Use of electric vehicle chargers suspended at Stormont

The use of electric vehicle (EV) chargers has been suspended at Stormont until a new system is introduced.

This comes after parties were to arrange reimbursement over free electric vehicle charging.

Six EV charging points had been installed behind Parliament Buildings for assembly members and staff.

In a statement an assembly spokesperson said an urgent meeting will take place on Monday 8 June to change the EV charging policy.

A spokesperson said the "Assembly Commission will agree arrangements to give officials the authority to work at pace to introduce a new system which addresses the legitimate public concerns".

In the meantime, the use of the current EV charging points behind Parliament Buildings has been suspended for all building users until a new system can be introduced.

MLAs are already entitled to an annual allowance for attending Stormont worth almost £7,000 for those travelling the furthest distances.

It is within the rules to use the charging points.

BBC News NI understands three MLAs who have used them are Pam Cameron and Trevor Clarke, both of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and David Honeyford of Alliance.

An assembly statement said options to solve the issue will include the introduction of usage fees for the charging points.

The statement explained that in 2015, when the first charging points were installed at Stormont, "EV technology was still emerging and charging facilities were not widely available".

Therefore "charging "was typically offered free of charge through many public sector bodies and incentive schemes to promote the uptake of EVs.

But now EVs are more popular therefore more charging points have a cost for use.

The Assembly Commission said it will receive advice to agree an appropriate system and will ensuring that the arrangements for EV charging at Stormont "follow that wider trend".