Sadiq Khan ‘gives firms £151m of contracts to track down drivers who fail to pay ULEZ penalties and other road fines’
- London mayor Sadiq Khan expanded his hated Ulez zone at the end of August
Sadiq Khan has given firms £151.8million in lucrative contracts to track down drivers who fail to pay Ulez penalties and other road fines.
The London mayor has briefed four companies to chase motorists who are dodging the £12.50 daily charge for driving into recently expanded Ulez with non-compliant vehicles.
The firms have been told to compile lists of persistent evaders – even if they are living abroad. They have also been tasked with gathering information on specific groups, according to contract details first seen by The Sun.
The debt collectors have also been instructed to go after those who fail to pay parking tickets, the congestion charge and other motoring fines.
At the end of last year, there was £255million worth of outstanding Ulez penalty notices.
Sadiq Khan has reportedly given firms £151.8million in lucrative contracts to track down drivers who fail to pay Ulez penalties and other road fines
The London mayor has briefed four companies to chase motorists who are dodging the £12.50 daily charge
The hated Ulez was expanded from August 29 this year. The decision has sparked a major backlash
People who drive in the zone with a polluting vehicle and fail to pay the £12.50 daily fee are initially being sent warning letters. But in the coming weeks Transport for London (TfL) is expected to start issuing rule-breakers with £180 fines, which could rise to £250. If paid within 14 days, it is reduced to £90.
READ MORE: ‘Blade Runner’ vows they won’t stop destroying cameras until Sadiq Khan ends London’s hated ULEZ expansion
One firm has been handed a £34.6million contract to chase Ulez fine dodgers who have gone abroad.
A second contract worth £117.2million has been spread out across three firms – debt recovery company Marston, enforcement agency Bristow and Sutor, and bailiffs JBW.
As part of the agreement, TfL wants Marston and Bristow and Sutor to hand over a monthly ‘persistent evader’ report.
JBW’s role is to ‘participate in intelligence-led enforcement activities targeting specific individuals or groups’.
The ten-year contracts were first awarded in 2020 – a year after the Ulez charge was launched in central London.
MailOnline has contacted TfL for comment.
The Ulez expanded to cover all of London’s 32 boroughs from August 29 in a move which has sparked massive protests, including serious damage being inflicted on cameras.
Anti-ULEZ protesters staged a demo outside Mr Khan’s house on Monday in the latest display of opposition to the controversial scheme.
Furious drivers set up tents and signs outside the property in south London – with one bringing a caravan with the words ‘Sack Khan’ and ‘No To Ulez’ on it.
The Action Against Ulez organisation was out in force wearing hi-vis jackets for the ‘all weekender’ which they described as a ‘hunger strike and protest’.
Pictured: A Ulez camera deliberately turned away from the road and marked with red paint
Furious motorists take part in an anti-Ulez protest in central London on Saturday September 23
The anti-ULEZ campaigners who are staging and ongoing protest outside London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s house. They were pictured here on October 1
Signs plastered on vehicles parked outside on Saturday and Sunday said ‘are you listening yet Mr Khan’; ‘Ulez expansion justified with lies’; and ‘stop the toxic air lie’.
Further messages said ‘resist, defy, do not comply’ and ‘every penny they can screw you for matters to TfL [Transport for London] and the Dictator of London’.
Meanwhile, earlier this week a member of the infamous Blade Runners gang has vowed to continue destroying cameras – telling the Mayor of London: ‘We won’t stop until you stop. That’s the bottom line.’
In an interview with Talk TV, the masked maverick – who uses Ben as a fake name – claimed to have wrecked 150 of the traffic cameras since they were expanded across the capital’s boroughs on August 29.
Ben, wearing a balaclava and hood, is seen in the footage using an angle-grinder to cut down a Ulez camera mounted on a traffic light in just four seconds.
The father-of-three, aged in his forties, says he goes out in the dead of night several days a week flouting the law to carry out what he calls ‘unpaid voluntary work’.
Speaking to TalkTV, Ben claims he’s behind a near total blackout of enforcement cameras in the Bromley area, one of the Greater London boroughs where the scheme has been extended.
Ben insists support among the public is widespread with many hailing them as heroes, saying, ‘We are the voice of the people. You experienced the cheers against ULEZ right there and then you can see we are reflecting the voice of the public.’
Activists, one dressed as a dinosaur and another wearing a dog costume, mocked ULEZ officials during their peaceful protest last month
As well as blocking the ULEZ van’s view with a truck, protesters also put a sign saying ‘ULEZ scam’ in front of the camera
Ben – who has been a member of the group for several months, and says membership is growing: ‘It started off as a small group of people and it has gradually grown.
‘Since the expansion went live on August 29, numbers have increased significantly. We’re like a pack of lone wolves. We sometimes work together, we work in isolation, and we all have this common goal.’
Ben says mayor Sadiq Khan is targeting the most vulnerable people at the worst possible time as they struggle through a cost of living crisis. He explains: ‘The members of society that have less disposable income are hit the hardest because if they can’t afford to change their vehicle, they’ll be subject to that daily charge no matter what.
He claims the ULEZ network has been installed to ‘catch everyone out’.
Responding to the footage, London Minister Paul Scully said: ‘I can understand the frustration but I can’t condone the vandalism. You can’t pick and choose the laws you want to adhere to.
‘Nonetheless Sadiq Khan has shown through all of this that he is just not listening.
‘I’ve got one camera near to where I live that just points towards the entrance of the Royal Marsden cancer hospital.’
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