FOI highlights gaps in council EV charger oversight

The requests were submitted between April and May 2026. Northumberland said it monitors all 487 of its public chargers hourly and reported 97% uptime across its rapid network. Surrey reported 11 of 411 charging sockets unavailable — less than 3%.

Hampshire reported 39 of 157 chargers unavailable, although 27 had been deliberately switched off because of low use. Leicestershire said 10 of its 53 sockets had been permanently removed from service.

The figures are not directly comparable

These responses mix chargers and sockets, point-in-time availability and annual uptime, and whole networks with rapid-only figures. They were also supplied by a small group of councils using their own records and definitions. The results are useful examples, but not a league table.

Lancashire, West Sussex, Nottinghamshire and Essex said they did not hold operational fault or reliability data because third-party chargepoint operators manage the networks. That does not mean the chargers are unmonitored; it means the councils themselves could not provide the data requested.

The more useful question is access

Under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, the chargepoint operator — which may be a private contractor — carries the legal duties. The 99% reliability requirement applies to the operator’s rapid public network of 50 kW and above, averaged over a calendar year, rather than to every charger or council network individually. Operators must also publish their annual compliance information.

Councils can outsource day-to-day operation, but contracts should still give them enough information to check performance, recurring faults, response times and permanent removals. The FOI findings do not prove that one council’s network is better than another’s; they show why consistent definitions and access to operational data matter as local charging networks expand.