Ms Marguerite Sayers:

There is absolutely increased usage of charging points. One of the things that was causing much frustration for our users was people driving up to a charging point to park for a day, and then nobody else could use it. With the approval, and almost the insistence, of many of our network users, we now have an overstay charge. It encourages fair use of the network, so somebody can drive to a charger and get as much charge as they need to move to the next stage of their journey, but they are penalised if they stay for too long.

That is something most EV drivers endorse because it allows for fair access to the network. It is one of the things we have done and the reaction to it has been quite positive, perhaps in a way one might not expect.

Our relationship with local authorities generally is very good. No more than ourselves, there is a huge draw on their resources and they must decide what best they can do at any point in time. They have given us access to a lot of sites in prime locations and we will continue to work with them as needs be to try to roll out additional infrastructure. My colleague, Mr. Byrne, might make some additional comments in case I have left out any pertinent point.

Regarding charging from public lighting, it is a way of charging if there is no other way of doing so. I say that because when those lights were installed, there was fairly light cabling in between the lights because they were only taking the load or current required for lighting. In the absence of anything else, they will give a charge if motorists adapt the pillar to do that, but there are faster means of charging. They are a great alternative when there is nothing else but if something else, including a home charger, is available, it is likely to be faster.

I will hand over to Mr Byrne now in case I have left out anything on any of the points raised. He certainly knows more than I do about engaging with local authorities.