Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services presented a report on a proposed pilot project to install 250 electric vehicle (EV) charge-points across the Borough, as part of the Council’s commitment to Barking and Dagenham being recognised as the ‘Green Capital of the Capital’.

The Cabinet Member advised that detailed discussions had taken place with Connected Kerb, a UK-based privately owned company that had already established itself as a market leader in charge-point innovation and design.  The Connected Kerb proposal would utilise existing street furniture to house a future-proofed ‘smart cities system’, with a power and data pack sunk beneath the pavement in a protective steel box and a socket positioned directly above ground.  As well as minimising additional street clutter and the visual impact often associated with standard EV charging points, the above-ground sockets could be easily replaced if damaged and the system could support an array of different hardware and software products such as environmental and air quality management sensors, parking management sensors and telco solutions such as wifi or small cell 5G.  The system would also intelligently manage power across the charging network, to minimise stress on the local grid and simultaneously reduce the cost of charging to residents, as already demonstrated in a similar project in Hackney.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the pilot project would only proceed if the Council was successful with a funding bid of £900,000 from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), which represented 75% of the estimated total cost of £1.2m.  The remaining 25% (£300,000) and on-going operational costs would be met directly by Connected Kerb and any agreement would also include the potential for the Council to benefit from gainshare in later years.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)   Approve the delivery of 250 electric vehicle charge-points fitted with air quality sensors tracking NOx, PM and CO2 emissions with future-proof capability to provide neutral hosting for 5G telecom networks across Council-owned public realm in 2022, subject to funding being secured from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles;

(ii)   Approve, subject to the endorsement of the Procurement Board, the use of the Kent Commercial Services Framework to directly award to Connected Kerb to deliver the pilot scheme on the basis that the goods and services provided are unique; and

(iii)   Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Inclusive Growth, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services and the Strategic Director, Law and Governance, to enter into contracts and all other necessary or ancillary agreements, including grant applications / awards, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report.