A “misleading” claim Sadiq Khan made about London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) “was not supported by publicly available data”, a Government watchdog has said.
The UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial government department, said Khan’s claim that 90 per cent of cars in outer London meet ULEZ standards was not supported by publicly available data at the time.
Back in March, the London mayor stated that nine out of ten households complied with Ulez. His office has now accepted that “further background explaining the data should have been provided at the time”.
Khan’s claim was investigated after Twickenham’s Liberal Democrat MP, Munira Wilson, filed a complaint in April. Wilson said that Khan’s claim about how many households would be affected by ULEZ was “misleading.”
Responding to Wilson’s complaint in a letter, UKSA chairman Sir Robert Chote said: “We are satisfied that data collected by TfL at the time supports the mayor’s claim that nine in 10 cars seen driving in outer London now meet ULEZ standards.
“However, data on households in outer London who have a car that meet ULEZ emissions standards are not available.
“The statement made by the mayor relating to households in outer London is therefore not supported by publicly available data.”
“The data underlying the mayor’s claim on cars driving in outer London were not available to the general public at the time, either from the mayor’s office or from TfL.
“Users requesting clarification were provided with additional information, but that too was not made available on an equal basis to the general public.”
Khan’s claim was investigated after Twickenham’s Liberal Democrat MP, Munira Wilson, filed a complaint in April.”
