Members at Nottingham City Council are set to consider approving £14.5m in fleet procurement activity, having been warned that failure to do so could pose a ‘significant’ risk to the council.
The proposal, due before the Executive Board on 21 July 2026, covers essential third-party support services for the council’s fleet of around 800 vehicles, including refuse collection vehicles, gritters, street cleansing vehicles and specialist plant.
The contracts, running through to 2032, will fund breakdown and recovery, statutory LOLER lifting equipment examinations, vehicle parts supply, bodyshop repairs, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure support.
Fleet Services already operates in-house workshops to control costs, but officers say the scale and specialist nature of the fleet means some services must be delivered by external providers to remain safe, compliant and cost-effective. These include independent statutory inspections and emergency recovery capability that cannot practically be replicated internally.
The largest single contract is for vehicle parts provision, expected to cost £10.5m over six years, followed by bodyshop repairs at £2m and breakdown recovery and LOLER examinations at £500,000 each over four years.
A new £1m contract for EV charging infrastructure support will also be established as the council continues its transition to low-emission vehicles.
Officers have warned that rejecting the procurement activity would expose the council to ‘significant legal, financial and operational risk,’ potentially threatening its Operator Licence and disrupting statutory services such as bin collections and winter gritting.
Cllr Patience Ifediora, Executive Member for Regional Development, Growth and Transport, is overseeing the decision, with reports prepared by Fleet Governance Manager Emma Andrews and Fleet Manager Wayne Burton.
All spending will be drawn from existing approved budgets, with authority to award and sign contracts delegated to the Strategic Director of Resident Services should members give the go-ahead.
Photo: © PoohFotoz / Shutterstock.com.
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