Sadiq Khan has closed his Ulez scrappage scheme with an estimated £12m unspent – but plans to use the leftover cash to cut tolls at the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels.
The mayor set aside £210m to help motorists upgrade their vehicles to avoid the £12.50-a-day levy, as part of last year’s expansion of the ultra-low emission zone across Greater London.
The scrappage scheme, which opened in January 2023, closed at midnight on Saturday September 7 after the number of new applicants plummeted from more than 7,300 a day a year ago to about 66 a day.
By the start of August, more than £186m had been committed after 54,000 applications from Londoners for scrappage funds were approved.
However, more than 136,200 requests for funds were received by TfL over the scheme’s 20 months – meaning fewer than half of applications were successful.
City Hall estimates that after the final pay-outs are made, there will be about £12m left unspent.
The plan is to spend this on environmental projects – with Londoners most affected by the forthcoming tolls at the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels most likely to benefit.
With more than 97 per cent of cars now compliant with the Ulez exhaust emission rules, City Hall believes most Londoners have now changed their vehicle or the way they travel.
The tunnel tolls are due to be introduced next Spring, with drivers paying £4 per journey at peak times and £1.50 off-peak to use either of the routes under the Thames.
Mr Khan has already suggested 50 per cent discounts for low-income Londoners living in 12 east or south-east London boroughs as part of a “green and fair” package of concessions.
Small businesses in Newham, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich can apply for a £1 discount on the off-peak charge for at least a year.
NHS staff and patients will be able to get the toll reimbursed.
Cross-river trips on the 108 or 129 bus – plus the new Superloop SL4 route through the Silvertown tunnel - will be free for at least a year for journeys that start in Newham, Tower Hamlets or Greenwich.
DLR trips in the immediate vicinity of the tunnels – such as between Cutty Sark and Island Gardens or Woolwich Arsenal and King George V – will also be free for at least a year.
The exact discounts will be confirmed later this year after TfL analyses the responses to its summer public consultation.
City Hall documents signed by Mr Khan state: “TfL considers that the scrappage scheme has achieved its purpose.
“It also considers that any unused grant funding… would be better applied to other uses. While no decision has been made on how to use this funding, TfL will use it to further the delivery of the Mayor’s transport strategy.
“One example is the proposed ‘Green & Fair’ package that would support the new user charges for Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels.”
Caroline Russell, a Green party member of the London Assembly, said: “The mayor's Ulez scrappage scheme was funded and approved to take dirty, polluting vehicles off London's streets.
“There aren't nearly enough alternatives to driving through these tunnels, and I would expect the 'greenest mayor ever' to be investing any extra funds into public transport, not further discounting these flimsy tolls.
“If there's extra money to be spent, I would suggest the mayor invest in new bus stops and bike lanes making it easier for people get into the tunnels and across the river."
Nicholas Lyes, director of policy at the motoring organisation IAM RoadSmart, said: “Assisting local residents and businesses who will be impacted by new charges for using the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels is the right thing to do.
“The Ulez scrappage scheme has generally been seen as a success because it has helped lower income families and smaller businesses to upgrade their vehicles, so similar support for forthcoming tunnel charges would be a welcome step.”
City Hall said the “slower uptake” of scrappage payments meant it could take until April 2025 to use up all £210m, with administration costs taking up a disproportionate amount of the funds.
In deciding to close the scrappage scheme, Mr Khan has extended a “grace period” exempting community minibuses from the Ulez for an additional two years, until October 24, 2027.
He is donating £100,000 to the British-Ukrainian Aid charity to enable Ulez non-compliant vehicles that can be used for humanitarian purposes to continue to be exported to the war-torn country.
A TfL spokeswoman said: “While funds remaining in the scheme will further the delivery of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, no decision has been made on the use of the funding.”
