I have the transcript here.  Mayor of London says,

“I am surprised that the Member’s experience ... does not lead him to conclude that the poorest Londoners cannot afford to own cars.”

Do you stand by that claim, that statement? 

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  I just read the numbers out: 78% of those who live in our city who earn below £10,000 do not own a car, 87% of those who earn £10,000 per household in inner London do not own a car ‑‑

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  You are saying the poorest Londoners do own cars?  Is that what you are saying?

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  ‑‑ and 70% in outer London.  A small minority of poorer Londoners do own a car.  We are talking about 13% in inner London, 30% in outer London and 22% in London.  By anybody’s definition that is the minority. 

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  OK.  Well, I welcome your shift in position following my extensive fact‑checking.  Assembly Member Fortune did ask you for figures, which you did not really send, but helpfully your Walking and Cycling Commissioner on 7 March [2023] tweeted out this very useful and informative chart which shows a breakdown of car ownership by income decile, people divided into ten groups by income.  Really helpfully, it shows level of car ownership in central London, inner London and outer London, and it is a tale of two cities.  What it shows is that the lowest income decile in outer London is more likely to own a car than the highest income decile in inner London.  Do you recognise that fact?

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  In outer London ‑‑

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  Yes. 

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  ‑‑ 70% of households who earn below £10,000 do not own a car, and for those between £10,000 and £19,999 ‑‑

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  OK, so you are just repeating the same figures.  It does not have on here ‑‑ I have chased his office for the source of this information and two weeks on they have not yet managed to supply it to me for some reason.  It is a TfL‑branded infographic so it is clearly official information.  What it shows is that in the lowest decile - I do not know what income band that is but the poorest 10% of Londoners in outer London - a majority of those households own a car, and they are more likely to own a car.  Even the lowest‑income decile in outer London is more likely to own a car than the highest‑income decile in inner London.  This is why your ULEZ policy has such a different impact on people and such a different public reaction. 

Do you recognise that this picture of a city that is so different, inner versus outer, is something that you did not really understand a year ago when you were berating Assembly Member Fortune, and do you now recognise that outer London is just very different in this regard?

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  We have always accepted that outer London is different, which is why we are expanding public transport in outer London.  We have also had a massive increase in relation to ‑‑

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  It is not a massive increase in buses, it is a 0.2% increase in buses.  You are answering a different question.  Do you recognise that in outer London, the poorest Londoners in outer London are more likely to own a car than the wealthiest Londoners in inner London?

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  Let me answer the previous question first before you ‑‑

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  It is the same question I have asked you repeatedly and you have not answered it. 

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  Let me answer the previous question, which is that we have always recognised that outer London is different to inner and central London, which is why we have put the massive scrappage scheme and we are increasing public transport in outer London.  However, you cannot escape the fact that 70% of those who earn below £10,000 do not own a vehicle.  A combination of most vehicles being compliant and that most poorer Londoners who live in outer London do not own a vehicle, but also the scrappage scheme in addition to increased public transport, supports those very small numbers of people who may need support. 

Neil Garratt AM (on behalf of Peter Fortune AM):  The facts that you are repeatedly quoting are directly contradicted by your Walking and Cycling Commissioner, but having established that the Mayor is out of touch with outer London as usual, I will leave it there, Chair. 

Dr Onkar Sahota AM (Chair):  Thank you for that, Assembly Member Garratt. 

Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London):  He is as stroppy as [The Rt Hon] Boris Johnson MP [former Prime Minister] yesterday, is he not?

Dr Onkar Sahota AM (Chair):  I am trying to chair this impartially so far. 

Emma Best AM:  Well, then chair it impartially. 

Dr Onkar Sahota AM (Chair):  I am, I am.