Electric Vehicle charge points
Case reference FOI2025/00479
Received 6 March 2025
Published 27 March 2025
Request
Response
I am looking for utilisation data relating to any Electric Vehicle charge points that are either owned by the council, operated by the council, funded by the council or located on council land. In terms of utilisation specifics, I would ideally like to receive raw data relating to charging sessions (e.g. plug-in / plug-out time & date, energy sold, payment method, charger ID, charger type & location). Alternatively, a summarised view by charger speed, day of week and time of day by month or quarter (e.g. Location X, ultrarapid, Monday, 4-5pm, Q2 2024) would be acceptable. Ideal 12-month period is March 2024 to February 2025 (inclusive), however if there is an easier time period to provide (e.g. 2024 calendar year), then that is absolutely fine. Additionally, I would like to receive summary information detailing how many Electric Vehicle charge points are either owned by the council, operated by the council, funded by the council or located on council land, their manufacturer and charger type (e.g. fast, rapid, ultrarapid).
A: Raw data relating to charging sessions is considered to be exempt under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because the information was provided to the council in confidence.
This data was submitted to the council by Herefordshire Council’s charge provider. The information was provided in confidence by Wenea, and the information remains of a confidential quality.
The withheld information is not in the public domain. It contains details of data trends and operations, which is unique to Wenea. As such the withheld information is not trivial or insignificant but has value. The information was only supplied to the council to enable them to monitor the performance under the contract. The information was supplied for this purpose only and the Wenea did not intend for it to be shared more widely. As such the information was provided subject to an obligation of confidence - implied by the nature of this information and its provisions - and this obligation has not been waived.
Release of this information would cause detriment to Wenea and to the council's relationship with them. Wenea have confirmed that disclosure without consent would be a breach of their confidentiality agreements, and the information is therefore withheld under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Furthermore, the utilisation specifics have also been withheld under Section 43 (1) and / or (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because disclosure would, or would be likely, to prejudice the commercial interests of Wenea.
In reaching this decision I have taken into account relevant guidance provided by the Information Commissioner's Office including whether the information in question is commercial or industrial.
Herefordshire Council is satisfied that the information to which the exemption has been applied contains information which could constitute a business secret as well as commercial interests.
Disclosure of the withheld information would adversely affect Wenea. As advised above, the withheld information contains data trends and operations relating to Wenea’s Charge points.
The council accepts the legitimate economic interests of the company would be likely to be prejudiced by disclosure of the information.
In coming to this decision, I have weighed up the public interest for disclosure against the public interest in not disclosing the information and the commercial interests of Wenea as follows:
The public interest in disclosure:
Transparency with regards to EV charging usage in the county.
The public interest in not disclosing the information and the commercial interests of Wenea and Herefordshire Council
The raw data would provide sensitive information related to Wenea’s projects, operations, or clients which could be used by competitors to gain an unfair competitive advantage, without Wenea having a similar advantage of holding this data about charging points supplied by their competitors.
If this information were disclosed into the public domain, their competitors would be able to adapt their own products or services to undercut Wenea and beat them to future business opportunities. If Wenea were to lose business as a result of disclosure this would have an adverse commercial and ultimately financial impact upon them.
Taking the above into consideration, I have found the public interest in disclosing the information in this case is outweighed by the public interest in not disclosing the information. Please therefore take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Regarding your request for summary details, information regarding locations and details of EV Charge Points, is already publicly available via the below link:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/parking-1/electric-car-charging
As such we consider that information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is available to you via other means.
In addition below is a list of all the types of charge points installed in Council car parks:
Etrel 7kW AC - Fast
Alfen 7kW AC - Fast
Vega 30kW DC - Rapid
Ingeteam 22kW - AC Fast
Delta 100kW DC - Rapid
SWARCO 50kW DC - Rapid
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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