Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices in (a) St Helens Metropolitan Borough, (b) Merseyside and (b) the North West.

Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Government has committed an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). The additional funding will support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on-street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants.

The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is available to all UK local authorities (LAs) to provide public chargepoints for their residents without access to private parking and £20 million is available this financial year under the scheme to ensure more LAs and residents can benefit. Further local authority support is funded by the Department for Transport and administered by Energy Saving Trust, who offer free expert advice and support to LAs throughout the application process.

As of 01 January 2022, local authorities in the North-West of the UK have been awarded over £520,000 through the ORCS, to install 166 chargepoints across the region.

Our new Local EV Charging Infrastructure Fund will facilitate the rollout of larger scale chargepoint infrastructure projects across England for local areas. Details of how local EV charging will be supported will be announced in due course.

The Government’s forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK. The strategy will clearly establish government’s expectations for the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders. LAs have a key role in planning and enabling the delivery of chargepoints to meet the needs of their local communities and areas, with particular focus on supporting those who do not have access to off-street parking.