Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the acting deputy chief executive – transformation and operations. 

Cabinet considered the report of the acting deputy chief executive – transformation and operations.  This set out a draft strategy to provide the infrastructure for electric vehicles to 2025.  This was an Oxfordshire-wide strategy that was being presented to all principal councils for adoption. 

The strategy’s objectives were to:

·           enable and deliver public electric vehicle charging strategically across Oxfordshire

·           adopt a common approach to managing electric vehicle charging in the council’s car parks

·           enable residents without access to private off-road parking to access a range of options for electric vehicle charging

·           encourage new developments to install high quality electric vehicle charging infrastructure

·           set standards for the quality of public electric vehicle charging in Oxfordshire to support development of a network, which was high quality, open, accessible and future-proofed

·           work with partners to encourage other landowners to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure for businesses, residents and other users.

Cabinet thanked Councillor Caroline Newton, the council’s representative on the Oxfordshire-wide member steering group, for her work and influence on this strategy. 

The options open to Cabinet were to either adopt or not adopt the strategy.  Cabinet believed that if it did not adopt the Oxfordshire strategy, the council could develop an alternative strategy to address the needs of South Oxfordshire.  However, Cabinet considered this was a much wider issue.  There were greater benefits of adopting a county-wide strategy, such as sharing of expertise and learning in introducing an electric vehicle infrastructure, greater access to external funding opportunities, economies of scale in working with others, and increased viability to engage with the private sector.  Adopting the Oxfordshire strategy also supported the council’s carbon neutral corporate objective to tackle the climate emergency. 

Although the strategy was a step in the right direction to promote greener travel, Cabinet did not consider that electric vehicles were the panacea.  There were environmental concerns over the production of batteries used to power electric vehicles.  The materials used to manufacture batteries were sometimes mined from beneath the ocean floor, potentially causing environmental damage that would be difficult to monitor.  The council should support measures to reduce the negative environmental impacts of electric vehicle battery production through, for example, responding to any relevant government consultations and backing research and innovation in new, less damaging technologies.  The strategy would need to adapt to developing technology. 

Cabinet also considered that the strategy needed to work on supporting electric buses and bicycles, with the aim of reducing reliance on cars.  This in turn would reduce traffic congestion. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)      adopt the recommended policies and key actions for the Oxfordshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (2020-2025); and

(b)      support measures to reduce the negative environmental impacts of electric vehicle battery production, through for example, responding to any relevant government consultations and backing research and innovation in new technologies.