ULEZ: 5,000 scrappage grants approved amid issues

The Ultra Low Emission Zone will expand across all London boroughs in August

Some 5,000 scrappage grants have been approved for vehicles that will not meet Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards when the scheme expands, Transport for London (TfL) says.

Since January, almost £18m has been awarded to individuals, businesses and charities, according to TfL.

London's deputy mayor for environment and energy said she was "pleased" at the number of applications.

However, some complained they had faced issues receiving the money.

The scrappage scheme, which only applies to people living in London, is designed to help those on lower incomes, people receiving disability benefits, sole traders, small businesses and charities.

The ULEZ zone is due to be expanded to cover the whole of London at the end of August - you can check if your vehicle meets the emission standards on TfL's website.

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According to the transport body, the original ULEZ scrappage scheme launched in February 2019 consisted of a £61m fund, and 15,232 vehicles were scrapped as a result.

A further £110m was added to the scheme on 30 January, bringing total funds to £181m - and TfL said more than 14,000 applications had been submitted since then.

A TfL survey of grant recipients from the original scrappage scheme suggested walking, cycling and public transport journeys had increased by 22% among those given funds, and 22% said they no longer had access to a vehicle in their household - however, there was only a 2% net reduction in car use.

Of the third of grant recipients who did not use the funds to buy a ULEZ-compliant vehicle, most people had put it towards household finances, to pay off debts, or put it in savings, the report found.

Some of those awarded grants have reported issues with payment

Analysis

Tom Edwards, BBC London transport correspondent

The mitigation to ULEZ expansion is absolutely crucial to the scheme - whether that's investment in outer London transport or scrappage.

But the question remains: is the scrappage scheme enough, and proportionate to the amount of people who will have to change their vehicles?

It will get thousands of highly polluting vehicles off London's streets, but the uptake of scrappage has not exactly been huge so far.

TfL expects applications to increase over the next four months and says some of those initially rejected may still be in the system.

Critics say £110m is not enough and the criteria is too tight, but supporters say it is targeted at those who will be most affected.

There has been a mixed reaction from those whose grants have been approved in the latest round of funding.

Alex Achilleos, from caterers Inside Out Eventz, said: "The scrappage scheme has enabled us to take one of our older, polluting vans off the road and buy one that meets the ULEZ standards.

"As a family business, we are pleased to be able to contribute to the action that is being taken."

However, gardener Nick Daniels said he was approved for a ULEZ grant in February but had still not received the money meaning he was without a business vehicle for more than a month.

The 49-year-old, from Barnet in north London, told the BBC the issues meant he was "not able to carry out a full range of services" for customers when he did not have a suitable vehicle to carry all his equipment.

Gardener Nick Daniels had to borrow money to buy a new van following issues with the scrappage grant payment

He eventually borrowed money from a relative and took out a hire purchase contract to buy a new vehicle - but when the scrappage cheque finally arrived, it was made out to the business name only used for invoices.

TfL said it had posted a corrected cheque to Mr Daniels in mid-April, but he has still not received this.

"I feel extremely frustrated and quite angry, I've been incredibly stressed out. At times I thought about chucking the business in," he said.

Speaking about the scrappage scheme in general, London's deputy mayor for environment and energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said she was "pleased that thousands of owners of non-compliant vehicles have already applied".

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