Southwark Council Failing to Crack Down on Idling Vehicles

Research by the Southwark Liberal Democrats has found that in 2024, Southwark Council issued just 8 fines for vehicle idling, and raising just £1000 in fines across 5 years. 

With today marking World Asthma Day, the Southwark Liberal Democrats are calling for the council to take more action to improve air quality by utilising the existing powers the council has to discourage idling vehicles polluting the air. 

Idling Action London found that just 30 seconds of idling produced twice as much particulates as turning the engine off and on again. According to the RAC, diesel engines are particularly problematic when it comes to this form of pollution.

This comes after the Liberal Democrats discovered last year that Southwark’s air quality nearly always breaches WHO guidance outside Guy’s Hospital, and for the vast majority of the year on Lower Road – where the Liberal Democrats have now successfully campaigned to tackle traffic chaos. 

Southwark Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said: 

“Once again we see our Labour council failing to meet words with action. As someone who suffers from asthma myself, I’m deeply concerned about the air quality in our borough – and it’s clear the council just is not taking it seriously. Everyone sees unnecessary idling all the time -  so the fact that most years entire months can go by without a single fine simply isn’t good enough. 

In February, Liberal Democrats put forward a costed plan to double the number of community safety officers in Southwark, who would be empowered to issue these sorts of fines that would go some way to eliminate this source of poor air quality – but unfortunately Labour rejected it.”