Agenda item

A report was submitted which provided an update on progress in developing the South Yorkshire Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Programme in response to matter raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee was reminded that the MCA was successful in securing £1.85m from the government’s Get Building Fund for the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging points (EVCP) and associated infrastructure across South Yorkshire.

The MCA had worked in partnership with the four South Yorkshire Local Authorities and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive to develop an initial programme focused on public car parks.

Following the development and funding approval of the business case by the MCA, an open procurement process was undertaken, and it was hoped to appoint a preferred single supplier shortly.

The procurement of a single supplier was providing a single consistent product and operational and maintenance approach across the region’s MCA/SYPTE and local authority car parks; this had enabled the programme to benefit from economies of scale.

An initial list of priority public car parks had been agreed.  It was noted that the initial funding could provide up to 140 EVCP devices, providing up to 280 EVCP connections.  The contract would allow the programme to be scaled-up should further funding become available.

In addition to the £1.85m of funding secured by the MCA for the initial phase of the programme, some additional funding (to be confirmed) was being proposed by the Transport Operations Team to increase outputs on some car parks.  Local authorities were also considering whether further funding could be available to support the provision of additional charge points on some of their car parks in the first phase.

It was noted that the government was expected to publish its Electricity Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy in summer 2022 and was likely to be accompanied by additional funding, although no further information on the funding stream was available at the moment.

DfT data showed that South Yorkshire’s EVCP provision was lagging behind the national average, although in terms of neighbouring MCA areas, South Yorkshire measured higher per capita than Greater Manchester and was comparable to West Yorkshire.  As at October 2021 South Yorkshire had 21 charge points per 100,000 population against a national average of 39.

A graph within the report showed that investment in EVCP’s in South Yorkshire had grown consistently over time but had not kept pace with the national average which meant that the gap was growing.

The EVCP programme would address this in the short-term but further investment would be required to significantly close the EVCP infrastructure gap in relation to the England average.

The Committee discussed logistical issues, such as homes with no off-street parking, noting that further technological developments would be needed in this area.

The role of the private sector was also discussed, for example supermarkets and fuel companies and it was recognised that this would be linked to demand.  The Committee felt that it would be helpful if the government were to provide incentives for drivers to purchase electric vehicles as at present the vehicles were very expensive.

It was noted that the power to the EVCPs would be provided by the National Grid, the Committee discussed the possibility of using green energy to provide power in the future.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

i)         Note the existing Electric Vehicle Chargepoint infrastructure provision in South Yorkshire.

ii)        Note the progress in developing and delivering the South Yorkshire      Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Programme to enhance provision on         South Yorkshire.