ULEZ TfL scrappage scheme: Millions left unclaimed by drivers of polluting vehicles

Transport for London (TfL) has said it anticipates committing far more money from its Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scrappage scheme once eligibility is widened, as it emerges just over a third has been dished out so far.

Earlier this month, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced the scrappage scheme would be expanded to include all Londoners with a non-compliant car or motorbike from August 21, just eight days before the ULEZ is extended on August 29.

Prior to this, the support was only available to those on certain benefits, plus groups such as charities and small businesses. The mayor said the fund would be topped up with £50m from City Hall reserves, taking the total pot from £110m to £160m.

According to the latest TfL data on the scheme, which covers up to July 23 - before the mayor’s recent announcement - £38,543,700 of the £110m available at the time had been committed, roughly three-quarters of which had gone to vans and minibuses.

The data gives a full breakdown of which boroughs have received what funding, with residents in Hillingdon, one of the outer London boroughs which launched the judicial review into the ULEZ expansion, having been committed the most.

Hillingdon’s £3,287,400 was some way ahead of any other local authority, with Croydon’s £2,762,400 coming next, and then Sutton, on £2,353,500.

When compared to data from the previous month, running up to June 25, the total committed had risen by almost £6m, from £32,837,600, with Hillingdon alone seeing a jump of more than £500,000.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We publish details on our website of total applications received to date, and total applications approved to date. The total of the applications approved does not necessarily indicate the rejection of all others, as while the scheme is live there may be some applications awaiting final assessment/processing, including those that require the resubmission of corrected or missing documentation from applicants.

“It’s not possible to say at this stage what percentage of applications are approved or rejected, but an evaluation report with a more detailed breakdown will be published following the closure of the scheme. We anticipate that following the expansion of the car and motorcycle scrappage eligibility to all Londoners on August 21, there will be an increase in approved applications.”

How is the ULEZ scrappage scheme being expanded?

The expansion of the scheme, announced by Mr Khan on August 4, is being delivered in two phases.

Changes which went live on August 4 were:

• Small businesses and charities with a non-compliant van will receive increased payments of £7,000 (up from £5,000),
• grants for wheelchair accessible vehicles will increase from £5,000 to £10,000,
• grants for scrapping minibuses will increase from £7,000 to £9,000,
• grants to replace a non-compliant van with electric van will increase from £7,500 to £9,500,
• grants to replace a non-compliant minibus with an electric minibus will increase from £9,500 to £11,500,
• and retrofit grants will increase from £5,000 to £6,000.

And from August 21:

• Every Londoner with a non ULEZ-compliant car will be eligible for a £2,000 grant,
• small businesses and sole traders will be able to receive up to £21,000 in grants to scrap up to three vans,
• and charities will be able to receive up to £27,000 in grants to scrap up to three minibuses.