Ulez scrappage scheme extended to all Londoners

Eligibility for a scrappage scheme has been extended to more people ahead of the expansion the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to all of London.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said all Londoners would be able to access up to £2,000 to replace non-compliant cars.

Previously ineligible drivers will be able to apply from 21 August.

There will also be more support for businesses, charities and disabled drivers.

Prior to the announcement, only those entitled to means-tested benefits could claim money.

The mayor's clean-air policy is to expand to cover all of London from 29 August, after the High Court ruled it lawful last week. Five Conservative-led councils had challenged the expansion.

Drivers of the most-polluting vehicles will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive anywhere in Greater London.

Kent Council Council has voiced concerns that the scrappage extension will not be available to affected home counties residents who travel regularly to the capital.

Responding to the news, council leader Roger Gough said: "The announcement reinforces our concern that mitigations are available to London residents but not Kent and other residents around London who will be hit by Ulez.

"Transport for London will be funded by charges on our residents."

He said that Kent County Council was committed to improving air quality but "this must go hand-in-hand with appropriate mitigations, including better availability of public transport - something the mayor is looking to reduce for non-Londoners with the withdrawal of the day travel card.

"By expanding Ulez without the same mitigations for Kent people, charities and businesses afforded to those in the capital, the mayor will place an additional burden on already-stretched households during a cost-of-living crisis," he said.

Kent, Surrey and Essex county councils have already said they will ban Ulez signage on their land.

One concerned resident outside London is the Rev Carl Chambers, who runs a church in Wilmington, Kent, near the border with the London borough of Bexley.

He told the BBC that Ulez was "a kick in the guts for those who want to support loved ones".

Mr Chambers added: "I was at the crematorium at Eltham, standing room only for a funeral, and [the Ulez] would have been a tax on friendship and support at such an important time when we're grieving."

In order to fund the expansion, Mr Khan plans to use £50m of City Hall's reserves. This takes the scrappage fund from £110m to £160m.

The scheme will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, with low-income and disabled Londoners having already had seven months to apply.

Vehicles that automatically comply with the Ulez clean-air regulations are petrol cars and vans made after 2006, diesel cars and vans made after 2015 and motorbikes made after 2007.

Tim Donovan, BBC London political correspondent

Sadiq Khan has been forced into this by the political furore that followed Labour's Uxbridge by-election failure in the Ulez wilds of west London, and being told by Sir Keir Starmer to "reflect".

It is something he could have done before.

Months ago, the Liberal Democrats, among others, were saying that a fund of £110m would not be enough to compensate people being forced to scrap their cars in a short period.

Others argued it was not right to exclude low-income working people who don't claim benefits from applying. Even now this is still fraught with danger for the mayor.

Some will feel the maximum amount people can claim is still not enough given the price of alternatives.

And then there's the maths.

There was £61m spent on scrapping 15,000 vehicles when Ulez was extended to inner London. It follows that £160m should help about 40,000 people. But there appear to be at least 300,000 owners of non-compliant cars in outer London, and tens of thousands of van drivers on top.

Some will be pleased if they can now get money for scrapping their vehicles. Others will feel Mr Khan should do what he seems unprepared to do: put the expansion on hold.

Announcing the expansion to the scrappage scheme, Mr Khan said: "As we continue to build a greener and healthier London for everyone, I'm determined that no Londoner and no London business is left behind.

"We need to take people with us on the path to a sustainable future. We are ensuring that help is now available for everyone and I urge Londoners to come and get it."

He added he was "not prepared to step back, delay or water down vital green policies like Ulez, which will not only save lives and protect children's lungs by cleaning up our polluted air but help us to fight the climate crisis".

Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall said of the widening of the scrappage scheme: "This is too little, too late from Sadiq Khan, who is facing mounting pressure from Londoners and his own party.

"Thousands of families, small businesses and charities face financial ruin because of Sadiq Khan's Ulez expansion, which will do next to nothing to improve air quality.

"If I am elected mayor, I will reverse this disastrous policy and replace it with a £50m fund to reduce air pollution without taxing people."

The BBC asked City Hall why the scheme had been extended only weeks before the expansion was due to take effect. A spokesperson for the mayor said: "It was right that [Mr Khan] prioritised the scheme for those who need it most, for the first seven months - low-income and disabled Londoners, charities and small businesses.

"Now they have had a fair chance to apply, the scheme will be opening to any Londoner with a non-compliant car.

"This will mean that many of the one in 10 car drivers in outer London who were going to have to pay the charge may no longer have to do so, once the Ulez is expanded London-wide."

Asked how quickly funds would be released after an application for a scrappage grant, the spokesperson said that current applications to the scheme were being turned around "as quickly as possible" and that response times were "good".

"The mayor urges people to apply as quickly as possible once they become eligible for scrappage funding on 21 August," the spokesperson added.

From 4 August:

Retrofitting a vehicle: £6,000

Small businesses* and charities with a van: £7,000

Minibuses: £9,000

Disabled Londoners with wheelchair-adapted vehicles: £10,000

*Small businesses are defined as those with fewer than 50 employees

From 21 August:

Londoners with non-compliant vehicles can claim a maximum of:

Cars: £2,000

Sole traders and small trades with vans: £7,000 per vehicle (up to three)

Charities with a registered address in London that use a minibus: £9,000 per vehicle (up to three)

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