ULEZ: Khan under fire over scrappage scheme grant figures

Sadiq Khan has been criticised by City Hall Conservatives after new figures showed the ULEZ scrappage scheme paid grants to less than half of applicants.

The scrappage scheme was initially introduced by the Mayor to provide grants for those on low incomes and people with disabilities to scrap or retrofit vehicles that did not meet ULEZ emissions standards. It was opened up in August to all Londoners with an eligible car or motorcycle.

More than £150 has been committed to the scheme and Khan is planning to invest an extra £50m.

But new figures published by Transport for London (TfL) today showed that less than half of applicants were approved for the scrappage grant.

Of the 115,246 applications that have been received so far, only 46,616 were accepted.

While a number of applications are still being processed, TfL did not disclose the number of applications that have been rejected nor the total amount that has been paid out.

City Hall Conservatives transport spokesman Keith Prince criticised the lack of transparency around the figures, calling for Khan to “come clean about his ULEZ scrappage scheme”.

“The Mayor has consistently failed to be open and transparent about the scheme, refusing to provide timely answers on how many vehicles have been scrapped and how long Londoners wait for payment,” Prince said.

However, Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, argued the figures showed a “huge take-up” for the ULEZ scrappage scheme, which is making “a huge difference”.

He said: “95 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London on an average day now meeting our air quality standards. I urge any Londoners with non-compliant vehicles to apply for support if they haven’t already, as we keep building a cleaner, greener city for all.”

Christina Calderato, TfL’s director of strategy and policy said: “It’s great to see that so many individuals, charities and businesses across the capital have been supported by the vehicle scrappage fund over the last year, enabling them to switch to cleaner and greener travel.”