Just five councils sign up for electric car grants

Government’s ‘revolutionary’ £1.5m funding scheme falls flat

A GOVERNMENT attempt to start an electric car revolution by offering councils funding to install vehicle charging points has fallen flat after just five local authorities applied for the cash.

Ministers invited councils to bid for part of a £1.5million fund in 2017-18 but interest from town halls has been “extremely disappointing”.

Just £150,000 has been allocated so far with two councils – Portsmouth, and Kensington and Chelsea – successful in their bids and three other applications still being assessed.

The money that has been handed out is only enough to deliver around 110 charge points and bidding for the £1.5million is no longer open which means much of the funding is likely to be handed back to the Treasury.

The Government is now urging councils to bid for a slice of a new £4.5 million fund which has been set aside for 2018-19 and 201920.

Councils have blamed the poor take up on the fact that the funding can only be used to pay for 75 per cent of the cost of buying and installing a charge point. They claim that Whitehall cuts to overall local government funding have left them cash-strapped and unable to find the remaining 25 per cent.

The lack of applications represents an embarrassing blow to the Government’s plans to boost the use of electric vehicles as it pursues its target of ending the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars by 2040.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England and Wales, said town halls are “keen to embrace emerging transport technology”.

However, Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’S transport spokesman, said councils “cannot take on the role of replacing petrol stations”. He said: “Any new responsibilities to ensure there is sufficient electric car charging infrastructure must be matched with adequate funding. Long term this must be a role for the private sector.

“Councils have many competing priorities and statutory responsibilities, including dealing with the rise in demand for children’s and adult social care, or tackling the £12 billion national backlog of road repairs. At the same time, local authorities have experienced significant cuts to their budgets, and face an overall funding gap of £5.8billion by 2020.”

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said a lack of charging points was one of the main reasons cited by drivers for not buying an electric car.

Jesse Norman, transport minister, and Claire Perry, business minister, have written to councils urging them to apply to the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. Mr Norman said: “We are in the early stages of an electric revolution in the UK transport sector, and connectivity is at its heart.

“Millions of homes in the UK do not have off-street parking, so this funding is important to help local councils ensure that all their residents can take advantage of this revolution.”