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Green grants spring back
Page 18
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Green operators will benefit as a new grant scheme is readied for
action. David Harris reports.
NEW GRANTS to help make UK trucks more environmentally friendly could be up and running by September, says the organisation which will administer them.
The Energy Saving Trust (EST) has spent most of 2005 trying to get European Commission approval for the £24m package of grants. which will replace the Powershift and CleanUp grants. These were scrapped because of concerns that they broke European rules on fair competition:The wait for European Commission approval is because the Department for Transport wants to make sure that the new set of six schemes does not run the same risk.
Among those criticising the delays has been the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Its chief executive. Christopher Macgowan, says: "Long-term incentives for the take-up of cleaner vehicles are vital, so it is important that government does not allow 2005 to become a lost year."
A spokeswoman for the EST says:" We have been as frustrated as everybody else by the delays but we now hope for an autumn launch."
One of the difficulties for the EST is that the Commission can ask questions about the proposed grants which the Trust must answer within a fortnight,but after that the Commission has two months to respond again, sometimes with further questions. "This time we are hoping that there will be no further questions," says the EST's spokeswoman.
Among the grants which will be relevant for truck operators is the air quality retrofit programme, which will fund conversions and exhaust system retrofits. But one of the differences between the new grants and the old ones is that the new ones will give a lower proportion of the cost of the changes than previously. This is because EU guidelines say that no more than 30% of the cost of any improvements or changes should be grant-aided.
The Trust's spokeswoman says: -This means even though there is more money in the new grant system [£24m against £14m] it will be spread around more widely."