Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to ensure that the roll-out of charging stations for electric vehicles is spread evenly across all regions and parts of the UK.

The Government is supporting an increase in provision of electric vehicle chargepoints as part of its programme for ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs). At Autumn Statement 2016, the Chancellor announced additional funding of £80m for charging infrastructure for the period to 2020 and Government is considering how best to allocate this funding to meet the needs of drivers across the UK and deliver value for money.

Alongside this, Highways England has £15m to expand the existing rapid chargepoint network to ensure that across 95 per cent of the strategic road network there will be a chargepoint at least every 20 miles.

In addition, the Government is proposing to take forward powers under the forthcoming Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill that will enable the Government to require Motorway Service Areas, and large fuel retailers to install sufficient provision of electric vehicle chargepoints.

Additional grant funding is also available UK-wide to support the installation of chargepoints at workplaces, at homes, and on residential streets. Further detail of how to apply is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles