Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Steve Tuckwell with Councillor Peter Smallwood substituting. Apologies for absence were also received from Councillor Darran Davies with Councillor Ekta Gohil substituting.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes from the meeting on 6 March 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record.

It was confirmed that all items would be heard in Part I.

The Committee considered the draft recommendations for the review that were circulated to Members prior to the meeting.

Members also discussed suggestions put forward by Councillor Kaur and these were incorporated to the draft recommendations.

RESOLVED: That delegated authority be given to Democratic Services to finalise the recommendations with the Chair and Labour Lead and prepare a report concluding the Committee’s review.

The Director of Procurement & Commissioning and the Fleet Manager introduced the report on the Present and Future of the Fleet which provided details on the composition of the Council’s fleet, the key challenges within fleet and future decision making around the fleet replacement programme.

It was reported that the main challenge for the fleet was driver behaviour and avoidable fleet damage. Avoidable fleet damage was costing the Council more than £800k per anum.

The Committee heard that the cost of fleet damage had been under review by management and the reasons for the increasing costs were wide and varied. It was reported that historically data had been unavailable to provide sufficient management oversight however this had improved in the last 12 months with the purchase and installation of new ‘tracker’ devices and improved reporting. Vehicles and associated budgets were managed by the fleet team which created a disconnect in ownership of vehicles and users, the culture of work within some teams and the nature of the fleet was different from an average road fleet undertaking the same function day in and day out. Hillingdon vehicles operated in challenging operational environments where damage was  more likely to be incurred and external factors such as the costs of operating vehicles and costs relating to insurance, repair & maintenance continued to rise.

A regular fleet forum comprising operational and senior management took place to help address the issues and drive down the costs being incurred. One of the outputs of the forum was a combined insurance damage report which required the operational teams to record actions taken for incidents. The Fleet team also liaised with other councils to share good work practices and perform benchmarking exercises.

The Committee heard that driver behaviour played a crucial role in fleet costs and the inclusion of tracking devices offered information on how vehicles were used. The system processed the data to generate an Eco Efficient Driver Index (EDI). Each driver received an EDI score which served as an overall performance monitor. These scores were specifically used in regular discussions with drivers with poor performance. 

Members were informed that vehicles consumed substantial amounts of fuel.A review was underway to assess green spaces’ winter fleet, aiming to identify opportunities for reduction during winter months. Over the past 18 months, significant progress had  been made in fleet utilisation and four vehicles had been from the fleet. The Council followed a cyclical vehicle replacement program to maintain cost-effectiveness and reliability.

There were 90 frontline service vehicles that had reached the end of their serviceable life and were no longer subject to daily fees. These vehicles were in their ninth year of operation, with reliability declining and maintenance costs rising. There was a recommendation to replace 32 vehicles with electric equivalents however factors such charging facilities, speed of charging, grid capacity, payload, cost and maintenance first had to be considered.

During Member questions it was noted that 45% of the heavy duty drivers were agency drivers and there were numerous behaviour  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

It was noted that the report on the School Capital Programme had been deferred to May Cabinet due to  project time-frames and to allow a more meaningful update on the Meadow School project and proposed SEN free school to be provided.

RESOLVED: That the update and the Forward Plan be noted.

RESOLVED: That the work programme be noted.