Stephen Morgan MP has welcomed the news the city has been awarded £3,682,000 in LEVI capital funding to support charging infrastructure, after raising concerns with ‘frustratingly slow’ progress.
It follows months of chaos for many motorists in Portsmouth and local families, which saw all 98 of Portsmouth’s electric vehicle charging points out of action, with no date specified by Portsmouth City Council on when they will all be back in use.
The City MP wants to ensure the additional funding significantly scales up delivery of charge points and helps residents without off-street parking switch to electric vehicles.
He has been calling on the Government to take greater action to support drivers in Portsmouth and across the country transitioning to electric vehicles, who face challenges with the availability and speed of charging points.
As well as taking action in Parliament on these issues, Mr Morgan has hosted a roundtable with constituents on electric vehicle use, to hear concerns from local residents about the availability and speed of charging points across the city and to take ideas and concerns back to decision-makers.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
”I welcome the news that our city will receive additional funding to ramp up efforts to improve electric vehicle charging infrastructure, following frustratingly slow progress.
“Drivers wanting to benefit from the advantages of electric vehicles in Portsmouth so far have not been given the support or infrastructure they need.
“Under a Labour Government, this will not be tolerated. Labour’s plan to turbocharge electric vehicle manufacturing will accelerate the roll-out of charging points and give confidence to motorists to make the switch with binding targets for electric vehicle chargers.”
Labour’s plan includes:
- New charging targets, like carbon budgets to be binding on the government itself, who should assume overall accountability but delegate responsibility – tied to funding – to regional and local.
- The target will hold government to account and provide long-term signals and direction for public-private investment.
- Binding targets will give consumers certainty and confidence to switch to ZEVs, and give local areas the support and investment they need to do it.
