A new government-funded course designed to upskill local authorities for EV charging rollout is now open for applications.

The course will help local authority officers to develop and deliver “ambitious tailored” local EV infrastructure

Launching as the Government starts the rollout of the local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) fund, the course will help local authority officers to develop and deliver “ambitious tailored” local EV infrastructure.

Applicants will start their learning in March or April 2024. Additional courses are planned for September 2024 and January 2025. Funding through the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) provides one place per tier-one local authority or London Borough, with additional places available for a fee.

The course has been developed by the LEVI support body (Cenex, Energy Saving Trust and PA Consulting) as part of the LEVI fund. Topics covered will include EV infrastructure technology, users and stakeholders, strategy, procurement, deployment and operations.

The Government sees local authorities at the forefront of charge point rollout. It recently confirmed its intention to mandate local transport authorities to produce local charging strategies if they have not done so as part of local transport plans and the new course will help equip local authorities with the knowledge to do so.

The new training course has been successfully trialled by 16 local authority officers over the past four months.

The launch of the course coincides with the news that the first five local authorities in England have been approved for EV charge point funding under the LEVI fund. Introduced following the LEVI pilot, the scheme will provide £343m capital and £37.8m resource funding over the next two financial years. The capital funding will support charge point delivery while the capability funding ensures local authorities have the staff and capability to plan and deliver charge point infrastructure.

Around 100 dedicated EV officers have been newly recruited into councils so far, enabled by the LEVI capability funding to support charge point procurement and aide local authorities in building a skilled workforce to deliver their EV charging projects.

The LEVI support body says equipping and empowering course participants with the required knowledge will support an effective rollout of EV charging for residents in their local areas, as well as encourage consistency and the continued sharing of best practice.

Chloe Hampton, training course project manager at Cenex, said: “We are thrilled to reach this milestone and open the course to all UK local authorities. Equipping this workforce is integral to transitioning to zero-emission transport and timely as LEVI capital funding starts to be spent to enable them to rollout local electric vehicle infrastructure effectively.”

More information about the course and application details can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website.