Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1. Approve the inclusion of the Rotherham Borough within the regional South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funded programme and Rotherham Council’s role in its procurement and delivery.

2. Delegate authority to the Assistant Director, Property and Facilities Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy and relevant ward members for the approval of any contracts or conditions (including for the use of Council land and property) as well as the delivery, monitoring and site approvals in relation to the SYMCA LEVI Fund.

Consideration was given to the report which provided detail on the proposal that Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council participate in the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund programme. This initiative, supported by Government funding, aimed to accelerate the deployment of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the South Yorkshire region. This would see the identification of Council land and property, both off street and on street, for the provision and installation of EV Chargers.

Based on a concession contract, the Scheme and fund would be procured and managed by SYMCA but the day-to-day management of the contractor/ concessionaire within Rotherham would be the responsibility of the Council to deliver, which included review and identification of Council land and property with the contractor. It was expected that this Scheme would provide between 500 and 1,500 additional charge points throughout Rotherham subject to site suitability and other dependencies.

It was anticipated that the Rotherham Borough would receive approximately 20% (£1.6M) of the allocation in the provision of infrastructure (i.e. not monies given to the Council, but the value of works carried out by the Contractor and funded by SYMCA), subject to final agreement and SYMCA’s retention. The allocation was designed to enable EV Infrastructure (EVI) installations, whilst supporting less commercially attractive locations ahead of demand. A procurement approach was being designed to attract a contractor/ concessionaire for 15 years to deliver the programme at no cost to the Council. The Contractor would also look to directly fund more commercially opportune areas, between 20% – 100% of the programme value, giving a total capital investment value of between £1.9M to £3.2M for the Rotherham Borough.

The aim was to establish broad working principles across a wide range of sites in the initial phase, whilst providing an acceptable level of geographic and Ward coverage and therefore visibility for the programme to promote interest and engagement. This would then lead to an accelerated programme to secure minimum provision across all Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA’s – groups of between 400 and 1,200 households) and meet estimated demand across the borough in the main phase. The concession would then become self-managed by the contractor/concessionaire with little likelihood of further grant support required to finalise installations in the least commercial or feasibly difficult sites. Once grant funding was exhausted the concession would be self-reliant for expansion as demand for charging increased.

An initial one year and five-year plan, with annual refresh, would be provided by the contractor/concessionaire, allowing annual review of progress and expected outcomes. This would be reviewed by Rotherham Council and then agreed. The contractor/concessionaire would be responsible, in collaboration with the delivery Officer(s), for carrying out comprehensive stakeholder consultation and communication exercises. This would also provide an opportunity for councillor consultations to be undertaken. An update would be included as part of the Climate Emergency Annual Cabinet report, looking backwards at the success of delivery and also looking forwards to the future years’ plan.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the inclusion of the Rotherham Borough within the regional South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funded programme and Rotherham Council’s role in its procurement and delivery.

2.    Delegate authority to the Assistant Director, Property and Facilities Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy and relevant ward members for the approval of any contracts or conditions (including for the use of Council land and property) as well as the delivery, monitoring and site approvals in relation to the SYMCA LEVI Fund.