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
- Planning
- Which authority does what
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, 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, and if you live in Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure is your highway authority.
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. In England and Wales, 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.
Planning
While many public chargepoints and private chargepoints are permitted development, the local planning authority will be involved where any planning application takes place.
This is most likely to be the case if you live in a listed building or you are seeking to install a pavement channel.
Which authority does what
Bear with us as we do our best to avoid confusion in a very complicated system. It might be easiest to put your postcode straight in at the top of the page to see how things work in your local authority rather than understand all the arrangements across the country! Gov.uk has got more general information on two-tier authorities and unitary areas.
| 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, Department for Infrastructure in NI, 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 and a Northern Ireland consortium 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 | |||
| Planning | Yes in two-tier areas | Yes in unitary areas |
Things can get more 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.
The award for most complicated EV arrangements goes to South Holland District in Lincolnshire: Two different ORCS authorities (one bid joint with former partners Breckland District in Norfolk and one solo bid); two different LEVI consortia (First Midlands Connect for the pilot and Third Midlands Connect for LEVI proper); one highway authority in Lincolnshire County Council; and a separate Pavement Channel Grant recipient - the new Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority.
Local government reorganisation will mean new authorities again in 2027 and 2028!
Parish and town councils do not have their own pages on EVinfrastructure.co.uk, but their ORCS bids have been summed across lower-tier authority areas and included in those authorities' pages.