More funding for on-street EV charging points

More electric vehicle (EV) charging points are to be installed across Bradford after an extra £75,000 of funding was awarded.

Originally due to receive £282,000 to create scores of new EV points, a report to West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) revealed this has now increased to £357,881 for the district.

The additional money has come from a regional scheme to bring charging points to areas where few households have access to off-street parking.

The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Capability Scheme will put the bulk of its extra funding to five council areas in West Yorkshire - Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Wakefield and Kirklees.

The LEVI scheme was set up to "prioritise high-density housing areas without off-street parking" to allow more people to switch to electric vehicles.

Originally the scheme would have used £1,502,709 of government money.

But the report to WYCA said government had now awarded an additional £539,560.

Bradford Council's budget has gone up to £357,881, Calderdale Council's is up to £347,217, Kirklees Council is up to £332,903, Leeds City Council is up to £305,848 and Wakefield Council is up to £342,634.

The report said: "Due to the success of the Phase 1 procurement, the number of charging points the scheme will deliver has increased from 232 to 716.

"This is as a result of the procured supplier offering a 58 per cent private sector contribution to the scheme costs, which was significantly higher than the 38 per cent anticipated following market testing prior to procurement."

Members have also voted to extend the time frame to deliver the new charging points from June 2026 to April 2028.

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