Local Government and EVI
Contents
- Contracts with chargepoint operators, spending grants, and deciding on sites
- Cables across pavements, cable covers and cross-pavement channels
- Authorisation of chargepoints on the public highway
Contracts with chargepoint operators, spending grants, and deciding on sites
It may be the government providing capital through schemes like ORCS and LEVI, however the chargepoint operators who run public chargepoints with this funding are appointed by local councils. You can see an example of a tender process for a LEVI contract with Brighton and Hove City Council here.
In some areas, different levels of local government may take on different programmes. For example, the body running the LEVI programme could be a combined authority like the West Midlands Combined Authority, while ORCS could have been funded by your metropolitan district council.
Enter your postcode above to see how much your local authority has received from the government, whether they have appointed a chargepoint operator and how many chargepoints they have installed with funding.
Cables across pavements, cable covers and cross-pavement channels
Your highway authority is responsible for:
- Deciding whether you can trail a charging cable over the pavement outside your house (usually no, though some permit this with cable protectors)
- Pursuing enforcement action against you if you do so
- Deciding whether you can install a cross-pavement channel, and in many cases assessing your application and commissioning the installation of your cross-pavement channel
In Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and many parts of England, your highway authority is your local council. However, if you live in a two-tier authority, your highway authority is your county council.
Authorisation of chargepoints on the public highway
In short, it is also up to highway authorities to manage installations on the highway regardless of the source of funding.
Chargepoint operators do not have the same statutory right to operate on the highway as utility companies working on water, gas and mains electricity networks. They usually apply to the local highway authority under Section 50 of the New Roads and Streets Act. However, the government has sought to change this method of approval.
Which authority does what
| Town or parish council | District council | Highway authority | Combined authority or partnership | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Only in rural areas | Only in two-tier areas | County council in two-tier areas, otherwise your local council | Common in metropolitan areas, but don't exist everywhere | |
| ORCS and chargers in council car parks | Possible | Possible | Possible | (Possible but only Tees Valley CA applied) |
| LEVI (England), EVIF (Scotland), ULEVTF (Wales) | Yes, unless there is a combined authority or partnership above | Yes | ||
| Cables across pavements, cable covers and cross-pavement channels | Yes - although Pavement Channel Grant may be allocated to combined authority | Pavement Channel Grant may be allocated to combined authority | ||
| Authorisation of chargepoints on the public highway | Yes |
Things can get complicated when it comes to partnerships for spending the LEVI grant (or the LEVI pilot) and the award of Pavement Channel Grants to combined authorities.
There are a few authorities in the Midlands such as Boston, for which five different organisiations have been responsible for various parts of EV infrastructure: the borough council spent ORCS funds; Lincolnshire County Council are the highway authority; Lincolnshire entered the LEVI Pilot under the First Midlands Connect Consortium, then joined the Third Midlands Connect Consortium for LEVI proper; the Pavement Channel Grant has been assigned to the new Greater Lincolnshire combined authority.
Local government reorganisation will mean new authorities again in 2027 and 2028!
We have not included parish and town councils in our specific local authority pages, because they are so numerous and their involvement in EVI is generally minimal.