Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities on (a) improving the availability of electric car charging points and (b) funding for those charging points.

In 2018 Office for Low Emission Vehicle Ministers wrote to Local Authority leaders encouraging them to support the uptake of electric vehicles and apply to the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. This scheme provides grant funding to Local Authorities to install chargepoints at on-street locations for residents that lack off-street parking. Ministers also announced a further £4.5m for the scheme (£2m for 18/19 and £2.5m for 19/20). In addition, OLEV and the Energy Savings Trust have hosted a series of on-street charging workshops providing over 200 Local Authorities with more information on the scheme. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles have regular discussion with Local Authorities on recharging infrastructure.

We have also provided £40m to eight Go Ultra Low Cities, around £20 million for dedicated taxi infrastructure and recently announced over £12.5 million for bus recharging infrastructure under the ultra low emission bus scheme.