Aberdeen is at the “rock bottom” of Scotland’s league table for Low Emission Zone (LEZ) compensation from the Scottish Government, new figures have revealed.
The LEZ Support Fund was set up in 2020 to help residents and small businesses buy newer vehicles with lower emissions.
It has paid out £13.78 million since. But just £464,688 was awarded to households in the Aberdeen area, while those in Glasgow got £4.78 million, Edinburgh received £1.88 million, and Dundee was given £562,471.
And Aberdeen “microbusinesses” received a total of £154,066, compared to £4.94 million in Glasgow, £2.06m in Edinburgh, and £107,500 in Dundee.
Only 65 microbusinesses in Aberdeen received disposal grants, and two received retrofit grants. Meanwhile, Glasgow supported 708 businesses with disposal grants and 411 with retrofit grants.
The information was obtained by North East MSP Liam Kerr.
The Scottish Conservative said:
“Aberdeen’s high street is being slowly forced to its knees by a host of government measures which Aberdeen City Council has gleefully enforced.
“Take your pick of which one is the worst — LEzs, bus gates or crippling business rates — but taken all together, shops and businesses face an existential crisis.
“These figures clearly show that Aberdeen has been allocated the smallest share of the LEZ Support Fund. Legislators have cut and run once the measures were put in place.
“We’re rock bottom of the table with less than 5% of what Glasgow got.
“I want answers on why so few businesses and residents in the city got money.
“Was this promoted enough by the city council, or was the fund just inaccessible to people in Aberdeen?
“Have Glasgow, Edinburgh and even Dundee been better at pointing people in the right direction?
“Both the SNP government and ACC must address this unfair situation for future funding rounds.”
