Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have removed the
requirement for there to be an electric vehicle charge point in
all existing non-residential properties with more than 20 parking
spaces; and what assessment they have made of the implications of
this change for their net zero target.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, we believe that a more ambitious and tailored approach
is needed for existing non-residential car parks. We have already
progressed this policy and are currently analysing feedback from
a further consultation on the future of transport regulatory
review. The noble Lord asks why proposals have been removed. I am
unclear as to where he feels they have been removed from.
(Lab)
My Lords, I got this information from the Government’s
Consultation Response: EV Charge Points in Residential and
Non-residential Buildings, dated November 2021. The executive
summary says:
“The Government will not introduce the proposed requirement for
one charge point in all existing non-residential properties with
more than 20 parking spaces.”
To me, that means that they have cancelled the need to put
charging points in existing car parks. Maybe they do not think
charging points are necessary; maybe we do not need electric
cars. It is a bit of a confusing policy.
(Con)
I understand why the noble Lord might have been a little confused
by that sentence. It is not the case that we are not going to do
it at all; rather, we are not going to do that specific proposal.
The feedback we received from our original consultation back in
2019 suggested that the proposals were not ambitious enough and
that details on the implementation and the impact were unclear.
We agreed that perhaps we could be more ambitious. That is why we
consulted again on the future of transport regulatory review,
which closed on 22 November. It sought further views on this
topic. Proposals in this area are absolutely still under
consideration; we just want them to be as ambitious as
possible.
(Con)
My Lords, sequentially over the past 10 years, I have been the
owner of two hybrid cars but I am anxious to buy an all-electric
car. I have yet to find one that can get to and from my home in
Wiltshire without having to be recharged. What plans do the
Government have for installing electric charge points within the
Palace of Westminster and particularly Royal Court?
(Con)
Oh, my Lords. I am well aware that several noble Lords have
repeatedly requested EV charging facilities at your Lordships’
House. The Government clearly cannot direct the powers that be in
your Lordships’ House to install a charging point, but this
member of the Government is disappointed by the lack of
leadership.
(CB)
My Lords, public charge points often do not work. There is a
multiplicity of apps and payment methods; tariffs can be opaque.
Does the Minister accept that EV charging needs to be as seamless
as buying petrol? Will she accept that the Government must
urgently bring much-needed order to our chaotic public charging
system?
(Con)
I do not quite accept that the system is chaotic. It is
definitely growing and it is incredibly innovative, but that is
why the Government consulted on things such as opening up public
charge point data; improving the reliability about which the
noble Lord speaks; streamlining payment methods, which is
incredibly important; and increasing price transparency, so that
people know how much they are going to be charged. We will
publish the response to this consultation very soon, and we will
lay legislation this year.
(LD)
My Lords, only last Saturday, I was standing in a car park trying
to download yet another app, only to discover that the EV charger
was not working—again. Achieving net zero requires all drivers to
switch to EVs, not just those of us with space to install our own
charging points. SMMT figures show that only one new public
charger is being installed for every 52 new electric vehicles
registered, and that ratio has been getting worse. What urgent
plans do the Government have to improve this record and to ensure
that charge points are properly maintained and accessible with an
ordinary credit or debit card?
(Con)
I will not repeat what I have said about the consultation.
Certainly, payment and reliability will all be parts of our
response to that. The noble Baroness will know that 80% of
charging happens at home; the Government are therefore supporting
people to put in their own chargers at home where they are able
to. For those who are unable to, we are very much focused on
on-street charging near homes and offices, and we are providing
funding for that to happen.
(Con)
My Lords, I discovered to my surprise some time ago that
Westminster did not charge for charging. Is there a system
whereby all local authorities and providers can be organised to
render appropriate charging?
(Con)
I apologise to my noble friend—I was not aware that Westminster
did not charge. That may be an anomaly and not something that can
go on for ever.
(Lab)
How difficult would it be to adapt street lights to be charging
points?
(Con)
The noble Lord is stretching my technical knowledge at this
point. I am sure that those things are being considered.
Obviously, the Government are working closely with the industry
on the design of charging points, because we want to make sure
that they are accessible and do not obstruct the pavement—and we
have seen much innovation in the area.
(CB)
It is good that the Minister acknowledges the problem of
reliability, which is a particular issue on the motorway network.
Does the suite of her responses include increasing fines for
companies when their charge points are out, which is all too
common? They need a greater incentive to comply.
(Con)
That, of course, is a very serious consideration: we need to make
sure that companies do not just stick up a charge point and then
leave it there unmaintained and, therefore, unreliable. We will
be considering all options as we respond to the consultation.
(GP)
The Minister has mentioned on-street parking and not on-pavement
parking. Is any advice given to councils, because an awful lot of
them put the chargers on pavements, which obviously makes life
harder for pedestrians?
(Con)
The noble Baroness raises a very important point. I do not know
what guidance exists on the siting of EV chargers. I shall take
that back to the department and write to the noble Baroness.
(Con)
My Lords, further to the question from my noble friend about these premises being
non-residential and having at least 20 car parking spaces, I
realise the difficulties, but I wonder—particularly given that,
as the Minister will know, we are a little hard up at this
end—whether in her beneficence she might be able to ask her
department to assist with the financing of the necessary chargers
for their Lordships.
(Con)
I would be a little cautious about that. It may look as though
the Government were feathering the nest of Parliament, and I do
not think that would be a good idea.
(Lab)
The Competition and Markets Authority reported last July and
urged the Government to intervene in the electric car charger
market to prevent what it described as “charging deserts” and
increase availability in locations outside London that remain
underserved. As I understand it, across the UK there are huge
regional inequalities in the number of available charging points.
In London, there are 80 charging devices per 100,000 people, but
in Yorkshire, for example, there are fewer than 20 per 100,000.
What steps are the Government taking to support new charging
points in areas that are currently lacking? If the answer is “not
very much”, it just shows that the Government’s levelling-up
slogan is just that—a slogan—and no more.
(Con)
The Government encourage every local authority to look at its
local needs. We have a fund of £20 million per year to which 135
local authorities have already applied. That fund is there to put
chargers in local areas where there are fewer publicly available
chargers and there will be a local EV infrastructure fund
launching soon.
(CB)
Will the Minister return to the argument of the noble Lord,
, that this is a retrograde
step? If we are talking about levelling up, we need to level up
the relationship between the electric motor and the petrol
engine. Will she tell us again why what the noble Lord, , says is happening and why
she is saying it is not happening?
(Con)
It is happening; it is just not happening yet, because the
original proposal—
Noble Lords
Oh!
It will be happening! The original proposal, we felt, was not
good enough; indeed, stakeholders agreed it was not good enough,
so there will be proposals for existing non-residential car
parks. We will consider carefully how we can make those as
ambitious as possible and make sure they have the impact we want
to see.
