Agenda item

The Chairman briefly introduced the item highlighting that it was the first of three witness sessions composing the information gathering phase of the Committee’s review into electric vehicles (EVs), EV infrastructure and future policy direction. The Democratic Services Officer then introduced the information report in front of Members as a brief research report outlining the national and local context for the current state of EV’s and EV infrastructure.

Poonam Pathak, Interim Head of Highways, was present as the first witness for the review and noted that officers were working closely with the Cabinet Member for Public Safety and Transport in the development of an EV strategy, which would be informed by the Committee’s review. It was highlighted that a key objective of any strategy would be to assist in achieving the carbon reduction targets set by the Council. The Committee were informed that officers had undertaken a soft market test with regard to publicly available EV charging point provision to understand the funding available in this area, specifically the 75% grant from central government under the ORCS funding (On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme) whereby only 25% of costs would be incurred by the Council. Additionally, officers had liaised with other London Boroughs to recognise the experiences and challenges faced when approaching the delivery of EV charging infrastructure; Members concurred that the prospective provision of EV infrastructure would be a challenge for all local authorities, specifically Hillingdon as the London Borough with the highest ratio of car ownership amongst residents.

It was highlighted that the Council currently had 11 sites in the Borough where publicly available EV charging was available, these 11 sites hosted over 30 charge points. The Committee were informed that these charge points were outdated and some were not in a good working condition. Officers planned to replace these charge points with updated models to suit modern EVs and to identify new locations in the Borough where there may be a demand for publicly available EV charge points, examples included Council operated car parks and housing estates. A tender exercise was currently being undertaken for the provision of these charge points. Members were interested in the distribution of charge points across the Borough as it would be key to the success of any prospective delivery of publicly available charging points; a Member highlighted that there was a grouping of charge points around Heathrow Airport in the south of the Borough leaving the rest of the Borough with less provision currently. Officers stated that decisions regarding the location of new charge points would be data led by demand.

The Committee queried what procurement frameworks were available and had been explored by officers with regard to EV charge point procurement. Members were informed that officers had explored numerous frameworks including Kent County Council, Transport for London and Crown Commercial Service procurement frameworks to engage with EV charging suppliers, including fully funded options with zero cost to the Council for the installation and maintenance of public charging points.

With regard to public demand for EV charge points, it was noted that currently there was not a significant demand or increase in demand however, an increase was expected over the coming years; it was highlighted that most charging would be expected to take place at an individual’s residence. The Committee requested information on exactly how much demand was coming from residents.

Members noted that roughly one third of households in Hillingdon did not have off-street parking, notably those in terraced and flatted developments. The Committee sought to understand the rough distribution of households without off-street parking around the Borough. The Committee discussed the future of petrol stations and highlighted that many of the larger companies already had plans in place to convert stations to EV charging only which would play a large part in facilitating the transition to EVs.

Members highlighted that the report showed Hillingdon to be in the top 20% of local authority areas in the country for the number of EV charge points per 100 thousand people, specifically that the number did not reflect charge points that are publicly available and therefore was not truly representative from a public perspective. It was noted that the figures included charge points installed privately by workplaces in the Borough which were available to employees of the particular workplace but not the wider public.

The Committee also highlighted that, although the map of charge points provided in the report was useful for providing a context of the density of charge points in West London and areas adjacent to Hillingdon, its scope was too wide and it lacked clarity on the availability within the Borough itself.

With regard to planning policies, and to the give the Committee a clearer picture of the requirements upon private developers relating to the provision of EV charging infrastructure, the Committee were minded to invite a representative from the Council’s Planning Department to attend a future meeting as a witness. It was briefly noted that central government were introducing policies requiring all new developments to feature EV charging provision. Members raised concerns that developers may install cheaper EV charging units which deliver lower levels of power and therefore require longer charge times, creating charging pressures where multiple residents require access to the development’s charging infrastructure. This was highlighted as becoming a potential problem as more residents transition towards EVs. With regard to future witnesses for the Committee’s review, it was highlighted that prospective witnesses would be discussed through the Chairman with Democratic Services and that the Committee would be notified of who the witnesses were ahead of each session.

The Committee also discussed the fact that the provision of EV charge points was not a statutory requirement placed upon local authorities, however it was noted that this could change in the future. With regard to the Council’s obligations, it was highlighted that the Council should be doing what it can to support the transition to EVs but the Council did not currently provide petrol stations or other such utilities, for example internet provision.

RESOLVED That the Committee noted the contents of the report and used the first session of the review to enquire as to the Council’s existing stance on Electric Vehicles and EV Infrastructure.