Rotherham Council is expected to greenlight an initiative designed to deliver up to 1,500 new electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

Cabinet members will meet next Monday to discuss the scheme, which is expected to be backed by around £1.6m from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.

According to the local authority, cabinet members are ‘set to approve’ the council’s participation in the initiative, with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) serving as the managing body for the scheme.

As part of the project, at least 500 new EV chargers will be introduced across the borough, supporting the aims of the council’s Public EV Infrastructure Strategy and its commitment to ensuring most Rotheram homes are ‘within 800 metres of a public charging point’ by 2040.

A cabinet report explains that the scheme could provide ‘up to 1,500 [charging devices] at the higher end, if the contractor/concessionaire is to self-invest in further capacity as the programme matures’.

The council has highlighted that based on current trends, public EV charging provision is predicted to require an expansion to a minimum of 1,200 charging points over the next 15 years.

Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, Cllr John Williams, said: ‘In June this year, 25% of all new car registrations in the UK were electric vehicles, and over the coming years that proportion will only grow. As a result, we will need to step up our efforts to ensure that our public charging infrastructure keeps up with the level of demand.

‘Of course, many people who choose to buy an EV now will be able to charge it at home or at work. But this Government grant, managed by the Mayor of South Yorkshire’s office, gives us the funding we need to meet our objective of ensuring that a majority of Rotherham households are within walking distance of public charging points, helping to address concerns about households for whom off-street charging is not possible.’

The scheme could be launched later this month, or in January 2026, if all four councils in South Yorkshire back the move.