The Mayor has today launched a new scrappage scheme targeting the most polluting heavy vehicles, in advance of the tighter Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards, which he can now confirm will come into force on 1 March 2021.
The scheme offers grants of £15,000 per vehicle to small businesses and charities, up to a maximum of three vehicles, to scrap a heavy vehicle and replace it with a compliant one; or to retrofit diesel vehicles up to the Euro VI standards. Funds are limited and the scheme will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
The heavy vehicle scrappage scheme follows the successful programme for small businesses and charities to scrap older, more polluting vans and minibuses. The van scrappage scheme ran for 18 months and has committed enough support to take 5,000 polluting vehicles off London’s roads.
The new, tougher LEZ standard coincides with the start of enforcement of TfL’s Direct Vision Standard (DVS) from March 1 2021. The DVS, to be introduced in partnership with London Councils, will reduce lethal blind spots in HGVs of more than 12 tonnes, with a safety permit system that assigns vehicles a star rating based on how much the driver can see directly through their cab window. HGVs with a zero-star rating will be required to fit additional vehicle safety features. The DVS is part of TfL’s Vision Zero commitment to tackle the number of people being killed and seriously injured on London’s roads.
Both the new LEZ and DVS standards had previously been set to come in at the end of October 2020, but in response to the pandemic and the challenges faced by the freight and bus and coach industries, they were delayed provisionally for four months. Following a review and further consultation, it is now confirmed that they will come in on 1 March 2021.
Vehicle owners can find full details of the new LEZ rules and check their compliance with the new LEZ emissions standards by visiting Tfl.gov.uk/lez