ULEZ scrappage scheme: South Londoners slam scheme as ‘rubbish’ amid concerns over extent of funding

The mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scrappage scheme has been slammed as “rubbish” by south Londoners, amid concerns over whether the payments being offered are enough to support motorists trading in older vehicles.

Sadiq Khan launched the scrappage scheme in January this year, to help drivers replace or upgrade non-compliant vehicles ahead of the ULEZ expansion on August 29.

Eligible applicants, soon to include all Londoners trading in a non-compliant car or motorbike, in addition to groups such as charities and small businesses, can receive grant payments dependent on the vehicle being scrapped.

For those scrapping a car, the payment is £2,000, plus the potential for additional funding from the authorised treatment facility (ATF) involved.

However, several south London residents have questioned whether the funding goes far enough to support those requiring new vehicles.

Terry told LondonWorld: “I think it’s rubbish what he’s doing. He would lose my vote, because how can you scrap someone’s car that’s worth £7,000 for £2,000? And how do you know that the person’s got better credit now with all of the inflation that’s going on? How can they afford to replace something that takes them from A to B, mainly work?”

Others, including Kyley and Yousef, similarly said the grant payment figure was not enough to support people scrapping their cars. Yousef described it as “not the most promising scheme for people”.

John questioned whether the mayor and TfL should have just prevented any polluting vehicles being driven, if they are serious about cleaning up London’s air.

“They give us £2,000 to upgrade our cars, but my main concern is if it’s about the polluting of the air, why are we still allowed to pollute the air providing we pay £12.50? Surely if it’s about protecting us, it should be that come the 29th of August, no one should be allowed to drive polluting vehicles?”

A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “The mayor has always been clear that expanding the ULEZ to the whole of London was a difficult decision, and not one he took lightly – but it’s a decision he remains committed to seeing through.

“The mayor has continued to listen to the concerns of Londoners and last week announced that TfL is expanding the scrappage scheme to make every Londoner with a non-compliant car eligible for support. The ULEZ is a highly targeted scheme and nine out of ten cars seen driving regularly in outer London are already compliant.

“Thousands of low income and disabled Londoners and small businesses have already received grants through the scrappage scheme. The mayor urges Londoners with non-compliant cars to apply as quickly as possible once they become eligible for £2,000 grants on August 21.

“Most vehicle scrappage companies also give customers money for their vehicle on top of the TfL grant – meaning people can often get hundreds of pounds more to scrap their car.

“The mayor continues to call on government to fund a targeted national scrappage scheme or provide additional funding to London as it has done for other cities implementing Clean Air Zones, including Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth.”

A TfL spokesperson said the £2,000 figure was decided upon after reviewing previous scrappage schemes, balancing what was deemed reasonable with the consideration the authority needs as many people as possible to receive support.

“We regularly check the market to assess the availability of affordable compliant vehicles. Petrol cars up to 18 years old are compliant with the standards and there are thousands of cars under £2,000 across the UK that meet the ULEZ standards.”

The expansion of the ULEZ on August 29 will mean the whole of greater London will be incorporated into the scheme.

Mr Khan and TfL were recently challenged in the High Court over the extension by five Conservative councils. The councils’ claims were however rejected by the judge, paving the way for the zone’s rollout later this month.