The Committee considered a joint report by the Head of Place and Senior Regeneration Officer (circulated previously) regarding “nil cost” electric vehicle charging solutions.

The Senior Regeneration Officer highlighted the following:

·         On 6 January 2020, the Committee resolved that the Parking Manager investigate “nil cost” alternative Electric Vehicle charging solutions to the DELETTI agreement.

·         Suppliers of rapid chargers were requesting lease arrangements of 7-20 years.  Parking Services have therefore chosen car parks which they do not envisage a future change of use.  19 car parks had been identified and put forward as detailed in Appendix B.

In response to questions, the Senior Regeneration Officer advised the following:

·         The list of car parks would be put forward to the supplier and they would then undertake a desk top survey.  They would take into account the amount of electricity that could be supplied to the site.  Therefore, chargers would not be necessarily installed in all of the car parks put forward and some would be ruled out.

·         Only rapid chargers would be installed which would take 30-60 minutes.  Other solutions for fast and slower charges would be investigated further in the future.

·         If the Council selected a profit share scheme, the supplier would receive the net profit and the Council would receive a share of the profit or rent.

·         All costs would be met by the supplier and the Council would not incur any costs.  The Council might experience a slight decrease in car park income.

·         The Council would use the DELETTI contract and could include a requirement to remove infrastructure at the end of the contract.

·         The Parking Service had requested that a maximum of one charger is included within each car park.

·         As the suppliers are private investors, there was a limit to how many chargers they could provide.  However some suppliers had advised that they would provide additional chargers if there was demand.

The Head of Place advised that the Climate Action Team could consider the provision of electric charging solutions in other areas and how to include this within planning policies.

In response to a question, the Head of Resources advised that the Council had not yet paid the £12,000 to Devon County Council as part of the collaboration agreement.  He would confirm the position and report back to Members.

The Project, Procurement and Open Space Officer advised that live competitive tenders could not be reported to a formal meeting of the  Committee.