Conservative plans for Electric Vehicles in Dacorum "stuck on charge"

Fast? Rapid? Ultra Rapid? Try "Slow".

Conservative plans to grow provision for Electric Vehicles in Dacorum are stuck on a faulty-charge Liberal Democrat scrutiny reveals that while the number of public Electric Vehicle Charging Points in the UK has increased by over one-third (37%) since January 2021, the number of new public devices installed in Dacorum in the same period stands at ZERO, nothing has changed in a year - stuck on charging.

The Conservative under-achievement on installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Points in Dacorum was slammed by Councillors at the meeting of the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 8 March, Councillor Sally Symington, Opposition Spokesperson for Corporate and Contracted Services, proposed the Council undertake as a matter of urgency a commercial procurement exercise across Dacorum car parks in the next two months.

The amendment was voted down by the built-in Conservative majority. Following the vote, Councillor Symington said, "The Conservatives at DBC are failing residents by putting the brakes on installing EV charging points in public car parks. As well as deterring consumers from switching to more sustainable transport, this foot-dragging also runs counter to their own policy on accelerating EVPCs as stated recently by The Executive Member for Highways at Herts County Council."

A report brought to the meeting of Dacorum Borough Council's Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, on 8 March at the request of the Liberal Democrats, showed no progress had been made in the last year.

Liberal Democrats, who need just seven gains next year to take control at Dacorum, expressed shock and disappointment that the Conservatives voted against speeding up the installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCPs) in Dacorum owned car parks. This has followed closely behind the Conservative refusal at Council last month of the Liberal Democrat budget amendment which nominated funding for EV problem-solving.

At 14 per 100,000 of population, Dacorum has just one third of the UK average availability of Council-provided EV Charging Points, which is just 2% of the numbers needed by 2030.