London boroughs are set to save millions on their commercial vehicle fleet bills thanks to an innovative new project which was launched on Monday, the 20thof February.

The London Commercial Fleet Project (LCFP), the first of its kind in the country, aims to save the capital's councils at least 10% on the £60m plus they spend each year buying and maintaining a combined fleet of some 6,000 vehicles.

Two years in development, the project launch brings together a set of new products and services designed to encourage standardisation and collaboration across London:

-17 core specifications for major vehicle types, all of which accommodate boroughs' requirements

-A new fleet planning tool ' called Fleetcol ' that uses cloud-based technology to help boroughs plan and forecast their future requirements across London

-The use of modern, “e-auction-enabled” framework contracts to encourage standardisation and collaboration across organisations

-A programme of e-auctions during 2012 for commercial vans, minibuses and refuse freighters and mini-competitions for accessible buses run in conjunction with the Government Procurement Service and other consortia

-A new fleet-related website for London boroughs www.lto.org.uk



The project has been developed by London boroughs in response to research commissioned by Capital Ambition. This found a history of piecemeal purchasing, a lack of shared fleets, little evidence of standardisation and collaboration and limited influence on the supplier market. The research found that in-house or outsourced fleets made little difference to the overall picture.

Instead, with London authorities having agreed core specifications for vehicle types, sharing contracts, brigading their future requirements and using e-auctions, annual cashable savings of at least 10% can be achieved. This figure has been corroborated by the Government's own procurement experts.

Project sponsor, Will Tuckley, Chief Executive of the London Borough of Bexley, said: “With financial pressures so acute, London boroughs have recognised that it isn't sustainable to buy and maintain their fleets without recourse to the bigger picture. Through collaboration and co-operation, this innovative project harnesses our collective buying power to deliver significant cashable savings and improve the way we acquire and manage our fleet.”

Progress on the LCFP is being followed closely by local authorities across England with many keen to use the new fleet planning tool.