Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points in towns and cities throughout the UK.

The Government’s vision is to have one of the best electric vehicle infrastructure networks in the world. This means current and prospective electric vehicle drivers being able to easily locate and access chargepoints that are affordable and secure.

The Government has a number of different grant schemes to support infrastructure roll-out including the Government’s £4.5 million On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme which assists local authorities with the installation of chargepoints in residential areas. Motorists and businesses can receive grants for chargepoint installation through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme and the Workplace Chargepoint Scheme. Government is investing £20 million to deliver dedicated chargepoints for electric taxis and £14.2 million for bus recharging and refuelling under the Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme.

The Government is also providing £40m through the Go Ultra Low City scheme which will see infrastructure installed in Bristol, London, Milton Keynes Nottingham Dundee, Oxford, York and the North East region and the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund is made up of £200m new Government investment matched by £200m private investors and will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure.