Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI)

That the Divisional
Director for Planning, Housing and Climate Emergency, be given
delegated authority to award the concession contract and associated
land agreements, to be undertaken in accordance with advice and
guidance provided by the Devon County Council procurement team and
Torbay Council’s Commercial and Legal Services for delivery
of the programme up to the value of the capital grant funding
awarded.

To progress the
spending and meet our obligations and conditions of the grant
funding, it is necessary to delivery on the commitment to
delivering Electric Vehicle Infrastructure to support the
transition to electric vehicles.  To
achieve the delivery of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure there
was a need to award concession contracts and in certain
circumstances land agreements.

Not to approve
delegated authority to award the contract, this option was
discounted as it would slow down progress and result in a
complicated governance process with separate contracts for each lot
utilised and land agreements for sites as necessary.  Devon County Council would continue with their
elements, though there would be some risk associated with that
should Torbay Council at a later date,
not award the contract.

Not to award the
contract(s), the Council would likely be required to return the
funding to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and some of the
LEVI revenue funding awarded to support capacity alongside may also
be clawed back.

The Council could
choose to re-run a procurement process separate from Devon, but
this would compromise the Devon led procurement to date and likely
result in less positive value for money outcome.  Furthermore, this would slow the adoption of
electric vehicles and not provide the support to the community to
help in the transition, providing choice about travel and making it
harder to meet national and local climate commitments.

This decision will
come into force and may be implemented on 31 March 2025 unless the
call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in the Standing Orders
in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).

The Local Transport
Plan Action Plan 2021-2026, set out a commitment to delivering
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure to support the transition to
electric vehicles.  Whilst the Council
are delivering a programme of rapid chargepoints within car parks
against an existing concession contract and land agreements,
electric vehicle infrastructure delivery was not keeping pace with
the changing vehicle markets and those without home charging
capacity were at risk of being disadvantaged.

Torbay Council had
been awarded £958,000 of Capital Government funding to
support accelerated delivery of Electric Charging Infrastructure,
delivering against the evidence base strategy which shows a need
for around 650-1000 publicly available chargers within the next
5-10 years across Torbay.  This funding
was through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI)
Fund.

There were four
contracts available providing a range of chargepoints and each
would be accompanied by a concession contract and those that
require it would also include a lease agreement.

At the meeting,
Councillor Billings proposed and Councillor Jackie Thomas seconded
a motion, which was agreed unanimously by the Cabinet, as set out
above.