Issue - meetings

Purpose of report

The report sought approval to purchase vehicles including road sweepers, caged tippers, pickup vehicles, a hook lift, and panel vans. The procurement of these vehicles had been completed through a compliant process and as the vehicles would be purchased outright there was no contract length to consider. The procurement was for 54 vehicles at a combined cost of £2.6m.

Decision

Cabinet approved the award of the following 14 contracts for the direct purchase of vehicles at a combined cost of £2.6m:

• Volvo – 1 x 26t Hook Lift

• Harris Maxus –3 x 3.5t Caged Tippers, 6 x 3.5t Caged Tippers with Tail Lifts and 1 x 3.5t Arb Tipper

• Motus (Isuzu) – 2 x 3.5t Caged Tippers

• Motus (Fiat) – 16 x Medium Panel Vans

• Toyota – 7 x Small Panel Vans and 7 x Large Panel Vans

• Lookers Ford – 2 x 4x4 Pickups

• Thompson – 2 x 7.5t Tippers with Tail Lift and Removable Mesh Infilled Side Panels and 3 x 7.5t Caged Tippers

• Aebi Schmidt – 1 x 6t Compact Road Sweeper

• Karcher – 1 x 6t electric Compact Road Sweeper

• Bucher – 2 x 12t Truck Mounted Road Sweepers 4

Alternative options considered and rejected

Other options considered were:

·       Do not procure new vehicles – this would have resulted in an increased risk of service failure, reputational damage and a breach of statutory duties.

·       Run current vehicles beyond the recommended usage period – this risked service failure due to maintenance requirements, alongside increased repair costs.

Reasons for the decision

The Council required vehicles for the delivery of statutory services. The recommended vehicle purchases would support service delivery and ensure reliability and efficiency.

All 14 contracts had been through a compliant procurement process with a fair and robust tender. All vehicles would be purchased outright.

54 vehicles would be purchased over 3 years, with 27 purchased through the Housing Revenue Account and used for Housing services.  £812414 of the total amount was funded from the HRA, with the remaining funds coming from the General Fund (GF).

These purchases increased electric vehicle usage whilst maintaining existing services. The variety of vehicles demonstrated the diversity of the service offering.

The following points were highlighted during debate:

·       Old vehicles would be responsibly disposed of, most likely through auction. There were strict rules about age of vehicles. Old vehicles were not routinely retained for parts as there wasn’t adequate space to store them. Contingency had been built into the procurement for spare vehicles, for maintenance and emergency use. Spares were sourced through contracted suppliers. All vehicles would be supplied with warranties.

·       The design of the new fleet would be uniform. However, there was the potential for having special livery on vehicles as and when desired.

·       The procurement process had aimed to ensure the fleet was future proofed as far as possible.