The anti-scrappage scheme

After yesterday's angry post about the damage caused by the scrappage scheme, I started thinking about a way to make amends so here I present my anti-scrappage scheme that rewards drivers for keeping their old cars on the road. After all, continuing to run an older car that was built over a decade ago and has long since had the environmental damage caused by its manufacture offset has got to be greener than scrapping it and buying a new one.

My proposal is this: anyone who has a car more than ten years old that they have owned for over a year, has a valid MoT and does more than a certain annual mileage (to ensure it is actually used and not just kept roadworthy but idle) is given a £2000 maintenance grant by the government to keep it running, not as cash but in the form of a special bond that can only be spent on vehicle-related purchases. If the car is subsequently scrapped, unless it can be proved to have been beyond economic repair, for instance by an MoT failure certificate or an accident report, all or part of this grant has to be paid back, say the full £2000 if scrapped within a year, gradually decreasing in each subsequent year. Similarly, if the car is sold for further use, a proportion of the bond is transferred to the new owner to ensure the car's continued maintenance and prevent people from misusing the system by buying an old car, running it for a year to claim the grant, then immediately selling it and spending the grant on a new car.

Owners of cars like this should be rewarded for keeping them on the road.

I will admit that I haven't given this a huge amount of thought and there are probably all sorts of unforeseen consequences, not least the potential damage to the new car market, but it was just an idea to reverse the damage done by the scrappage scheme and though impractical it makes a good pipe dream.