Petition to halt scrappage schemes for "Historic" vehicles rejected
This topic is the lead article in the latest issue of Classic Car Weekly out today but it seems the situation has moved on as the UK Government Petitions website now shows the petition has been rejected. But it's likely the classic car enthusiasts, classic car magazines and the Federation of British Historic Vehicles Clubs' (FBHVC) for will continue to campaign to encourage car manufacturers to cease running their own car scrappage schemes as part of sales promotions of their new cars.

Petition has been rejected by UK Government website
The petition has been rejected by the Petitions Committee.
Scrappage petition rejected

How do petitions on the UK Government website work?
The Petitions Committee check applications for petition on the UK Government petitions website, then publish it. They only reject petitions that don’t meet the standards for petitions. They review all petitions they publish and select petitions of interest to find out more about the issues raised. The committee has the power to press for action from Government or Parliament.
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Photo credit: Practical Classics

Posted: 180117

What was the petition?
The Make all Historic Vehicles exempt from any scrappage scheme petition submitted to the UK Government petitions website said "British motoring heritage is under threat from both Government and manufacturer backed scrappage schemes. We believe a simple way to avoid losing rare classic cars, particularly examples of family cars from the 1950s, 60s and 70s is to make all Historic Vehicles exempt from any scrappage process." The petition was launched by Practical Classics magazine and submitted on 25th November 2017.
Scrappage petition rejection & Practical Classics

Why was this petition rejected?
The petitions website says the petition is "about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not responsible for. We can't accept your petition because the UK Government and Parliament aren't responsible for the issue you raise. The Government's 2009 vehicle scrappage scheme ended in 2010, and there is currently no Government-backed scrappage scheme. The Government does not have the power to compel private companies to exempt certain cars from scrappage. We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards."

What was behind the recent petition?
A scrappage scheme introduced in the UK in 2009 has seen many classic cars sent for recycling and after 5 years many are sitting on a disused airfields waiting to be scrapped. Now an appeal to prevent cars registered with the DVLA as "Historic" for road tax has gathered more than 4,000 signatures in less than a month. The "Make it illegal for Historic vehicles to be processed through scrappage schemes" petition was launched by the Practical Classics editor in November 2017 following Ford's attempt to scrap a Standard 10 as part of a trade-in scheme. Ford reversed its decision thanks to the support of the Federation of British Historic Vehicles Clubs' (FBHVC) president, Lord Steel (a classic car enthusiast), who called Ford's CEO and was able to get it avoid the crusher. Sir Greg Knight (chairman of the Parliamentary Vehicles Group) says " I would encourage people to sign the petition to show there is a serious body of public opinion who are against scrapping classic cars. I would hope all responsible car manufacturers wouldn't scrap an Historic vehicle, the Standard 10 case showed this wasn't always the case."