Charities may shut down because ULEZ scrappage scheme rewards too low

Charities have claimed that the proposed ULEZ scrappage scheme does not offer enough money to retrofit or replace a vehicle in the current market.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s scrapage scheme has offered charities in the capital with 10 or fewer employees the option to scrap a van or a minibus, retrofit certain vans or minibuses or scrap and replace a van or minibus with a fully electric vehicle, with grants between £5,000 and £9,500.

However, some charities have said that these grants are not sufficient and only allow coverage for a single vehicle.

Wallington Animal Rescue is an animal, domestic, and wildlife rescue charity based in Wallington, Croydon.

The charity said it has already sold one of its two rescue vehicles because it was not ULEZ compliant.

Replacing the other one will cost the charity an excess of £17,000. Amanda Blackwell, founder of Wallington Animal Rescue, said: “The whole ULEZ issue has caused our rescue an immeasurable amount of stress.

“This whole issue is costing us thousands of pounds, money we can ill-afford.

“We’re a small charity that is struggling under a huge amount of pressure post-Covid and in the cost-of-living crisis.

“We’re seeing a huge increase in people looking to surrender animals for financial reasons. We are seeing a decrease in what little funding we receive anyway.

“The situation in the animal rescue world is absolutely reaching a crisis point. ULEZ will be the final nail in the coffin for many small
independent rescues.”

Charity Begins at Home, based in Agar Street, Covent Garden, is an organisation that delivers food, clothes and life-essential items to those in need.

The organisation has warned that it will have to stop its operations because of the ULEZ expansion and more people could be left on the streets of London as a result.

Nick Rogers, City Hall Conservative transport spokesman, said: “The scrappage scheme is woefully inadequate and will do next to nothing to address the damage his ULEZ expansion plans will cause.”

A spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said: “The decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone London-wide was not an easy one for the Mayor to make, but it was necessary.

“About 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to toxic air, children are growing up with stunted lungs and thousands of people in our city are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma.

“Nine out of 10 cars driving in outer London are already ULEZ compliant and will not have to pay the charge, and for those charities or Londoners who are disabled or on low incomes and have a non-compliant car, a £110m scrappage scheme is available to support them.

“The Mayor recognises the vital role charities play in our communities and the GLA and TfL continue to do all they can to support charities to transition to cleaner vehicles with grants of up to nearly £10,000 available to charities.

“Were the government to give London scrappage funding as they have done for Birmingham, Bristol and Portsmouth, even more families and charities could benefit greener vehicles and cleaner air.”

Picture: ULEZ sign (Picture: TFL)