Issue - meetings

Forward Plan Ref: 2019/020

Contact: Sarah Gilbert, Energy Strategy Manager Tel: 07867 467797

Report by Strategic Director for Communities (CMDE8).

This policy statement builds on the commitment in Connecting Oxfordshire to transition our fleet to low emission alternatives.  It commits to phasing out petrol and diesel in our fleet, ensuring where feasible all new vehicle acquisitions are zero tailpipe emission by default.

The addition of this Annex to the Council’s existing energy strategy creates a statement of intent to shape our procurements and disposal planning, inform bids and engage the market.

The Cabinet Member for Environment is RECOMMENDED to agree Annex 1 to the report CMDE8 to become an Annex of the 2015-2020 Internal Energy Strategy, and to be used to inform procurement processes.

Approved

The Cabinet Member for Environment considered a policy statement building on a commitment in Connecting Oxfordshire to transition our fleet to low emission alternatives, phasing out petrol and diesel in our fleet and ensuring where feasible all new vehicle acquisitions were zero tailpipe emission by default. The addition of this Annex to the Council’s existing energy strategy created a statement of intent to shape our procurements and disposal planning, inform bids and engage the market.

Councillor Pressell had tabled a question why it had taken so long to get to the stage of starting to reduce the emissions of the County Council’s owned or leased fleet?

Responding Rachel Wileman advised that county policy was to replace vehicles at the time they came up for renewal in order to achieve best value and that was something which was actively being done.  A range of services had been put in place to support the many teams operating vehicles to transition to electric including installing a network of charging infrastructure across our estate; calculating the full lifecycle cost of operating vehicles and access to Electric vehicle trials. There were now 11 operating EVs with more on order.  These were the first vehicles to come into operation since the chargers had been installed.  

Having regard to the information set out in the report and the representations made to her at the meeting the Cabinet Member for Environment confirmed her decision as follows:

to agree Annex 1 to the report CMDE8 to become an Annex of the 2015-2020 Internal Energy Strategy, and to be used to inform procurement processes.

Signed…………………………………………

Cabinet Member for Environment

Date of signing……………………………….