Guidance

On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme guidance for local authorities

Updated 20 October 2023

About the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme

The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) supports local authorities in the UK to deliver electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for residents without off-street parking.

Further information and guidance for local authorities on the rollout of EV charging infrastructure is available. Local authorities in England should also be aware of the funding and support available through the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.

The role of our support body

Energy Saving Trust, Cenex and PA Consulting administer this scheme on our behalf.

The support body can provide free, impartial advice and guidance to local authorities:

• throughout the UK, on the preparation of an eligible and successful On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme application
• throughout the UK, on best practice, commercial considerations and technological options for chargepoint installations - this includes recommended procurement heads of terms and technical schedules
• in England, on developing an EV chargepoint strategy through Energy Saving Trust’s Local Government Support Programme
• in England, on developing applications to the LEVI Fund, where relevant

Changes made to this guidance for the 2023 to 2024 financial year

Amendments have been made to the scheme to:

• ensure more local authorities benefit from the funding
• allow funding to be used on charging infrastructure for local authority-supported car clubs

The changes are:

1. The scheme will now provide up to a maximum of 50% of project capital costs. We anticipate that many projects will require less than 50% public funding.
2. Grants are capped at £200,000. Following updates to how electrical upgrade costs are funded, grants provided will not exceed £7,500 per chargepoint. Similarly, we expect that many projects will require significantly less funding per chargepoint.
3. Charging infrastructure for the use of local authority-supported car clubs is eligible for funding.

Funding and eligibility

Funding available

Funding is for up to 50% of eligible capital costs. We expect many projects to require less funding.

Grants are capped at £200,000. Total funding provided will not exceed £7,500 per chargepoint.

Applicants are responsible for any cost overruns and further funding beyond an agreed ORCS grant should not be expected.

ORCS will remain open to applications until 1 March 2024, or until all 2023 to 2024 funding has been allocated, whichever is sooner. This deadline allows for applications to be assessed before the end of the year. No funding for new projects beyond 1 March 2024 has been confirmed.

Who can apply

Applicants must:

• be a relevant local authority or authorities within the UK
• have the explicit support of the relevant highway authority (or landowner) with responsibility for maintenance of the areas where the chargepoints are to be located
• agree, once funding is accepted, that the sites of the proposed chargepoints must not change without permission from us – information on altering chargepoint location is available
• be able to complete projects by 1 March 2025

Where projects span multiple local authorities, the application must be made by an allocated ‘lead’ authority.

How we allocate funding

We will assess the relative merits of applications against our application criteria.

We reserve the right to:

• offer funding below the amount requested
• prioritise funding for those who have not received funding for local charging infrastructure previously, for example through the LEVI Fund or ORCS
• not provide further funding to applicants who have already received ORCS funding in 2023 to 2024
• consider applications within wider local authority areas when making determinations (for example, multiple applications from authorities within the same Tier 1 authority area)
• refuse to provide funding where we consider the proposals entail unacceptable risk, offer poor value for money or are viewed to be undeliverable in the proposed project timescales
• require any funds awarded towards the project to be returned, in the event that a project is not completed
• terminate or change the grant scheme at any time. In these cases, we will aim to provide four weeks’ notice

Costs eligible for funding

Capital funding will be provided for the installation of the chargepoints. The capital items that are eligible for claim are limited to:

• the purchase cost of the chargepoint up to 22 kW
• the purchase cost of electrical components related to the chargepoint, including distribution network operator (DNO) connection costs
• the cost of civil engineering works related to the installation
• labour costs of the installation
• hardware costs of the installation
• where applicable, the capital costs of a parking bay and traffic regulation orders (TROs) (paint and signage)

This scheme does not cover:

• non-capital costs
• the upgrade or maintenance of existing chargepoints
• the installation of passive charging infrastructure
• the installation of chargepoints for the primary use of taxi fleets or other commercial undertakings, given the residential focus of the scheme
• the installation of chargepoints connected to an individual’s domestic electricity supply

Remaining capital costs and procurement support

As demand for local charging infrastructure grows, the private sector is increasingly willing to invest substantial capital into local authority projects.

You will be required to demonstrate how your proposed procurement process is competitive and delivers best value for money.

Our support body is well placed to advise on attracting investment into chargepoint projects.

The remaining project costs can also come from local authority budget, if, for example, the local authority is going to own and operate the infrastructure.

LEVI funding should not be used towards ORCS projects and vice-versa.

Application criteria

All the following criteria must be met and evidenced as part of your application.

1. Applications must be made for one or more chargepoints, up to 22 kW.

2. The chargepoints will be located in residential areas. This may, for example, be demonstrated by providing maps indicating the relevant use classes of the surrounding buildings. Where areas include a mixture of residential and commercial buildings, local authorities must be satisfied that the chargepoints will be used primarily to meet the needs of local residents.

The scheme does not support chargepoints intended to be used primarily by commuters or visitors to destination-style locations such as shopping centres.

3. The proposed location or locations must lack off-street parking. For example, this can be demonstrated through provision of photographs or maps.

4. The chargepoints will be accessible to local residents and/or to local car clubs. This may be through resident parking schemes or permits to ensure that local residents are assured that they will be able to charge their vehicles on a regular basis.

5. The chargepoints should be available for use on a 24/7 basis. Exceptions will be considered where these are justified.

If you are considering the use of dedicated EV bays, these require a traffic regulation order (TRO) (PDF, 2MB) that could restrict access to EVs only. If you wish to claim any of the capital costs for the TRO, you must wait for it to be completed before making your final claim.

6. The chargepoints must adhere to all relevant technical regulations, including the Public Charge Point Regulations, which, subject to parliamentary passage, will require contactless payment at new chargepoints 8 kW and above, within one year of the regulations being laid. No additional payment requirements for chargepoints installed under ORCS will apply beyond those set out in regulation.

7. You must consider accessibility in relation to the proposed infrastructure .

8. You must follow procurement rules and consider value for money.

9. You must provide details of operating arrangements.

10. The project must be completed within reasonable timescales and no later than 1 March 2025.

11. You must meet ongoing commitments.

12. For car park installations, additional requirements exist.

Accessibility

You must outline the accessibility considerations you have made in relation to your application. PAS (Publicly Available Standard) 1899, published by the British Standards Institution (BSI), provides specifications on designing and installing accessible public EV chargepoints and should be considered.

For all chargepoints, you should consider:

• chargepoint design and location, including access to wider paths and pavements for other users
• wheelchair accessibility
• parking bay widths
• whether sites have appropriate lighting and CCTV arrangements

Procurement rules and value-for-money considerations

You must demonstrate value for money. Costs and market engagement will be scrutinised as part of application assessments. You are expected to consider securing private sector or wider funding for your project in accordance with the local market conditions.

Our support body can provide advice on engaging the market and procurement best practice, including suggested concession contract procurement on Heads of terms and technical schedules guidance.

You can email onstreetchargepoints@est.org.uk for more information.

Full evidence will be required in the form of:

• quotes, including Distribution Network Operator quotes
• cost breakdowns
• evidence of discussions with suppliers
• invoices (if available)

Double-headed chargepoints, capable of charging 2 vehicles at once, should be installed wherever possible to maximise value for money.

You are responsible for ensuring that your projects comply with procurement and subsidy control rules.

Procurement timelines should be considered before submitting an application, and details should be outlined within the application.

Provide details of expected operating arrangements

Following procurement you must share contractual documentation. This includes information on the arrangements put in place between the local authority, chargepoint operator (CPO) and end user, for example:

• the type of operating model which will be used for the infrastructure
• how much drivers will be charged to use the infrastructure
• any agreed revenue shares between local authority and CPO
• the ownership of the local connection and charging assets

You must provide this information to the best of your ability at application, and agree to provide contractual documentation in full on project completion, as part of the claims process.

The project must be completed in reasonable timescales

Projects must be completed by 1 March 2025. It should take between 6 to 12 months from making an application to installing the chargepoints. Appropriate timescales and robust delivery plans will be considered as part of application assessment.

Delivery plans must include:

• a high-level project or programme plan providing timescales and milestones, project dependencies and their impact on deliverability
• a Gantt chart
• a risk register

If you think a project will take longer than 6 to 12 months, you must provide rationale for this in your application.

Meeting ongoing commitments

It is a condition of the funding that:

• any chargepoint must be maintained in a serviceable condition and accessible for 7 years from the date of installation
• usage data is made available to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) directly from the chargepoints or CPO systems – you must ensure that your delivery partners can supply this information

We require grant recipients to report on the arrangements put in place between the local authority, CPO and end user as per expected operating arrangements.

You must also ensure OZEV and our support body are kept informed of changes of lead staff.

For audit purposes, participating local authorities must retain the following for a period of 7 years:

• evidence that a chargepoint was appropriately procured
• a record of expenditure funded partly or wholly by the grant and all income generated by the project

You will make this information available at any reasonable time for inspection by officials from us or by the comptroller and Auditor General (or their representatives).

Chargepoints installed in car parks

For installing chargepoints in public car parks:

• you must explain or show why they are not being installed in residential streets
• you must either own the car park, or have a long-term lease arrangement in place
• they should be accessible on a 24/7 basis
• each chargepoint must have its own dedicated EV bay enforced by a TRO
• you should consider how the chargepoints will be accessible and visible to local residents – this includes reviewing access arrangements, for example any ‘maximum stay’ times and overnight access

Application process and anticipated timetable

The application process is:

1. Contact onstreetchargepoints@est.org.uk to discuss your application needs.
2. After discussion complete the application form.
3. Send application by email to onstreetchargepoints@est.org.uk.
4. The support body will provide feedback on your application, which you may need to action. This process can take multiple weeks.
5. Once your application meets our criteria, the support body will submit the application to us for review.

Applications must be submitted to our support body by 23:59 on 1 March 2024 to be considered for funding.

Our decision

If your application is:

• accepted you will receive a grant offer letter from us
• rejected we will explain the reasons for this decision, allowing you the opportunity to amend your application and reapply, provided funding remains available

Delivery phase and payment

We will pay 75% of the grant within around 25 working days of your application being accepted.

The remaining 25% of the grant will be paid in arrears upon completion of the project. You can claim the remaining funding by contacting our support body, which will supply the appropriate guidance and grant claim form.

The grant claim form requires you to provide an itemised breakdown of capital costs, including invoices obtained from chargepoint operators, installers and the DNO, of:

1. Chargepoint hardware costs – this includes the cost of the chargepoint units and any associated hardware (such as guard rails or barriers).
2. Labour and installation costs – this includes the costs associated with installing the hardware and civil engineering.
3. Electrical connection costs and associated labour – this includes the DNO cost, the labour involved in installing an electrical connection and associated civil engineering work (such as trenching).

Chargepoints must be added to the National Chargepoint Registry (NCR), which is an open resource listing publicly accessible chargepoints in the UK designed for use by website and smartphone app developers, as well as satellite navigation system (sat nav) manufacturers.

The relevant field on the NCR must also be populated to inform users when the chargepoint is restricted to residents or subject to parking restrictions, such as ‘residents only’ parking zones or time limits.

If, for unexpected reasons, you do not spend your full grant amount, any unspent funds must be returned to the Department for Transport.

Changing chargepoint locations

To obtain permission for a chargepoint or chargepoints site change, you must submit to our support body as soon as possible:

• the new site location or locations
• parking details
• photographs
• maps
• evidence of demand
• the reason or reasons for the site change or changes

Site change requires our explicit approval for any grant funding to be paid to ensure the new location meets all of the relevant conditions of the grant.

Help with wider responsibilities of property owners and managers

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires property managers and owners to assess potential fire risks and put in place adequate and proportionate fire protection measures to mitigate against the risk to life from fire and then maintain them. This should be updated when installing EV chargepoints.

We are producing guidance to aid this assessment for electric vehicle fires. This will identify mitigations and measures that can be taken when installing electric vehicle chargepoints in enclosed car parks. As such, it will help building owners meet their existing duties under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Usage data requirements

This section sets out chargepoint usage data requirements.

It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that a process is in place to deliver the required utilisation data in the correct format to OZEV and that their CPO is capable of doing so.

Data fields

Grant recipients are required to make appropriate arrangements with CPOs to collect and submit data on each charging event under each of the following data headings for all their grant-funded chargepoints:

• chargepoint ID
• plug in date and time
• unplug date and time
• charge start date and time
• charge end date and time
• total energy drawn (kWh)

The definition of each data field can be found in Data field definitions

We expect that all data points will be recorded at up to 95% accuracy. We will accept data supplied from units that record energy consumption at intervals of up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

Data field definitions

Identifier for chargepoint

Unique identifier for chargepoint. This should match the chargepoint ID used on all forms and claim forms, and be consistent throughout the life of the chargepoint. It is recommended that this is the number associated with the chargepoint found on the NCR. If this is not possible, OZEV requires that a list of the chargepoints with corresponding NCR numbers is provided.

Plug in date and time (DD/MM/YYY) (00:00h)

The date and time that the vehicle was plugged in, in 24-hour clock format and using the UK (not US) date format, expressed to the nearest minute possible. OZEV will accept data supplied from units that record connection or disconnection at intervals of up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

Unplug date and time (DD/MM/YYY) (00:00h)

The date and time that the vehicle was unplugged, in 24-hour clock format and using the UK (not US) date format, expressed to the nearest minute possible. OZEV will accept data supplied from units that record connection or disconnection at intervals of up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

Charge start (DD/MM/YYY) (00:00h)

The date and time that the vehicle began to draw charge, in 24-hour clock format and using the UK (not US) date format, expressed to the nearest minute. OZEV will accept data supplied from units that record energy transfer at intervals of up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

Charge end (DD/MM/YYY) (00:00h)

The date and time that the vehicle stopped drawing charge, in 24-hour clock format and using the UK (not US) date format, expressed to the nearest minute. OZEV will accept data supplied from units that record energy transfer at intervals of up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

Total energy drawn (0.00kWh)

The electrical energy transferred during the charging event, in kWh, rounded to 2 decimal places and with energy transferred from the charging point to the vehicle being positive and energy transferred from the vehicle to the charging point being negative. If this is not directly measurable and you wish to infer this from other parameters, please contact OZEV to discuss exactly how you propose to estimate the energy transferred.

Process of providing data

You must provide the data on a quarterly basis directly to OZEV by emailing chargepoint.grants@ozev.gov.uk. For monitoring purposes, please also copy onstreetchargepoints@est.org.uk into the email.

How to format your data

Data should be reported to OZEV in .csv format as exemplified in the Data reporting template.

To help OZEV log and collect the data efficiently:

• the subject header for emailed submissions must be in the following format: ‘YYMMDD – On-Street CP usage data – Chargepoint operator name – Local authority’
• the .csv file containing the data should be named using the following format: ‘YYMMDD – On-Street CP usage data – Chargepoint operator name – Local authority’
• all data should be consolidated within one tab of the spreadsheet and not across multiple tabs

OZEV expects local authorities to arrange for the data to be submitted in the required format automatically, without requiring a person to access and draw down the data. This is to ensure that the data is reliably received without prompting. CPOs should work with applicants to enable this.

When to submit data to OZEV

Submission should be provided on the following dates:

• 1 April – data submitted for January to March
• 1 July – data submitted for April to June
• 1 October – data submitted for July to September
• 1 January – data submitted for October to December

Data should be provided to OZEV for 3 years, starting on the date the chargepoint became operational.

In order for the usage data to be utilised, it is important that OZEV receives data in full on the relevant due dates. If the data is incomplete, OZEV is unable to identify trends, develop insights and evaluate policy.

Should data be incomplete, or fail to be submitted as per the schedule above, OZEV reserves the right to require repayment of funding from the grant recipient.

Data reporting template

Charging event	Chargepoint ID	Plug-in date	Plug-in time	Unplug date	Unplug time	Charge start date	Charge start time	Charge end date	Charge end time	Total kWh
20	WMP11418	03/03/2016	15:54	03/03/2019	20:05	03/03/2016	15:54	03/03/2019	16:46	2.83
21	…	…	…					…	…	…
22	…	…	…					…	…	…

Enquiries and contact

All questions and submissions should be sent to: onstreetchargepoints@est.org.uk