Council launches greener staff travel support

Denbighshire County Council has launched a greener scheme to support lowering staff business travel costs.

The Council’s Fleet Service is overseeing a new pool vehicle system to help drive down carbon emissions and also costs for business travel around the county.

Denbighshire County Council declared a climate and nature emergency in 2019 and has since been adopting zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) into its fleet. More than 20 percent of its fleet vehicles are made up of ZEVs.

The Council’s Fleet Service has been transitioning end of live fossil fuel powered vehicles over to electric where appropriate with significant support from Welsh and UK Government departments. This helps cut down on emissions produced, reduces long-term costs for miles and maintenance across all services and lowers the reliance on petrol- and diesel-powered engines.

Staff also take part in a training package run by Fleet which includes how to utilise the EV charging infrastructure safely and efficiently, making use of regenerative braking systems, and when to select a 'driving mode' based on conditions or payloads.

Now staff who have received the training can take part in a bookable EV pool vehicle  system which is operating across the county following a successful smaller pilot scheme run by Fleet.

Supported by Toyota Proace EV and Citroen Ec3 vans, staff can now book out online and pick one of these vehicles up at locations in Denbigh, St Asaph, Prestatyn, and Llangollen for their working travel needs.

Using this system, which is supported by RFID readers on the vehicle dashboards, helps reduce the reliance on traditional fossil fuelled vehicles by staff for their travel miles in support of council business.

Martin Griffiths, Fleet Mobility Lead Officer, Denbighshire County Council, explained: “As part of our Council Climate Change and Nature Recovery strategy we are committed to continue to reduce carbon emissions across the local authority, which includes our Fleet.

“We are aware as a council that some staff use their own vehicles for business travel and these are more likely to be fossil fuel driven vehicles. This new scheme really provides the best of both worlds, staff as long as they complete the EV training can book one of these vehicles out to save the wear and tear on their car and mileage costs. We as a council are also helping put more greener miles on the road which helps towards the goal of lowering the county’s carbon footprint.

Martin added: “We are also continually sharing our good practice and experiences with other Welsh Council’s and Public Sector Bodies to help them with their own transition to zero emission. Carrying out the inhouse EV training and running this new pool car system is enabling us to learn from the experiences of our own staff using the EVs which is a massive bonus for how we continue to shape our fleet support to tackle carbon emissions in the future.”

Cllr James Elson, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Introducing a pool vehicle system is an important step in ensuring the Council makes the most effective use of its resources. By providing staff with access to vehicles for business travel, we can reduce reliance on private vehicles, help manage business mileage costs and ensure taxpayers receive better value for money. The scheme also supports the Council’s wider commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its operations.”