From Martin Howes, Hucknall
To the Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Town Centres:
“What proportion of the council’s vehicle fleet are fully electric vehicles (EVs) and what plans does the council have to reduce the proportion of fossil-fuel vehicles and increase the proportion of EVs in its vehicle fleet in the future?
By “vehicle fleet” I mean all the cars, vans and trucks that are owned, leased or rented by council.”
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the following question had
been submitted by Mr. Martin Howes from Hucknall.
To the Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Town Centres:
“What proportion of the council’s vehicle fleet are fully electric vehicles (EVs) and what plans does the council have to reduce the proportion of fossil-fuel vehicles and increase the proportion of EVs in its vehicle fleet in the future?
By “vehicle fleet” I mean all the cars, vans and trucks that are owned, leased or rented by council.”
The Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Town Centres, Councillor David Martin, responded to the question as follows:-
“I would like to thank the member of the public for their question about the Council’s fleet and in particular, deployment of electric vehicles.
Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges we face and everyone, including the District Council, has an obligation to do all it can to minimise our carbon footprint and fleet and transport is one area where we can take tangible actions to practically minimise emissions. Electric vehicles are not yet suitable for all kind of vehicle uses but the market is developing quickly and electric vehicles are becoming more practical for an ever wider range of uses.
Ashfield District Council has an entire fleet of 143 road registered vehicles, which also includes JCBs, tractors and ride-on-mowers, as well as standardised vehicles. The Council currently has two all-electric vehicles. Furthermore, as vehicles come to the end of their life and need replacing, options for electric or hybrid vehicles are considered and this is why two plug-in petrol hybrid vehicles have been ordered, which will replace diesel vehicles. The Council seeks to maximise Government grant wherever possible.
Furthermore, the Council is currently exploring infrastructure at the depot to allow more electric vehicles to be introduced over time and it is worth noting that the Council has over 70 Euro 6 diesel vehicles, which are the most carbon efficient diesel engines available. The Council also operates a telematics system to ensure drivers of Council vehicles drive them safely and efficiently.
A significant number of traditional Council vehicles, such as transit vans, are due for replacement in 2022 and this provides an opportunity to further expand our green fleet.”
The Chairman then gave Mr. Howes the opportunity to ask a supplementary
question and he responded as follows:-
“You mentioned that quite a few vehicles will be replaced in 2022. Can you give me an indication of what proportion of the replacement vehicles are likely to be electric and do you have any targets for that? For example, would it be a small proportion of electric vehicles or the majority of your replacements?
The Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Town Centres responded to the supplementary question as follows:-
““The Council has ambitions to consider replacing vehicles with either electric or hybrid versions and since the Ashfield Independents took outright control of the District Council in 2019, the climate has been one of our main priorities. Our team has moved many motions on this issue but more than that, we’ve achieved and continued to achieve very real outcomes.
Even tonight the Leader is adding the additional responsibilities of Energy and Climate Performance into a formal Cabinet role which Councillor Daniel Williamson will be ably working on. You may have seen in other areas, our creation of community orchards, planting of thousands of trees and the provision of photo-voltaic panels on our Council buildings making our offices more energy efficient.
Just last week Councillor Tom Hollis secured a grant of just over £1 million pounds for making more Council homes more energy efficient. We created a Climate Commission last year which works on pressing issues and the work is going on through one of our Scrutiny Panels at present.
We take this very seriously as I said before and we are making a massive difference, just like we are in every other area of the Council. I must say I am very green myself; I’ve got photo-voltaic panels and solar panels and double glazing and I do really look at innovative ways of making the Council more green on a constant basis.”