"FEW FINES ARE ISSUED": Khan will lobby government for more enforcement against idling vehicles

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he will continue to lobby government for additional powers to tackle the problem of idling vehicles in the capital.

Current legislation requires an officer to ask an idling driver to switch off their engine, and a fine may only be issued if the driver refuses. As a result, few fines are issued.

General London Assembly Conservative representative Emma Best asked the Mayor what was “being done in London to improve the poor rate of fines being issued for engine idling?”

In response Sadiq Khan said: “Through my Air Quality Fund I have funded the Idling Action Project, which is a London-wide behaviour change campaign tackling unnecessary pollution emissions from idling vehicles. This is done through various engagement methods, managed by the City of London Corporation and London Borough of Camden.

“All 31 boroughs participating in the Idling Action project are required to adopt anti-idling enforcement powers. As part of the project, Idling Action has supported boroughs in idling enforcement by providing workshops to share best practice in the legal routes for idling enforcement. Three workshops have been held. Idling Action has provided officer training on idling enforcement and has developed a local authority enforcement toolkit which is available on the project website.

“I will continue to lobby the government for additional enforcement powers for local authorities.”