London Lorry Control scheme reinstated

Coronavirus: Freight associations unhappy about restart of enforcement

London Councils will re-reintroduce the London Lorry Control Scheme on 1 June. The scheme helps to control the routes the largest lorries use overnight and at weekends to minimise noise disturbance for Londoners. It applies to vehicles over 18 tonnes and operates between 9pm and 7am during the week and from 1pm Saturday to 7am Monday over the weekend.

Once a vehicle has a permit, the driver can make a delivery or collection anywhere in London at any time, as long as they follow a compliant route in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

In 2018-19, nearly 5,000 freight operators and more than 800 drivers received penalty charge notices (PCNs) for breaching the rules of the LLCS.

London Councils said it would continue to work with the freight industry to ensure quiet delivery good practice is observed, so that any temporary changes in delivery routes and times lead to as little disruption to residents as possible.

The scheme was suspended on 17 March to enable the delivery of essential food and medical supplies. Following discussions with freight industry bodies such as the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and Road Haulage Association (RHA), London Councils decided to extend the suspension from the end of April until the end of May.

Both the FTA and RHA are disappointed by London Council's decision to reinstate the scheme.

Natalie Chapman, Head of Urban Policy at the FTA said: “The reintroduction of the LLCS enforcement is hugely disappointing, and a retrograde step which will hit the logistics sector particularly hard at a time when it is itself attempting to rebuild after the shutdown of COVID-19. The pressures involved in maintaining supplies to London’s essential shops and services have not gone away and we are still a long way from ‘business as usual’, so to place an additional regulation on the logistics industry at a time when it is fighting to keep the capital trading and moving after weeks with a limited cash flow will add further burden on the sector."

“With a downturn in the usage of public transport due to social distancing, and more foot, car and cycle traffic on the roads as a result, the continued suspension of the LLCS would have enabled logistics operators to deliver outside peak working hours and help spread demand on London’s limited road infrastructure. To reintroduce the scheme at this point seems nonsensical.”

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett added: “I find London Councils’ decision to reintroduce enforcement controls at this extremely sensitive time to be beyond belief. They were one of the first enforcement authorities in London to react to the COVID-19 emergency, suspending enforcement of the LLCS on 17 March 2020. Their action was welcomed by the freight and logistics industries, struggling to keep London’s essential shops and services supplied at time of severe food shortages and significant issues with deliveries.

“Lockdown is beginning to ease but there is still a very long way to go. To extend the suspension for another month would really help the e industry that is trying to get back on the road as quickly as it can. But to reintroduce the control scheme with less than a week’s notice, amounts to little more than kicking an industry when it’s down.

Reintroducing the London Lorry Control Scheme

The LLCS is being reintroduced in three distinct phases:

• Phase 1: From Thursday 21 May enforcement contractor NSL is deploying enforcement officers on street in London to make HGV observations. This is only to collect data on lorry movements and will assist London Councils in understanding the current freight activity and comparative information on pre COVID-19 activity. This would also help provide data for the final phases of the LLCS review and any future piloting of changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme. No enforcement would be undertaken at this time.
• Phase 2: From Monday 1 June activities will be logged onto the LLCS case management system and officers will process and assess these observations. Any possible breaches of the scheme will result in the issuance of a Warning Notice only. This will advise that recipients were potentially in breach of the scheme and could have received either a PCN or an enquiry notice depending on whether they had an existing permission. London Councils will take no further action at this time but will advise that continued use of this route without justification may result in future enforcement action. It will issue Warning Notices for a period of two weeks.
• Phase 3: Following the two-week period of issuing Warning Notices, the LLCS will revert to regular usual enforcement of the scheme on 15 June 2020 under the existing terms and conditions. However, LLCS officers will be available to discuss any specific issues operators have as a result of COVID-19 and arrange special routing requirements if necessary.

The reintroduction of enforcement of the LLCS will be kept under review and if necessary, can be suspended again at any time.