Public sector to cut costs and emissions with new vehicle hire deal

A new all-Wales vehicle hire agreement which will cut costs for the public sector and is environmentally friendly has been welcomed by Andrew Davies, Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery.

Public sector organisations in Wales are set to save over £2.4m per year from reduced hire vehicle costs and carbon emissions under a new all-Wales agreement for spot hire of Cars, Commercial and Specialist Vehicles.

Finance and Public Service Delivery Minister Andrew Davies said:

“The Vehicle Hire agreement is excellent news for Wales. Many public workers need to travel to deliver essential services. By working together we have cut both costs and emissions at a time when we need the Welsh pound to go further. Joining forces in this way cuts down on wasteful duplication and this is another example of where we have helped smaller companies to compete equally for public sector contracts."

Organisations including Local Authorities, the NHS, Education and the Emergency services spend in excess of £15 million a year hiring vehicles ranging from cars and mini-buses through to refuse trucks and road-gritters. Usually involving a time-consuming and expensive European tendering process, duplicated across Wales.

Under the new vehicle rental agreement, which was led by the University of Wales Cardiff (UWIC) and supported by the Assembly Government’s Value Wales division, public bodies are set to save an average of 16% or £2.4m per year. The Welsh Assembly Government will be one of the first organisations to use the framework to reduce its operating costs.

The framework agreement will also help cut emissions. It provides a wide range of energy efficient cars and commercial vehicles and will help the public sector cut the levels of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicle use. Delivery and collection mileage will be minimised as most vehicles will be supplied from local depots.

Welsh suppliers have been successful in winning contracts under the Agreement. The framework was split into regional ‘lots’. Six suppliers are Welsh-based Small or Medium-sized Enterprises, and the majority of the twenty-one suppliers have depots located in Wales.

Value Wales is running a programme of collaborative procurement with various partners. The Welsh public sector sourcing plan ‘Smarter Buying – Sharing Success’ was produced in July 2006 and its implementation has to date saved over £93m across the Welsh public sector.