Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what public funding is available in Somerset to support the expansion of the electric vehicle charging network.

The Government is accelerating the rollout of public EV charging infrastructure across the country by providing funding through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund and the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF).

Two local authorities in Somerset have already received funding from the ORCS scheme:

• West Somerset and Taunton Council have received £136,000.
• Mendip District Council have received £322,500.

Other local authorities in this region are still able to apply to this fund.

The LEVI fund will support local authorities to work with industry and transform the availability of charging infrastructure for drivers without off-street parking. The RCF will future-proof the electrical capacity at strategic locations to support ultra-rapid charging on route.

OZEV also offers a range of grants to support home, workplace and destination charging. This includes the EV Chargepoint Grant for owner occupiers of flats, renters and landlords, as well as for businesses through the Workplace Charging Scheme.