Motorists planning to scrap vehicles that do not meet ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) standards in London can instead donate them to Ukraine from Friday, as a scheme is launched after a protracted campaign to win the support of the mayor and central government.
The proposal dates back over a year, but was initially rejected by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, on legal grounds, and only reversed after a vigorous and at times acrimonious lobbying effort which succeeded when it was approved by the transport department.
Car, van and minibus owners living, or with a business, in the capital can receive a scrappage payment from Transport for London (TfL) – up to £2,000 for a car – and then donate the vehicle to Ukraine for humanitarian and medical purposes, instead of it being scrapped.
Vehicle owners have to make an extra application to British Ukrainian Aid, a charity working with TfL. If approved, volunteers will pick up the vehicle and drive it across Europe so it can be used in relief efforts.
Ukraine is short of vehicles, particularly near the frontline where ordinary cars and vans are used to transport casualties from the battlefield and medical facilities to hospitals. The London scheme is being supported by Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
It means high-emission vehicles are not being taken out of circulation but sent to a war zone – an approach defended by those involved in the creation of the scheme as a justified response to the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine aspires to the same high air quality as we do, but if you are fighting for your life that’s not your immediate priority. The point about these vehicles is they will save lives against a short-time term line,” said Richard Lofthouse, a former academic who works in communications.
Lofthouse came up with the idea after buying a non-Ulez compliant Ford Ranger and driving it out to Ukraine, enlisting the support of Klitschko’s office, which opened negotiations with Khan about introducing a donation option to the scrappage scheme covering vehicles that do not meet Ulez standards.
But Khan, on the advice of his lawyers, wrote to Klitschko in December to say changing the scheme was beyond his remit. “Exporting vehicles to Ukraine would not meet the legal threshold of demonstrating the benefit to Londoners,” he wrote, and said it could not go ahead.
The letter was obtained by Lofthouse and leaked to the Daily Telegraph, prompting the columnist Charles Moore to question if Khan was “under some sort of pressure from Russian interests” or “worried about a backlash from Islamist political activists” – before concluding that neither was very likely.
Insiders at City Hall questioned the tone of criticism, and said Khan had been supportive, but fundamental objections had been raised by in-house lawyers. Later in December, the mayor joined with the former defence secretary Ben Wallace to call on the government to change the law.
A month later, Mark Harper, the transport secretary, declared there was no legal barrier to the scheme going ahead, and from there the Ukraine vehicle donation scheme was assembled in two months.
“I have worked quickly to amend our scrappage scheme,” Khan said, adding that 50 decommissioned ambulances would also be sent to Ukraine. Sources at the mayor’s office indicated they would like the Ukraine option extended to other cities, such as Birmingham and Bristol, which operate their own scrappage schemes.
• This article was amended on 15 March 2024. An earlier version incorrectly suggested people could either receive a £2,000 payment or donate their vehicle. The scheme allows them to do both.
