Poorer households to be offered £2k to scrap high-pollution cars

Poorer households will be offered £2,000 to “safely dispose” of their highpollution cars to help with Scotland’s climate change targets.

The Mobility and Scrappage Fund is a new pot of £900,000 that will be piloted in “lower income areas and air quality management areas” across Scotland, and in island communities.

As well as a cash grant of £2,000 in return for getting rid of more polluting vehicles, the fund will also offer people scrapping their old motors £500 Travel Better grants from the Scottish Government. These can be used to purchase “a range of sustainable travel options”, including bicycles, e-bikes and vouchers for buses and trains.

The initiative is designed to encourage “a shift away from cars”, and is part of the government’s ambitions to reduce the distances travelled by Scots in cars by 20% by 2030.

This pilot project is only targeting areas outside of Low Emission Zone cities, so Aberdeen will be excluded.

People can only take advantage of the new funding if they are in receipt of benefits and live inside one of Scotland’s designated air quality management areas.

Regions across the north and north-east where you can apply include areas around Peterhead and Fraserburgh, Inverness, Forres and Skye.

It also includes all of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Jenny Gilruth, the Scottish Government’s transport minister, said the fund is “aimed at those that need help most”, and the cash pot will help to remove some of the worst-polluting vehicles in Scotland from our roads.

She said the new scheme will help to “protect public health and improve air quality”, and, in combination with the Low Emission Zone Support Fund, she argues the Scottish Government is supporting people to “move to new travel patterns and achieve our climate change ambitions at the same time”.

She added: “I look forward to meeting with people who have benefitted.

Minister Jenny Gilruth.