Sadiq Khan: Cost of scrapping diesel 'drop in the ocean' compared to impact of toxic air

London vehicles are belching out toxic fumes
Jeremy Selwyn
Pippa Crerar6 April 2017

Sadiq Khan has claimed the cost of a national diesel scrappage scheme would be “a drop in the ocean” compared with the price of toxic air to the NHS.

The Mayor said the £3.5 billion yearly bill for a national scheme to encourage motorists to get rid of their diesel cars would be outweighed many times by savings elsewhere.

He claimed the annual cost to the NHS of treating conditions caused by air pollution, along with the economic impact of sick days on employers, could be as high as £20 billion.

In London, which has the worst air pollution in the country, the health impact is thought to be around £3.7 billion a year.

Around 9,000 deaths in the capital are attributed to air pollution every year while conditions like asthma and dementia are made worse, with children and the elderly badly affected.

Mr Khan warned ministers that refusing to bring in a scrappage scheme to compensate drivers of older vehicles who agreed to buy a new, cleaner car, was “not an option”.

He said: “The NHS spends around £3.7 billion each year in London alone dealing with the consequences of poor quality air. Across the country, the NHS spend £20 billion.

“So a national diesel scrappage fund is a drop in the ocean compared to the cost to the NHS. But think about the lives lost early, think about the problems caused by poor quality air. Not doing anything is not an option for Government.”

The Mayor said a targeted, fully-costed, time-limited scheme in the capital would cost £515 million over a two-year period – and was “clearly good value for money”.

Mr Khan, who is charging the most polluting vehicles £24 to drive into central London and expanding the world’s first ultra-low emissions zone, has also called for the reform of vehicle excise duty and a powerful new Clean Air Act.

In a letter to Theresa May today, he wrote: “For too long politicians have ignored the very real health impacts of air pollution.

“These range from reduced lung function in children, aggravating asthma in adults, to causing dementia and strokes in the old.

“I have made clear that I will not stand idly by as pollution impacts Londoners and will do everything I can to tackle it.

“I now ask you to use this once in a generation opportunity to match my ambition so we can truly the transform the quality of the air in London and across the country.”

Downing Street has not formally ruled out introducing scrappage and the Prime Minister this week pledged to protect diesel drivers.

However, senior ministers believe the scheme would be too expensive. Chancellor Philip Hammond already faces a tough budget this autumn and is unlikely to be able to afford it.

They are also worried about punishing existing diesel drivers who bought their cars in good faith, following the advice of the last Labour government.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in