Northern Ireland Assembly members who drive electric cars can access free charging facilities at Parliament Buildings, despite already being entitled to annual travel allowances.

Six charging points are installed in an upper car park behind the building, away from public access. MLAs, party support staff and assembly employees can book them through a daily system. The Assembly confirmed the points are free to use.

The annual travel allowance for MLAs attending Stormont ranges from about £660 for those in the nearest constituencies to £6,780 for the farthest. Payments are reduced if attendance falls below certain levels. The allowances are designed to cover general travel costs including vehicle taxes, insurance and maintenance.

The Assembly holds no metered data on the chargers and does not retain long-term usage records. It said a single week in May incurred approximately £325 in costs, but that records are kept only on a short-term basis and logs of individuals who booked slots are not held.

In the visitors' car park on the estate, two public charging points charge 32p per kilowatt-hour, with revenue collected by the Assembly.

Several parties have stated their positions. The Democratic Unionist Party said its members will not use the free facility and will propose a move to a pay-to-charge system comparable to on-street charging, which ceased to be free across Northern Ireland in April 2023. Sinn Féin said it holds no information on how MLAs travel. The SDLP stated none of its MLAs owns an electric vehicle and no staff member can access the free chargers. People Before Profit said none of its representatives or staff have ever used them.

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston maintained that the arrangement leaves the public effectively meeting the cost twice for MLAs to travel to Stormont. He called on other parties to clarify whether their members are using the points while claiming allowances, and said failure to do so would undermine public confidence.

Ulster Unionist representatives have been told the party wants the policy changed so that users pay the same rate as the public, though the party said it does not hold records of members’ vehicles. Alliance did not respond to media queries.

Stormont ministers do not receive the assembly travel allowance because they have official cars for executive business. The only MLA shown in recent published figures not to have claimed the travel allowance is UUP member Andy Allen.

An Assembly spokesperson said the provision of charging points supports more sustainable travel choices and that the growth of electric vehicles is a relatively recent development. The matter is expected to be considered in future reviews of member allowances.

By comparison, MPs at Westminster pay to use EV charging bays. The Scottish Parliament currently offers free charging but is developing plans for a billing system, and members of the Irish Oireachtas pay for charging.