ULEZ: Labour MPs and council leaders pressure Sadiq Khan to extend scrappage scheme

A growing chorus of Labour MPs and councillors is calling on Sadiq Khan to extend his £110m scrappage scheme ahead of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion on August 29.

As it stands, the scheme is only accessible for those meeting certain criteria, with the car and motorcycle payments requiring applicants to receive particular benefits to be eligible.

Those able to trade in their vehicles can currently receive up to £2,000 for a car, £1,000 for a motorcycle, and £5,000 for a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Vans and minibuses are able to secure between £5,000 and £9,500.

In February, a budget amendment backed by Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green London Assembly Members (AM) aimed to double the size of the scheme to £220m, though this was voted down by Labour assembly members.

Over the last few days, several Labour MPs and council leaders have however written to the mayor, arguing that the net should be widened to enable more people to claim financial support.

Cllr Grace Williams, leader of Waltham Forest, and Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate and air quality, wrote to Mr Khan on May 30, requesting the mayor widens the scheme’s eligibility to include more small businesses, parents and carers, and to review the grace period for drivers who have booked a retrofit for their vehicles.

“Your bold and consistent leadership and commitment to helping clean up London’s air has been one of the defining London policy initiatives of the last 50 years,” they wrote. “We write therefore in the spirit of knowing you are committed to doing all you can to support Londoners making the transition to lower polluting vehicles. We will continue to work with you to improve air quality for all Londoners, hopefully with an extended scrappage scheme and of course through the delivery of an expanded GLULEZ.”

The requests mirrored those included in a letter sent to Mr Khan on May 27, by the mayor of Hackney, Cllr Philip Granville, and Cllr Mete Coban, cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport at Hackney Council.

The day before, on May 26, several Labour MPs wrote to Mr Khan asking for the scheme to be extended.

Barry Gardiner (MP for Brent North), Ellie Reeves (MP for Lewisham West and Penge), Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (MP for Tooting), and Abena Oppong Asare (MP for Erith and Thamesmead) all raised their concerns with the mayor, with Mr Gardiner submitting an early day motion calling on the secretary of state for transport to “allocate commensurate funds towards the TfL scrappage scheme”.

On the same day, Conservative AM Peter Fortune published a video in which he also called for Mr Khan to provide more people with access to the scrappage scheme.

Mr Fortune said that, while he still wishes to see the ULEZ expansion stopped, “at the very least, we should be able to agree that more people deserve help from the scrappage scheme than is currently available”, adding: “The criteria needs to be loosened.”

A spokesperson for Mr Khan said the mayor is “doing all he can to support Londoners through the cost of living crisis but, with lives on the line and the health of children at risk due to London’s toxic air, he is clear that expanding the clean air zone was a difficult decision but a necessary one”.

While the current compliance rate of vehicles seen in outer London is currently at around 90%, and expected to increase, the spokesperson said the £110m scrappage scheme is designed to support those still needing to replace their vehicles with less polluting options.

“The scheme is kept under constant review to ensure its effectiveness and the mayor is looking at what extra support could be provided,” they added.

“He also continues to call on the government to support the switch to cleaner vehicles through funding a targeted national scrappage scheme or providing additional funding to London, as it has done for other cities across the country.”