Not Zero! Parliament scraps its own EV chargers due to 'health and safety'

MPs have been told they won't be able to use electric vehicle chargers in Westminster's New Palace Yard due to health and safety fears, a post on political commentary blog Guido Fawkes has revealed.

Users of the parliamentary estate were informed: 'These charging points are due to be removed on health and safety grounds following a review by the Safety and Fire teams, and in consultation with the Chair of the Administration Committee.'

A House of Commons spokesperson confirmed to This is Money: 'Due to developing health and safety guidance around electric car charging, two charging points in the underground car park have been closed. Eight fast chargers are available nearby, in addition to more within the estate.'

However, four of the chargers nearby in Speaker's Court - the entrance to Speaker's House - require the use of a 'charging card', which can only be obtained from the Speaker's Office. This is despite Government putting in place rules for the rest of the UK's charging infrastructure to provide contactless payments.

The update explained that 'space to charge [an EV] in Speaker's Court also cannot be guaranteed' due to high demand, and that the estate authorities have specified that members can't leave their electric cars overnight.

'Only use charging points on the estate for as long as necessary, moving your vehicle promptly once complete,' MPs are also instructed.

The House of Commons itself has limited parking, with members encouraged to use public transport wherever possible.

The New Palace Yard car park is available to MPs to use as well as staff of the House.

Charging provision on the Parliamentary estate won't necessarily get much better in the future either for willing EV users of Westminster.

The update said that 'longer term, the intention is to increase the capacity for charging electric cars on the estate' but zero emission drivers were also told that they wouldn't get first dibs.

Authorities added: 'However, the number of charging points will be dictated by the emerging electrical vehicle and fire safety guidance, and availability of adequate infrastructure/power.'

The Government itself doesn't have a role in the running of the Parliamentary estate, and as such the House of Commons is not bound by the Government's guidance on EVs.

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This comes just days after This is Money revealed all government vehicles will be electric by 2027, and yet Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Range Rover will be exempt from the pledge.

The Department for Transport this month released details of its Decarbonising transport: a better, greener Britain strategy, which includes all central government cars and vans being zero emissions by the end of 2027.

The report also outlines the requirement to replace the combustion-engine fleet of vehicles used by 'arm's length bodies' - some 30,000 motors - which includes cars and vans owned and leased by the likes of the DVLA, Met Office and HMRC with zero-emission vehicles.

This is two years earlier than ministers will impose a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel passenger cars and seven years before new combustion vans are outlawed.

But there will be exemptions from the rule - and among the types of vehicle receiving immunity are armoured cars, including the PM's gas-guzzling three-tonne V8 Range Rover Sentinel limos.

The Department for Transport's latest public charging stats for April showed that there's been a 28 per cent increase in publicly available chargepoints over the last 12 months.

But Vauxhall - which works with councils and leading charge point providers through its Electric Streets of Britain campaign - highlighted that the figures show there's has been a drop in the number of public charge points in some regions of the UK, with the North East and Northern Ireland reporting lower levels in April compared to January.

There's also been a drop it seems in Westminster...