A multi-million-pound investment is on the way for Kirklees Council’s ageing fleet, as a third of vehicles are past their best.
Cabinet will be asked on 8 October to approve £26.76m to invest in its fleet and replace vehicles. This capital investment will be spread over six years, with the council saying that this approach will save cash in the long-run.
The council currently operates 242 vehicles in its fleet – accounting for around 33 percent – and 64 trailers beyond their ‘useful economic life’ (UEL). According to a report, this is causing “significant financial and operational delivery pressures”.
This isn’t the first time the council has found itself in difficulty due to the condition of its fleet, with it revealed earlier this year that the local authority was spending a staggering £44k per week hiring vehicles across all departments, as a result. This was brought to light when a £2.5m investment for the replacement of 35 vehicles got the go-ahead.
The latest report to this week’s Cabinet meeting explains that last year, the local authority spent £355,796 hiring gritters for 27 weeks over the winter, with a £555k saving needing to be achieved within Winter Service operations this year. This covers things like precautionary gritting, snow clearance, night patrols and grit bin filling.
The council hopes to cut costs in this area by purchasing gritting vehicles for £1.8m instead of hiring them every year, with savings to be made from the fifth year.
On top of this, just over £21.78m will be spent by 2030/31 replacing “frontline critical operational vehicles” across services. A further £3.264m will be used to replace the waste and recycling vehicles which the council currently hires.
The report explains: “We have grown our green fleet and infrastructure, secured new technologies to trial within the district to understand deliverability, and have now developed from the ground up a vehicle replacement programme that will ensure we replace the fleet at the right time, before it starts impacting on service delivery, cost, and environmental impact.
“This phase of investment centres around the replacement of critical frontline fleet, bringing them up to the highest environmental standards possible, whilst recognising the current limits of green technology. It also continues to deliver on Vision Zero, ensuring we have the most up to date safety technology on our roads.
“We will continue to review it as we move forward to ensure we remain flexible to any changes in services and developments in technology.”
