Woking Borough Council gives away free EV charging in IT error

Woking Borough Council is giving away free electric vehicle charging due to an IT error

A council in £2.6bn of debt is giving away thousands of pounds a year of free electric vehicle charging due to an IT error, it has been revealed.

Antiquated IT systems meant Woking Borough Council has been unable to charge motorists at Red Car Park in Victoria Square.

The £148,000 cost could save a community bus service struggling with funding cuts, a council meeting heard.

But the council disputed the figure, saying it was closer to £1,500 a month.

In June, the Surrey local authority imposed emergency spending restrictions on itself due to its debt.

All spending for non-essential services were halted after the Section 114 notice was issued.

'Dark days'

After the figure was revealed at an Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, there were calls for the electric vehicle charging stations to be switched off immediately in the hope the money could be used for community projects that were struggling with funding cuts.

Last month, the chief executive of Woking Community Transport warned of "dark days" ahead after learning its service agreement was under threat due to council funding cuts.

The door-to-door community transport service, known as Bustler, helps transport people with mobility issues.

Councillor Kevin Davis said about £150,000 was needed to save the scheme.

"We should be looking at stopping people getting free electricity," he said.

"There are so many different things we could do with £150,000."

Mr Rice added: "We talk about transparency, good management practices and we've turned over a new leaf, but this doesn't look like it.

"This should be disclosed and it shouldn't be dragged out this way in the meeting."

In a statement following the meeting, the council said: "Contrary to reports in the media, unrestricted electric vehicle [EV} charging in the Red Car Park costs an estimated £1,500 a month.

"The council is installing software that will allow a tariff to be applied and will be disabling the EV charge points whilst this is undertaken. We would like to apologise for the short-term inconvenience this will cause to car park users."

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