Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he is having with the Secretary of State for Transport on providing additional charging facilities for electric vehicles in Wales.

The 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution published in November last year confirmed, among other things, a funding package for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Though this policy area is generally devolved to the Welsh Government, a number of schemes such as the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme, Electric Vehicle Home Charging Scheme and Workplace Charging Scheme apply to Wales. A total of £275m was committed for these schemes.

Investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure is an important part of the UK Government’s plan to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles.

The UK Government has committed to investing £582m in Plug-in Vehicle Grants to incentivise take-up of zero or ultra-low emission vehicles, and nearly £500m to be spent in the next four years on the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries and other strategic technologies as part of its commitment to a £1 billion Automotive Transformation Fund.

The UK Government intends to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and for all cars and vans to be 100% zero emission at the tailpipe from 2035.

The Welsh Government is currently consulting on an electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy.

I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport about a wide range of matters, including the decarbonisation of transport.