Purpose of survey?
The survey was a good chance for us to present the way that public money is being spent on a local level. Obviously cars are our business and so it was an ideal opportunity to shine the light on local council spending, revealing those who were most wasteful and frugal. There’s nothing else out there like this report and so I feel we’ve provided something of real value here.
Co-operation of Councils in response?
Most councils were very cooperative and got back to us quickly after the requests were sent out. The ones who owned cars that were very luxurious and not a good use of the public purse tended to respond very close to the legal deadline. There were two councils that refused to give information; one being Nottingham who never responded to any of our communications and Sandwell who said that if they were to give out any information they would be risking the safety of their vehicles. I think in Sandwell’s case that they probably have some very expensive cars under their ownership, but we have no timely way of challenging their response.
What does this tell you about Cheshire East and West?
Cheshire East and West were by far the most uncontrolled in the spending of their residents’ money. They both had Bentleys worth a minimum of £140,900 on their books and the nearest value car given by any other councils was half that at £70,975. In times of austerity spending like this cannot be justified; there are huge cutbacks and job losses going on at the councils and this creates an unjustified and hypocritical divide.
Lessons to be learned for all Councils?
I think that councils should learn from this that they are not immune to the spotlight that is currently being put on public spending. Non-commercial vehicles do not affect the level of service that residents get and therefore should be as economically managed as possible. Hopefully in light of this study councils with higher spends will reassess what they allocate to cars and take a much more humble approach to how their employees transport themselves around.
Obviously you are thinking Councils should lease all vehicles?
Not necessarily, although leasing is our business we’re not forcing it down anyone’s throat as an option that has to be taken. What we’d like to see is more balanced fleets that serve the needs and not wants of councils. Leasing is a much cheaper option per financial year than buying cars outright, therefore it’s up to each council’s budget planners what option they take.
Other thoughts?
I’d like to thank Cheshire East Exposed for having this interview with us, and let readers know that should they wish to see the full findings of our study they can do so by visiting the following page http://www.intelligentcarleasing.com/blog/councils-are-treating-themselves-to-flash-cars-with-your-tax-money/http://www.intelligentcarleasing.com/blog/councils-are-treating-themselves-to-flash-cars-with-your-tax-money/
