Diesel drivers to be offered cash to ditch highly-polluting cars in ‘targeted’ scrappage scheme
Scrapping toxic vehicles will also help motorists avoid congestion charges, extra parking fees and higher fuel tax
DIESEL drivers will be offered cash to ditch their cars under plans to be unveiled on Friday.
The Government’s crackdown on toxic air is expected to hit motorists with congestion charges, extra parking fees and higher fuel tax.
But crucially the plan is set to include “targeted” a scrappage scheme to protect those who were encouraged to buy diesel under the last Labour government.
The draft proposals are also expected to include a plan to offer diesel drivers filters that will reduce the levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide emissions.
A Tory source said: “We are cleaning up Labour’s mess.”
Insiders insisted all councils will be forced to justify any decision to target diesel drivers with cash grabs.
Theresa May will rush out the plans after admitting defeat over her battle to delay the unpopular assault on diesel drivers.
The Government yesterday announced it will not appeal a High Court ruling ordering ministers to publish draft proposals to reduce toxic air by next week.
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Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom must now publish her plan to target dirty diesel cars by May 9 - and she is expected to unveil it the day after the local elections on Friday in a bid to bury bad news. A final plan must be published by July 31.
Ministers had attempted to delay publication until after the June 8 election.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said a draft plan will be published between Thursday’s local elections and the deadline of May 9 imposed by a judge last week.
Green campaigners last week won a legal challenge against the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, which argued that a delay was necessary in order to comply with “purdah” rules restricting government announcements during the election period.
It was the third humiliating defeat for the Government over toxic air.
Critics slammed the Government for wasting taxpayers’ money on fighting the court orders.
Former Lib Dem energy secretary Sir Ed Davey said: “It is a disgrace this Conservative Government had to be dragged through the courts before agreeing to publish a plan to tackle air pollution.
“How much taxpayers’ money has been wasted because of the failure of ministers to do the right thing?”
The Government was initially given until April 24 to set out draft measures on reducing illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution after a court ruling last year that existing plans to meet EU-mandated air quality limits were inadequate and must be improved.
But days before the deadline, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs applied to postpone publication of the draft clean air plan until after the June 8 general election.
Mrs Leadsom told MPs it was “not appropriate” to publish before the election and pledged to unveil the draft proposals on June 30.
But lawyers for campaign group ClientEarth said there were not sufficient grounds to justify the proposed delay, which could cost lives by allowing excessive pollution to continue for longer.
The judge ruled that purdah was in no sense binding on the courts and was not a “trump card” to be deployed at will by a litigant.
But not all of Britain’s 12million diesel drivers will qualify for compensation under the scrappage scheme.
Instead only cars that are old enough and are registered in polluting hotspots will be offered the cash. It will spark fresh anger from diesel car owners who could be hit with charges when they drive through high-polluting areas for work.
Meanwhile a “retrofitting” scheme is likely to be targeted at White Van Man and buses. Drivers would be offered grants to adapt their vehicles into less-polluting ones.
Local authorities will also be encouraged to avoid pollution taxes by instead focusing on improving the flow of traffic.
Reducing the number of speed bumps and better coordinated traffic lights are set to be among recommendations published by the government on Friday.