Public sector fleet purchasing

The recent Arrive ‘N’ Drive event – a yearly showcase of the latest vehicles and solutions to help fleet professionals run a more efficient transport operation – provided a fantastic opportunity for us to talk to visitors about our range of public sector fleet procurement solutions and discuss our green vision.
   
Arrive ‘n’ Drive gave us valuable insight into how various sections of the market are utilising technology and the resources available, such as telematics applications and carpooling, to help us push forward with our green agenda.
   
Following the event, we have established customer and supplier stakeholder groups to help us further improve our knowledge of a wide range of fleet topics – including driver training, accident assistance and prevention, and spare parts and consumables. If you are a public sector organisation or supplier of fleet‑related goods and services and would like to get involved in our stakeholder engagement please feel free to contact the team.

Green commitment
Green fleet issues are very much at the forefront of our strategy and we’re working closely with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles who are developing the new Transport Government Buying Standard. This promotes easy-to-use product specifications to enable the public sector to develop tenders which focus on sustainably. It is mandatory for central government, and represents best practice for the wider public sector.

Our commitment to green operations also means that the average CO2 level of the vehicles bought through our Vehicle Purchase agreement over the last year sits at 115g/km. This comfortably meets the Transport Government Buying Standard target of 130g/km, yet our goal in 2014/15 is to further reduce this to 110 g/km.
   
We are also exploring the options to include telematics in our range of goods and services to boost fuel efficiency and improve driver behaviours; and are developing a new Vehicle Purchase agreement. Scheduled to launch in December 2014, it will promote supplier accountability by making them responsible for the complete supply chain from vehicle manufacture through to after sales support.
   
£680 million of public sector fleet spend passed through our agreements last year, with over 32,000 vehicles and over 250,000 tyres purchased, demonstrating our commitment to providing great value for money.

Procurement
We have several agreements already available for public sector organisations to meet their fleet procurement needs. The core fleet agreements we offer are Vehicle Purchase (RM859), Vehicle Lease (RM858), Supply and Fit of Tyres (RM955) and Vehicle Conversion and Reconditioning Services (RM956). Additionally, other fleet solutions such as the provision of electric charging installations, fuel cards, liquid fuels and insurance services are also available.
   
If you are a public sector organisation, you can access our services in a number of ways depending on your specific needs: self‑service via our website or dedicated fleet portal for the purchase and lease of standard specification vehicles; or get involved with our programme of eAuctions which we run on behalf of multiple customers to combine requirements and leverage economies of scale. Our eAuctions are delivering superior savings for customers – for example, an eAuction for 2,500 vehicles saved customers a total of £7.9 million compared to Recommended Retail Price.  
  
We aim to be the ‘go-to’ place for expert fleet-related commercial and procurement services for the public sector. Our current focus is on increasing the scope and innovation of the goods and services available through our agreements and developing further expertise on fleet market dynamics, working proactively to spot future trends and innovations.

FURTHER INFORMATION
ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk