DFT REVIEWS TRANSPORTENERGY GRANT PROGRAMMES
21 December 2004 - DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

The Department for Transport announced today that it will be revising its TransportEnergy grant programmes which are designed to incentivise the development and market uptake of clean, low emission vehicles.

Following a recent consultation, the grant programmes will be reconsidered as the Government plans to move to a technology neutral approach - that would incentivise the cleanest cars regardless of the
technology or fuel type. The Government will also adjust the
programmes to ensure they comply with European rules on state aid.

The state aid rules limit the amount of grant that Member States can offer for environmental initiatives. In some cases this will mean that future grants will need to be reduced to ensure the grants
allocated do not exceed permitted levels. However, overall funding
for the grant programmes remains at planned levels, enabling more grants to be allocated to more interested parties.

The timescale for introduction of the new programmes will be dependent on the process of reviewing and clearing new programmes with the European Commission. In the interim, the Department will honour all grant offer letters under the PowerShift and CleanUp
programmes until 31st March 2005.

Minister for Transport, David Jamieson said:

''The Government''s commitment to supporting the use of cleaner vehicles in the UK is undiminished. The TransportEnergy programmes will continue and funding remains at £24 million for the coming year. However, these changes cannot be avoided as we must ensure programmes are working correctly and comply with the rules.

''As our recent consultation showed, transport energy grant programmes are popular and have a role in kickstarting the market for clean vehicles using new technologies and fuels. We plan to get new programmes in place in the first half of 2005, and will make the
transition to the new programmes as smooth as possible.''

www.dft.gov.uk

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