Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that there are adequate charging facilities for electric vehicles in rural areas.

The Department has committed £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure on motorways and major A roads, in homes and businesses and on-street.

This funding includes the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, available to all UK local authorities to fund public chargepoints for those without access to private parking. More than 105 local authorities have taken advantage of the fund so far, and the Government recently announced the Scheme would continue in to 2021/22 with a budget of £20m.

The Government is also developing proposals for £90m of committed funding for local EV charging infrastructure to support the roll out of larger, on-street charging schemes and rapid hubs in England. Details of the scheme will be announced in due course.

Small businesses and those in leasehold and rented accommodation are set to benefit from up to £50 million to install electric vehicle chargepoints. The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which provides up to £350 towards a chargepoint, will continue in 2021/22 and will be expanded to target people in rented and leasehold accommodation. At the same time, the Workplace Charging Scheme will be opened up to small to medium enterprises and the charity sector, providing a boost as staff return to work. The changes will also mean that small accommodation businesses, such as B&Bs can benefit from the funding, boosting rural areas, and tackling ‘range anxiety’ associated with long journeys.