Content

RESOLVED
 
i)             
To award the contract to a suitable supplier to facilitate the
purchase of the waste vehicle and associated equipment.
 
ii)            
To delegate authority to the Director of Resources in consultation
with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to finalise the
terms of, and enter into, any documentation required to give effect
to this decision.
 
RECOMMENDED TO
COUNCIL
 
iii)          
That a capital expenditure budget of £1,730,000 required to
purchase seven new refuse collection vehicles is approved. This
will be spent in the financial year 2026/27.

 
iv)          
That a capital expenditure budget of £50,000 required to
purchase two new bin lifts and revenue budget of £5,000 for
labour costs is approved. This will be spent in the current
financial year 2025/2026.
 
v)           
That authority be delegated to the Director of Resources in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources to
increase the capital budget by up to £50,000 in the
eventuality the cost of the vehicles is higher at the point we
enter into the procurement.
 
REASONS
 
i)             
There are seven refuse collection vehicles which have reached the
end of their useable life and require replacing due to
unreliability and associated costs.

 
ii)            
There are two refuse collection vehicles which need the bin lifts
replacing.
 
iii)          
Full Council must approve additional capital and revenue
expenditure
 
 
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED BUT REJECTED AS
IDENTIFIED IN THE REPORT
 
i)             
Serious consideration was given to repairing a greater number or
all of the vehicles rather than purchasing new ones. However, the
extensive repairs required to restore the seven vehicles to
operational standards comes with a financial burden of
£150,000 in parts alone, and £12,000 in hire vehicle
costs. This does not include labour and potential unforeseen
expenses, which will only push the total costs higher. Moreover,
the operational impact is far-reaching, with delays in service,
technician workload, and diminished morale affecting the operation.
There is also no guarantee that these vehicles will last for any
extended period of time so it could be a wasted spend. This would
lead to increased low morale and further breakdowns and struggles
to complete daily work which comes with a high reputational risk
from not delivering the service.
 
ii)            
Consideration was also given to replacing all nine vehicles, but
this was rejected as two vehicles can have their bin lifts replaced
as the main body is still of a satisfactory condition. 
 
iii)          
Leasing could be considered but it is costly based on the high
mileage in the district and is not an effective way to manage
vehicles. Based on 34 years of knowledge we know it will have its
challenges of ensuring there are enough vehicles to carry out
statutory duties, ensuring all work is completed every day and that
the hire vehicles themselves are reliable enough.
 
iv)          
Electric vehicles are always considered whenever the Council is
buying new vehicles and our transport manager carries out regular
research into this and talks to others across the industry. The
vehicles we have tested either are not reliable or do not have the
range to cover the rounds and this is still the case.
 
v)           
EVs currently don't allow us to provide like for like replacements
due to the limited range and we will need 1.5 EVs for every 1
diesel. To replace the current 7 RCV’s with EV would cost
£4,800,000 compared to £1,7300,000 to purchase diesel.
On top of that, we would need to re-route the rounds to facilitate
this which would be a major project on its own. We would need to
acquire more depot space and install charging infrastructure (cost
unknown, but significant). We would need to recruit 12 more staff
to crew the additional vehicles at a cost of £550,000 per
annum. Whilst the running costs of fuel and maintenance per EV are
cheaper than the HVO equivalent, it would not cover the additional
staffing costs required, nor would it pay anything back against the
higher capital cost.
 
vi)          
Electric and/or hydrogen technology still needs a lot of developing
before we can rely on it for RCV’s in our district. We do use
HVO which reduce carbon emissions and many other authorities are
now starting to use this.
 
vii)         
There are 18 vehicles that are not being replaced in this phase and
as is the case with all fleet replacements, we will consider the
cost and feasibility of EVs in developing the proposed
approach.