7. What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary held regarding new investment in charging points for electric vehicles? OAQ51713

I'll be speaking a bit of Welsh before long, however—.

I'm learning again and I wouldn't want to do a disservice to the Member's question by struggling with my Cymraeg in answering the question, which is concerning the £2 million that we have offered to help secure a network of charging points throughout Wales, focusing first and foremost on locations near trunk roads to serve the major road network, which caused the greatest range anxiety. We're working with all local authorities at present across Wales on the delivery framework in order to deliver funding as soon as possible.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response, and I'll continue to ask questions in Welsh so he can practice his Welsh. I have looked at several maps for where the charging points are for electric vehicles, and it’s clear that there is a major gap in mid Wales. If we want to use public funding, I would suggest that closing that gap should be one of the priorities for that funding. But it’s also true to say that many people have an interest in developing these charging points, including supermarkets and new public developments. So, could you tell us in what way you want to bring all of these things together to ensure that one thing stemming from this funding is public justice, so that everybody has access to these electric charging points, and that that happens consistently across Wales? 

Diolch yn fawr iawn. I'd absolutely agree that, whilst we have charging points not in abundance but certainly there are plenty of them along the M4 corridor and the A55, in between it's a barren land insofar as public access to electric charging points is concerned. Simon Thomas is absolutely right that whilst the available funding may only be £2 million, we can use it in a way that draws in match funding and therefore rolls out more electric charging points. We'll be looking at how we can lever in funding from the private framework supplier on a 50:50 basis. With the availability of this funding, it will give local authorities, I think, excellent bargaining power to get good profit-sharing deals and control over price setting, for example. It's my view that the £2 million will also enable us to establish a standard, Wales branded, EV charging specification. It will also allow us to create an EV charging procurement framework, which can then be utilised longer term as well. It's an exciting policy agenda and I'm pleased that we're able to take forward this particular area of work together.

Finally, question 8—Mohammad Asghar.