Transport Secretary Mark Harper has told Mayor of London Sadiq Khan there is no “legal barrier” to cars being donated to Ukraine through the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) scrappage scheme.
Mr Khan asked the Cabinet minister in December to enable 4x4s and other suitable vehicles that would otherwise be scrapped to be sent to Ukraine.
The mayor had previously made it clear he did not believe altering the Ulez scheme for exporting vehicles would be possible under current laws.
Mr Harper wrote a letter to Mr Khan on Wednesday which stated: “We do not consider there to be any legal barrier to allowing vehicles to be donated to Ukraine.
“You have identified legal obstacles that relate to the processes and design of your scheme and DfT (Department for Transport) and DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) officials have been working with TfL (Transport for London) to identify routes to overcome these.”
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reportedly wrote to his London counterpart to suggest donating vehicles as part of the scrappage scheme to assist with Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.