ULEZ: Woman told her car was 'not a vehicle' by TfL when applying for scrappage scheme, City Hall told

A woman applying to have her car scrapped via the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheme in London was told her motor was in fact not a vehicle, the London Assembly was told.

Labour assembly member (AM) Leonie Cooper relayed the bizarre tale during Thursday's (November 16) Mayor’s Question Time.

While clarifying that her constituent’s issue was resolved, the Merton and Wandsworth member asked Sadiq Khan to look into the issue and ensure Transport for London (TfL) and the deputy mayor for transport Seb Dance “get a move on” tackling glitches associated with the scheme.

Ms Cooper's input followed a question raised by Conservative AM Nick Rogers, who requested Mr Khan look into a “gap” in the scheme in which people scrapping a vehicle who opt to receive a bus pass as part of the deal cannot nominate another person, such as a family member, to receive it.

The mayor said he will look into both cases, telling Ms Cooper: “Without in any way excusing or ameliorating the concern to your constituent, in percentage terms it’s very, very small people who are inconvenienced, but to them it’s important.”

Mr Khan and TfL launched the scrappage scheme in January this year to support eligible Londoners whose vehicles did not comply with the ULEZ standards, ahead of the zone's expansion on August 29.

The scheme's pot was extended in early August from a pot of £110 million to £160m. Its eligibility criteria was also changed, from being targeted towards low-income Londoners to all of those with a non-compliant car or motorbike, plus additional allowances for groups including charities and small businesses.

According to the most recent data released by TfL last month almost £40m was still sitting in the pot, with £121,391,500 committed as of October 22.

A report on the first month of the expanded ULEZ suggested it had removed almost half of the most polluting vehicles from London’s roads, with 95% of vehicles seen driven in the capital on an average day estimated to meet the emissions standards.