£5 million for Low Emission Zone support funding in 2024-25

The Scottish Government is providing £5 million to re-open the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support Fund for 2024-25. For the fifth year in a row, the popular fund continues to offer cash incentives and Travel Better credits, if non-compliant vehicles are removed from Scotland’s roads.

Delivered through Energy Saving Trust, this programme is means-tested and offers help to those most affected by the introduction of LEZs. It provides people and micro-businesses with financial support to travel more sustainably and meet the established air quality standards which will improve air quality and protect public health.

The Low Emission Zone Support Fund provides households and smaller businesses with a grant of £2000 to incentivise disposal of a non-LEZ standard vehicle. It also offers up to a further £1000 in mobility grants or Travel Better credits to purchase a bike, e-bike or public transport vouchers.

£2 million of the overall package will enable the retrofitting of light goods vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and taxis through the LEZ Retrofitting Fund for microbusinesses. Collectively, these two funding steams represent the Low Emission Zone Support Fund – and both are delivered through Energy Saving Trust.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop said:

"I’m pleased to open the Low Emission Zone Support Fund for its fifth round of support. LEZs are a vital public health measure and by providing financial assistance to people and businesses that need it most, we’re ensuring that the transition to wider LEZ enforcement happens in a fair way.

“Since 2019, the Scottish Government has provided over £13 million through the Low Emission Zone Support Fund. Over 4000 non-compliant vehicles have been disposed of or retrofitted with cleaner technology. This number includes support for taxi drivers, with over 450 taxis being retrofitted with the help of grant funding since 2019. At the same time we are encouraging a shift towards sustainable transport options. I’m pleased that the fund has enabled the purchase of over 2000 bikes, e-bikes or cargo bikes for homes and businesses.

“Wider enforcement of Low Emission Zones are already underway in Glasgow, with Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh enforcement commencing in the coming weeks. Whether you live, work in, or visit Scotland’s biggest cities – please think about how LEZs might affect you and visit www.lowemissionzones.scot for the latest information.

Heather Quin, Senior Programme Manager at Energy Saving Trust said:

"We look forward to continuing our delivery of the Low Emission Zone Support Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government for another year. With the upcoming enforcement of all Low Emission Zones in Scotland, it's more important than ever that lower-income households and small businesses continue to get the support they need to adapt and make the switch to low carbon transport.

“This funding has already helped many individuals, families and businesses prepare for Scotland's Low Emission Zones and adopt more sustainable travel options. With this new round of funding, many more people are set to benefit from this support, as well as from improved air quality, while addressing the climate emergency.”

To prepare for the wider enforcement of Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone, Keith and Kaori, the owners of Harajuku Kitchen in Edinburgh, took advantage of LEZ support funding in 2022 to dispose of their older, more polluting van and replaced it with a newer model.

Keith said: “We were aware of the Low Emission Zone coming into Edinburgh and I knew that the old van was needing replaced because it was old and polluting. We needed something better for the environment and more efficient to use for the weekly events and markets.

“We got the grant and got a van which is a much better and more efficient van than what we would have done without the grant funding. Our new van is great, it’s fulfilling its purpose and we’d like to go fully electric or hybrid in the future. The van is also much more fuel-efficient than the old van and we’re filling it up for about a third less than we were before.”

Kaori said: “We feel so much better now that our new van is cleaner and contributes to lowering emissions in the air. We always have the markets on the weekends. Usually, it’s the Sunday or Saturday market and for that, we also use the van to bring all our equipment and tables and gazebos to set up stalls for the markets.”

For more information on the funding available visit www.lowemissionzones.scot or visit the Energy Saving Trust website, who administer funding on behalf of the Scottish Government.