Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published 31 March 2022, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the On Street Residential Chargepoint Grant.

As of 1 April 2023, the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) has funded 4,235 public charging devices, installed across local authorities in the UK since the scheme started in 2017. Funding has also been awarded for an additional 13,986 ORCS charging devices.

The effectiveness of the grant is considered as part of annual changes made to the scheme. This takes account of the latest progress in charging, geographical spread of devices and wider market developments. For example, the proportion of funding provided under ORCS has been reduced from 75% to 50% over time.

This year, ORCS has been adapted to focus on smaller chargepoint projects, which will plug gaps in charging coverage and maintain installation momentum while local authorities apply to the larger Local EV Infrastructure Fund.