The push for electric cars continues apace, with £18m from central government pot earmarked to improve charging infrastructure in Bolton, and West Yorkshire.
Bolton Council is receiving £2.3m to install “at least” 400 chargers by 2027 with the sockets going into areas with “the greatest need”, including neighbourhoods where off-street parking is scarce.
The cash comes from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, a multi-billion-pound ‘levelling up’ fund, and the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI), a £450m pot of taxpayer cash earmarked to encourage councils to install EV charging facilities.
A further £1.4m has been allocated for a pilot scheme run by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is set to receive a further £14.3m of LEVI funding across 2026 and 2027.
The LEVI was launched in £10m pilot form under Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in 2022 before being expanded in 2023, eventually swelling to a total £450m.
Rather than install the chargers themselves, local authorities typically outsource the work, using allocated cash to pay EV chargepoint companies for the sockets.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority, for example, has selected New York based Blink Charging to “deliver the first phase of the region’s LEVI programme”.
