Concerns about new T-charge in London

On Monday 23 October, The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, introduced the T-charge, which means that anyone now entering the London Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) weekdays between 6am and 7pm in a vehicle with less than Euro 4/IV emission standards will be subject to an additional charge of £10 on top of the £11.50 Congestion Charge.

We realised from speaking to members that very few were aware of the new charge and whilst there was widespread support for measures that improve the capital’s air quality, there were also concerns about the impact of this additional cost of doing business in London on small businesses.

We agreed a comment for the media, which led to a flurry of requests for interviews and case studies. 

Sue Terpilowski OBE, FSB London Policy Chair and several other members did some pre-recorded interviews last week, and from early morning yesterday on BBC 5 Live’s ‘Wake up to Money’ and BBC Breakfast, right up until the evening news on ITV, Matt and Denise were kept busy all day in front of cameras and microphones.  

All in all, our interviews were spread far and wide across the country, even reaching as far as BBC Shetland. We even made some international media outlets, with Matt giving the final interview of the day via Skype to a Turkish news channel.

Although this is a London issue, we are really pleased to have gained such great coverage beyond the M25, as it is important that small business owners and other drivers are aware of the new charge.  

To find out whether your vehicle is compliant there is a handy vehicle checker on the TfL website.