The Mayor of London has launched a £23 million van scrappage scheme to help small businesses meet the city’s new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) rules.
The fund will be used to help small businesses – defined as those with fewer than 10 employees – based within the ULEZ to scrap older vehicles that don't meet the new rules and replace them with new machines, including electric ones such as the Nissan e-NV200 and the planned Vauxhall Vivaro electric.
Under the new central London ULEZ, which is due to come into force on 8 April next year and cut pollution in the capital, diesel vans that don't meet Euro 6 standards will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in the zone.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has called on the Government to match the funding for the scrappage scheme, which he says would further cut pollution, and could provide evidence to support the introduction of similar schemes in other cities or nationwide.
Khan said that air pollution was “a national health crisis that is stunting the lung development of our children and leading to thousands of premature deaths", adding: "To truly get a grip on our lethal air, we need to take bold action.”
The scheme was welcomed by the AA, with president Edmund King saying: “Some small business that can't afford to switch their vans to cleaner Euro 6s have been taking the hit from higher road use charges and simply passing on the extra costs to their customers. This scheme gives them a route to cleaner vehicles.”
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Big and bold idea as per usual..
with some else footing the bills, bring in utopian ideas then expect the public to pay for them, the fact of the matter is they were told to sell their petrol vehicle and buy a diesel vehicle because it was beneficial to business owners then why should the public pay for a new van / vehicle. If they can't afford a suitable vehicle they can close their business down, "no one assisted me" after I made the informed descision not to have buy a diesel vehicle. Should I get brownie points for not following the government into diesel
Where is the money
coming from Khan, and why should the Government, ie the taxpayer match it?
Taxpayers didnt make the rules, so why should they pay for companies to meet them?
Citytiger wrote:
It all comes from the same fund in the form of grants from HM Treasury, administrating the National Clean Air Fund.
What about the thousands of
What about the thousands of companies that are based outside the ULEZ, predominantly outside london or even the M25, whose van drivers commute into London every day?
Bob Cat Brian wrote:
Maybe they'll get their own back for the "aint goingk sarf of the river" attitude, "Inside the M25? Nah mate, no can do."
Not all is what it seems 2...
It's OK, it's Autocar getting it arse about face, again. Nothing has been finalised, yet, but the plan is for the scheme to be offered to any operator of a van that has reason to be in the zone on a regular basis, so long as they otherwise fit the criteria. Of course £23million (or £46 million) doesn't go very far so they may set a geographical limit, but I suspect it would more likely be first come first served.
The reason why these statement about being based in the ULEZ is utter nonsense is that, at inauguration, the number of busineses that fit that profile, within the ULEZ, will be tiny.