OZEV charging scheme submissions deadline moves to 12 October

The Subsidy Advice Unit has extended the deadline for third-party submissions on the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles' proposed Strategic Charging Infrastructure Scheme from 7 October 2026 to 12 October 2026GOV. The administrative timetable keeps the reporting period's start on 24 September 2026 and the SAU report's publication on 4 November 2026, with the submissions deadline the only date moved.

The scheme under review is a proposed OZEV scheme for England only, with an indicative allocation of £190 million from the £400 million announced at Spending Review 2025 for electric vehicle charging infrastructure between 2026 and 2030. It aims to expand open-access EV charging at Motorway Service Areas by addressing the lack of affordable electricity network capacity at some sites: the Government would commission network upgrades at selected sites and reserve the resulting capacity for MSA operators or charge point operators, who access it by applying directly to the relevant connection provider. Payment for capacity runs through a 'second comer charge', partially waived by Government to reach a commercially viable price. The scheme targets sites where the gap between current and future capacity is greatest and upgrade costs are not commercially viable, delivering upgrades to meet projected demand at selected sites to at least 2035 and potentially to 2050 in some cases, with the number of sites constrained by the budget. OZEV ran a consultation in June to July 2026 whose responses will inform the scheme design.

The SAU accepted OZEV's request for a report on 24 September 2026. The request relates to a Scheme of Particular Interest, and the SAU will prepare an evaluation of OZEV's assessment of whether the scheme complies with the subsidy control requirements, completing its report within 30 working days.

Anyone wishing to comment on matters relevant to the SAU's evaluation should send comments by the date in the timetable, now 12 October 2026GOV, following the guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance in the section on reporting period and transparency. Submissions go to sau-ozevsci-2026@cma.gov.ukGOV, copying OZEV at strategiccharging@dft.gov.uk; the SAU project team contact is sau-ozevsci-2026@cma.gov.uk and the CMA press team is on 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk. A submission is taken into account only if it can be shared with OZEVGOV: the SAU sends a copy of each submission to OZEV with its report so the public authority can take it into account in deciding whether to make or modify the scheme or its assessment, so submitters should give express consent for the full unredacted submission to be shared and are encouraged to share it directly with OZEV as well. Submitters should give a contact address, state the capacity in which they submit, and mark any commercially confidential parts, since the SAU may use the information in its published report and will contact the submitter first if it wishes to refer to material identified as confidential.

Legal basis: the SAU referral page for the proposed Strategic Charging Infrastructure Scheme, under the subsidy control functions and the Assessment of Compliance reporting framework.