London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced that small business owners in the capital will be able to take advantage of a new scrappage scheme designed to help get cleaner vans on the city’s streets.
The scheme has set aside £23m to help scrap older, higher polluting vans and is designed to help small businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
It will be in place ahead of the introduction of the new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that kicks in from 8 April 2019. The new ULEZ will see diesel vans that don’t meet the latest Euro 6 standards have to pay £12.50 a day to enter central London.
Unlike the existing Congestion Charge, the new ULEZ charge will apply 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year.
It is not yet clear how much each business will get for a van, or whether there will be a restriction on how much they can apply for, but it would have to be at least a couple of thousand pounds to make it a viable prospect. More details on how to apply are expected to be announced in the New Year.
London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “Air pollution is a national health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children and leading to thousands of premature deaths. To truly get a grip on our lethal air we need to take bold action to rid our city of the most polluting vehicles.
“It’s not good enough to do nothing, and I’m determined to take real action which is why I’ve already delivered the Toxicity Charge in central London for the oldest polluting vehicles, cleaned up our bus fleet, and brought forward the Ultra Low Emission Zone. My scrappage scheme is my next step in tackling pollution.”
Manufacturers included vans as part of their own scrappage schemes earlier in 2018, but this is the first time that a single city has had its own trade-in offer.
