To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether there are plans to develop a pilot scheme for cross pavement charging solutions to enable electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles at home.

Over 80% of houses in the North have access to off street parking. In these situations, charging solutions are already available. However, for those who rely on on-street parking at their homes, home charging solutions are more problematic, primarily due to the issue of the charging cable needing to cross the footway.

My Departmental officials are engaging with colleagues in other jurisdictions to evaluate the benefits of a number of pilot schemes being progressed in relation to cross pavement charging solutions. Engagement is also taking place with key stakeholders and the Office Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) who have recently announced the availability of grants for on street charging solutions.

Guidance for applicants, local councils and Highway Authorities is currently being prepared by OZEV. Once available this will be used to assess if the arrangements for such installations at particular locations can satisfy the conditions of the grant and legislative arrangements contained in the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 where a street works licence is required to allow works to be carried out to facilitate the safe channelling or suspension of a cable. This legislation is in place to protect public health and safety and to address ownership and liability issues.

Currently across the North there are around 540 publicly available charge points provided commercially by a range of Charge Point Operators which allow convenient access to charging for EV owners who are unable to charge their vehicles at home.