Low Emission Zone Support Fund for businesses

The Scottish Government is introducing low emission zones across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee between February and May 2022. Low emission zones are designed to improve local air quality by discouraging older, more polluting vehicles from entering the zone.

For more information, please visit our dedicated low emission zone webpage.

The Low Emission Zone Support Fund, funded by Transport Scotland and administered by Energy Saving Trust, offers an incentive for eligible businesses to take their older, more polluting vehicles off the road.

Grants of £2,500 are available to micro businesses with nine or fewer full-time employees and sole traders who take a non-compliant vehicle to be scrapped at a Scottish authorised treatment facility. A grant offer must be in place prior to vehicle disposal.

For more information, please read our Low Emission Zone Support Fund leaflet for businesses.

To apply to the Low Emission Zone Support Fund for businesses, please review the eligibility criteria below. For guidance on the fund application and disposal process, see the guidance diagram below.

If you believe you are eligible for this fund and would like to apply, please fill out our self-referral form.  If your answers indicate you may be eligible, you will receive a link to the full online application form shortly after.

If you would like to discuss the fund and your future business transport needs with a sustainable transport coordinator before applying, please complete our business transport online form.

You MUST NOT scrap your vehicle until you have received a grant offer letter from Energy Saving Trust confirming your eligibility, otherwise you will not be eligible for funding.

To be eligible for the Low Emission Zone Support Fund, you must meet all of the following criteria (you can also download the eligibility criteria):

1. Your business must have an operating site within 20km of a planned low emission zone. If you are unsure, a sustainable transport coordinator will be able to confirm this.

2. Your business must own a vehicle that does not meet the minimum emissions standards of low emission zones:

• Euro 3 or older petrol vehicles – this generally applies to those registered before 2006.
• Euro 5 or older diesel vehicles – this generally applies to those registered before September 2015.

You can use the Vehicle Checker to see whether your vehicle would be allowed to enter a zone.

3. The vehicle must hold a current MOT and be taxed. If you are unsure, you can check online if your vehicle is taxed and its MOT status.

4. The vehicle must be registered in the name of the business owner or under the business name.

5. You must have owned the vehicle for at least 12 months and utilised it for business operational purposes:

6. Your business must be an active micro business or a sole trader. To fit this definition, you must:

• Employ nine or fewer full-time employees.
• Have a turnover of £632,000 or less, or a balance sheet of up to £316,000 in the preceding and current financial year.

7. The Low Emission Zone Support Fund cannot be used in conjunction with Transport Scotland’s Switched on Taxis Loan or Low Carbon Transport Loan. This is a standalone fund and the applicant must not apply for the aforementioned funding until six months following grant payment from the Low Emission Zone Support Fund. In addition, the applicant must not have received funding from these programmes six months prior to applying.

8. A business may apply to dispose of a maximum of three vehicles under this fund.

If you wish to apply for this funding, you MUST NOT scrap your vehicle until you have received a grant offer letter from Energy Saving Trust confirming funding.

If you would like additional information on the scheme, please email: LEZfund@est.org.uk

Please refer to the below diagram for a detailed visualisation of the application process.