Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: November 19, 2024

Purpose:

Content: RESOLVED: Cabinet: 1.     Approved the draft West Northamptonshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, as set out in Appendix A. 2.     Authorised procurement of a contract or contracts to deliver electric vehicle infrastructure in line with the intentions of the Strategy.   REASONS RESOLVED: 1.     To set out a clear approach for delivering EV infrastructure across West Northamptonshire. 2.     To support the Council’s goals for a cleaner local and global environment, including improving air quality and contributing to tackling climate change. 3.     To maximise the benefits to local residents from the transition to EVs. 4.     To maximise the opportunity for the Council, and thus residents, to benefit financially from use of the Council’s assets for EV infrastructure.   ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS: 1.     The Council could choose not to adopt the Strategy. However, doing so could pose risk to the LEVI capability funding that has been secured. A key aim of this funding is to support Councils in the effective delivery of EVI strategies. Without adoption of the strategy, the Council risks missing out on vital resources necessary for planning and implementation. 2.     The Council could choose to develop and the manage the infrastructure itself. This will pose significant risks as the Council does not have experience developing and running these schemes. The Council may also be unable to secure the same competitive prices that the CPOs benefit from as the number of chargers to be installed is relatively insignificant compared to the number of chargers the CPOs install every year. Likewise, the Council would either have to borrow to extend the impact of the LEVI delivery grant funding, estimating the likely level of return, or only install the chargers the grant itself would cover. The first of these sub-options appears to expose the Council to significant financial risks in a market it does not know well; the second would limit the availability of chargers and mean the Council did not maximise advantage from the use of its land for charging. 3.     The Council could choose to partner with the private sector to rollout and manage the infrastructure under mutually agreed specifications and conditions defined under a contract. This will enable the Council to implement the Strategy, steer the rollout of the infrastructure and benefit from the private sector experience with installing, running and maintaining electric vehicles chargers. This will also allow the Council to generate income as part of a profit share. This is the approach set out in the Strategy. 4.     Another option is to let the private sector take the lead and respond to our residents need wherever there is a demand. This can cause three issues; the first one is that the Council will have limited control on the development of this infrastructure. Second, the chargers will not be installed to drive the demand up, but they will rather be installed to respond to