A responsible opposition also serves to highlight where
we would save money and protect the public pound.
A cost cutting measure that I believe should and could be
looked at quickly concerns the current and extensive Tory Council car fleet (see below).
I believe Medway could significantly reduce the cost of
staff transport that may result in a substantial saving for taxpayers.
Medway has a
significant number and combination of lease vehicles provided to staff and
employee-owned vehicles. This combination not only means that the Council is
adding significantly to local congestion and requiring additional parking (and
it has several staff car parks that are in city centre areas) it is also
blighted by the fact that the Council has no real understanding of what state
all these vehicles are in as far as I can understand.
Identifying the problem is one thing, but dealing with the
issue is an entirely different matter and that is where you can learn from best
practice.
By using local transport and having access to the cars when
they actually need them, rather than frittering money away on an expensive
fleet (including maintenance, fuel and car parking space) the council has
reported considerable savings.
I have since tried to chase officers of our Council on the
cost of the car fleet and have been met by static and complaints it would take
too long to compile the information. A worrying fact given one would assume the
maintenance and cost of transport with vehicles is usually expensed on separate
accounts in many organisations.
This is not to say that all vehicles would be managed in
this way; but a certain number could be through use of companies
like ZipCar. I appreciate this may take some time given legacy arrangements but
over the medium-long term having fewer assets that depreciate in value would be
helpful to the public purse.
I will be raising this at audit committee soon.
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