Moves to make electric vehicles more accessible to households without driveways are to be looked at by the Government.
Transport minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill told Parliament a consultation would be launched into allowing cross-pavement charge points to be installed under permitted development and so not requiring planning consent.
He also pointed out the fitting of equipment could be streamlined by local authorities using their own highways teams and so avoiding the need for a street works permit, known as a section 50 licence.
The Labour frontbencher said his department would be writing to councils in England “to highlight that this is an important option that should be considered”.
Lord Hendy made his comments in response to calls at Westminster for measures to make it easier for people who do not have off-street parking to switch to an electric vehicle and install the necessary infrastructure so that they can charge from their home with cheaper electricity.
Proposing amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Liberal Democrat Baroness Pidgeon said: “Up to 40% of UK households do not have access to off-street parking. They therefore rely on public charge points, which can cost up to 10 times more than charging at home.”
She added: “Cross-pavement solutions have real potential to help to tackle this challenge, but the current costs of installation can be around £3,000 and it can take 12 to 15 months for a decision from a local authority.
“Only this month in Northern Ireland, residents can now apply for cross-pavement electric vehicle charging channels. Through just a simple online form, residents can apply for the channels that would allow residents with electric vehicles to reduce charging costs there from £25 at a typical charge point to just £3.
“We need to make it as simple and easy to access in the rest of the country too.”
Responding, Lord Hendy told peers the Government had listed to concerns and said: “As such, we will launch a consultation on introducing permitted development in the coming months.
“It is important that a consultation is undertaken to consider the impacts of such a permitted development right and to develop appropriate mitigations should the proposal be taken forward.”
Subject to the outcome of the consultation, Lord Hendy said changes could be made quickly under existing legislation “to simplify cross-pavement charging solutions by granting permitted development rights”.
On the need for street permits, the minister added: “Section 50 licences provide local authorities with the statutory means to supervise and regulate third-party works on public highways, ensuring that standards of safety, quality and responsibility are upheld.
“This oversight is especially important in developing areas such as cross-pavement charging.”
He went on: “While the public charge point market is now relatively mature, with over 86,000 installations in the UK, the cross-pavement solution space remains nascent with just a few hundred installations to date.
“Given this disparity, it is appropriate that Section 50 licences continue to be used for cross-pavement installations.
“As my department intends to consult on expanded permitted development rights, it would also not be appropriate to remove the need for Section 50 licences at this time, as that would remove those key checks and balances for local authorities.”
He went on: “However, a delivery model that is already available to local authorities is to use their own highways teams.
“In doing so, they can already access street works permits to directly install cross-pavement solutions and avoid the need for a Section 50 licence.
“This approach gives local authorities power to make delivery decisions at a local level, while maintaining oversight and the choice of delivery model.
“Having listened to Lady Pidgeon’s concerns, my department will write to local authorities in England to highlight that this is an important option that should be considered.”
The Government went on to later suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of peers demanding steps to make it easier for disabled drivers to use electric vehicle public charging points.
It followed concerns that motorists with a disability were put off making the transition to an electric car because of problems with accessing charging facilities.
The Labour front bench was dealt a further blow as the Lords supported a move aimed at enabling the building of small reservoirs that pose little risk to local communities.
However, a Tory bid to block the Government having the right to compulsorily acquire possession of land to deliver road schemes fell after its proposers failed to appoint tellers for the vote.
In a rare move, the division in the Lords was “negated” midway leading to the Conservative amendment to the Bill being rejected.
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