Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman was ahead of himself, not for the first time and probably not for the last.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to improve charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

18. What steps he is taking to improve charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Michael Ellis)]

We are consulting on all new build homes in England being fitted with charge points, and we want all new public rapid charge points also to offer pay-as-you-go card payments from the spring of 2020. Our grant schemes and the £400 million charging infrastructure investment fund will see the installation of thousands more public charge points, adding to the 20,000 already installed.

[Peter Aldous]

I am grateful to the Minister of State for that reply. At sea, Lowestoft is at the forefront of the transition to a low-carbon economy—the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being built just off our coast—but the town also wants to be in the driving seat on land. Will the Minister outline the initiatives that have been put in place to ensure that electric vehicle charging infrastructure can be rolled out quickly and early in Lowestoft, and that the work will not just be focused in large cities?

[Michael Ellis]

With my hon. Friend as the Member for Lowestoft, I believe that it is doing very well indeed on land, at sea and in the air. We have to remember that the majority of electric vehicle drivers charge their cars at home overnight or at the workplace. We want people across the country, and especially in Lowestoft, to switch to electric vehicles, and we want to leverage private sector investment to provide a self-sustaining public network that is affordable, reliable and accessible. As my hon. Friend knows, the market is best placed to identify the right locations.