New London-based vehicle scrappage scheme
Small London-based businesses and charities are to be offered up to £15,000 to replace or retrofit vehicles.Â
The Mayor of London has launched a new scrappage scheme to target some of the most polluting vehicles ahead of tighter Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards.
It is hoped that the scrappage scheme will help to remove the barriers to small businesses and charities, enabling them to play their part in cleaning up London’s air.
The scheme will offer grants of £15,000 to scrap a heavy vehicle and replace it with a compliant vehicle or to retrofit a diesel vehicle to the cleanest Euro 6 standards.
More than 100 organisations have already pre-registered interest in the scheme, which will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
The existing LEZ emissions standards set a limit for how much particulate matter (PM2.5) a vehicle can emit in its exhaust gases.
The new LEZ standards will require heavy vehicles to meet the cleanest Euro VI emissions standards in order to avoid the daily charge.
These standards were previously set to come in at the end of October 2020 but, in response to the impact of the pandemic, were delayed for at least four months. Following a review, it is now confirmed that they will come in on 1 March 2021.
Deputy mayor for environment and energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said: ‘The Mayor is doing everything in his power to stop Londoners breathing air so filthy that it damages children’s lungs and causes thousands of premature deaths.
‘The Ultra Low Emission Zone has already cut toxic air by more than a third and with tighter Low Emission Zone standards due to come in next year we want to ensure there is help for businesses and charities switching coaches or lorries to cleaner greener vehicles.
‘While we’re doing all we can in the capital. We now need the Government to match our levels of ambition and provide targeted national scrappage funding that supports all those small businesses who want to do the right thing and switch to cleaner vehicles across the UK.’
