Scrappage incentives to help charities operating minibus fleets into the capital’s ULEZ have been boosted by Transport for London (TfL).
£7,000 per vehicle is now available for replacement of pre-Euro VI M2 category minibuses with nine or more seats that are owned by charities. That must be through the purchase, lease or hire for at least two years of a ULEZ-compliant minibus. Support for a maximum of three vehicles may be applied for by each charity.
The funding is available to charities registered at a Greater London address, or to those where the vehicle was driven into the Congestion Charge Zone at least 26 times between 22 August 2018 and 22 February 2019.
Additionally, TfL offers a further £2,500 to charities towards the cost of running an electric minibus if it replaces a non-ULEZ compliant diesel minibus under the scrappage scheme.
The same conditions apply as above. In all cases, any ULEZ charges paid for the scrapped vehicle(s) during the three months after an application was submitted will be refunded to successful applicants, provided they were made by Auto Pay.
For a minibus to be eligible, it must have been owned by the charity for more than 12 months prior to the scrappage scheme commencement on 22 February 2019. Each organisation can apply for allowance for up to three vehicles.
Applications can be made via the London Road User online portal.
Small business operators of coaches and minicoaches stand to benefit from Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the scrappage scheme to their sector in due course. Further details will be released later.
