£23 million scheme open to help London’s microbusinesses and charities scrap older, polluting vans and minibuses

Option to receive £6,000 towards scrapping and using towards running costs of a new electric model or £3,500 to scrap and fund cleaner transport alternatives

Fund aims to help microbusinesses and charities prepare for the 24-hour, seven-days-a week ULEZ in central London from 8th April

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,

To get a grip on London’s lethal air and protect public health we need to rid our streets of the most polluting vehicles. With six weeks to go until the Ultra Low Emission Zone starts in central London many Londoners are looking at ways to change to cleaner transport options. Motorists need our help and support to take positive action, and I am proud to today open this£23 million scrappage scheme today to help enable microbusinesses and charities to scrap polluting vans and minibuses, and switch to cleaner vehicles. The van scrappage scheme will be followed later this year with a £25 million fund to help lower-income households scrap polluting cars.

Alex Williams, Transport for London's Director of City Planning, said:

London’s toxic air affects everyone, especially the most vulnerable people such as children and the elderly. This is why today’s launch of a £23 million diesel scrappage scheme to help micro-businesses and charities switch away from polluting vans and play their part in tackling air pollution is so important.

With Ultra Low Emission Zone April 8th getting closer, the Mayor has today opened his scrappage fund to help microbusinesses and charities scrap their older, more polluting vans and minibuses and switch to cleaner vehicles. The £23 million scrappage fund is one of the Mayor’s hard-hitting measures to tackle toxic air pollution which leads to 40,000 premature deaths annually across the UK and increases the risk of asthma, cancer and dementia.

The Government already offer grants to cover the capital cost of electric vans. These grants reduce the cost of an electric van by up to 20 per cent or a maximum of £8,000. The Mayor’s scheme has been designed to be complementary to this support and aims to help microbusinesses – defined as those with 10 or fewer employees – and registered charities who have vans and minibuses that do not comply with the new ULEZ standards. Businesses and charities will have to be registered in London or have been frequently observed driving in the Congestion Charging Zone.

Options include:

· A payment of £6,000 to scrap a non-compliant van or minibus and help with running costs of a new electric vehicle

· A payment of £3,500 to scrap a non-compliant van or minibus which can be used to:

· purchase a newer ULEZ compliant Euro 6 vehicle; access third party offers from rental and sharing services across London, including Zipcar, Northgate Hire, Enterprise and Europcar*;

1. To apply for the scheme visit here.  Organisations eligible for the £23 million scheme need to be either a microbusiness or charity as defined below:

2. Microbusinesses must have:

· 10 or fewer employees;

· Up to £632,000 turnover or £316,000 balance sheet total up to current financial year; and

· Companies House registration as an active company or VAT registered.