North Yorkshire County Council

Business & Environmental Services

Executive Members

11 May 2021

Procurement of Fuel Cards for NYCC Vehicles

Report of Assistant Director – Travel, Environment and Countryside Services

1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1 To seek approval from the Corporate Director – Business and Environmental Services, in consultation with the Executive Member for Access to proceed with a procurement exercise for the provision of fuel cards from 01 June 2021.

2.0 Background

2.1       The Council operate 400 vehicles across numerous sites in the course of normal operational duties.

2.2       The Council operates 13 bunkered fuel sites however there is an operational requirement for better coverage so that drivers do not have to make unnecessary journeys to the bunkered fuel sites.

2.3       Wider coverage is maintained by the use of fuel only cards that are accepted at nearly all fuel outlets.

2.4       The Council fuel volume bought using fuel cards is estimated to be circa 370k litres per annum in a usual year.

3.0       Tender process

3.1       A procurement process will be undertaken to identify an appropriate provider.

4.0       Consultation

4.1       No consultation was undertaken

5.0       Sustainability

5.1       Employees are encouraged to look for alternatives instead of travel such as utilising technology.

5.2       Fuel efficiency is a key element of the vehicle replacement process where emissions and fuel efficiency of vehicles are considered as part of the specification process. Additionally, battery electric vehicles are considered for each request.

5.3       Services are encouraged to seek alternative methods of service delivery to reduce the need to travel and to maximise the use of technology.

6.0 Equalities Implications

6.1       An Initial equality impact assessment screening form has been completed. This can be found at Appendix 1

7.0 Financial Implications

7.1       The estimated annual cost of fuel and card administration is £400k. The anticipated whole life contract cost is £1.2m based on a 3 year contract.

7.2       The cost of this fuel is charged back to directorates with a 2% uplift applied.

8.0       Climate Change

8.1       A Climate Change Impact report has been completed and can be found in Appendix 2.

9.0       Recommendation

9.1       It is recommended that the Corporate Director – BES, in consultation with the Executive Member for Access authorises a procurement exercise for fuel cards.

MICHAEL LEAH

Assistant Director – Travel, Environment and Countryside Services

Report author: Andrew Sharpin – Operations and Fleet Manager – Travel, Environment and Countryside Services

Background documents: None

Directorate	BES
Service area	TECS
Proposal being screened	Fuel card provision
Officer(s) carrying out screening	Andrew Sharpin
What are you proposing to do?	Procure fuel card provision
Why are you proposing this? What are the desired outcomes?	To provide fuel for operational duties undertaken in NYCC fleet vehicles.
Does the proposal involve a significant commitment or removal of resources? Please give details.	Yes – the estimated contract value is
Impact on people with any of the following protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or NYCC’s additional agreed characteristics As part of this assessment, please consider the following questions: · To what extent is this service used by particular groups of people with protected characteristics? · Does the proposal relate to functions that previous consultation has identified as important? · Do different groups have different needs or experiences in the area the proposal relates to? If for any characteristic it is considered that there is likely to be an adverse impact or you have ticked ‘Don’t know/no info available’, then a full EIA should be carried out where this is proportionate. You are advised to speak to your Equality rep for advice if you are in any doubt.
Protected characteristic		Potential for adverse impact				Don’t know/No info available
		Yes		No
Age				x
Disability				x
Sex				x
Race				x
Sexual orientation				x
Gender reassignment				x
Religion or belief				x
Pregnancy or maternity				x
Marriage or civil partnership				x
NYCC additional characteristics
People in rural areas				x
People on a low income				x
Carer (unpaid family or friend)				x
Does the proposal relate to an area where there are known inequalities/probable impacts (e.g. disabled people’s access to public transport)? Please give details.		No
Will the proposal have a significant effect on how other organisations operate? (E.g. partners, funding criteria, etc.). Do any of these organisations support people with protected characteristics? Please explain why you have reached this conclusion.		No
Decision (Please tick one option)		EIA not relevant or proportionate:	x		Continue to full EIA:
Reason for decision		No impact on protected characteristics
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)		Michael Leah
Date		17/04/2021

Climate change impact assessment                                                                                                                         

The purpose of this assessment is to help us understand the likely impacts of our decisions on the environment of North Yorkshire and on our aspiration to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2030, or as close to that date as possible. The intention is to mitigate negative effects and identify projects which will have positive effects.

This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. The final document will be published as part of the decision making process and should be written in Plain English.

If you have any additional queries which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Fuel Card Provision
Brief description of proposal	To inform the Corporate Director Business and Environmental Services (BES) in consultation with Executive Member of the procurement of fuel cards for the purchase of diesel and petrol.
Directorate	BES
Service area	TECS
Lead officer	Andrew Sharpin
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	Andrew Sharpin, Operations and Fleet Manager
Date impact assessment started	16/04/2021

Options appraisal

Were any other options considered in trying to achieve the aim of this project? If so, please give brief details and explain why alternative options were not progressed.

The current NYCC fleet requires access to diesel and petrol for its daily operation. There is currently no alternative to the use of internal combustion engine powered vehicles. There is work underway to develop the business case to replace internal combustion vehicles with battery electric vehicles (BEV) together with supporting infrastructure. The main barrier to the successful implementation of BEV is the provision of infrastructure.

What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?

The cost of the proposal will vary with any change in fuel forecourt prices during the course of the contract and the mileage operated by vehicles. The method of service delivery may change post Covid-19 and require less mileage to be driven and therefore reduce costs. A Driving Strategy will be developed in 2021-2022 to encourage fuel efficient and safe driving and successful delivery of this plan will reduce fuel costs.

How will this proposal impact on the environment? N.B. There may be short term negative impact and longer term positive impact. Please include all potential impacts over the lifetime of a project and provide an explanation.		Positive impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	No impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	Negative impact (Place a X in the box below where relevant)	Explain why will it have this effect and over what timescale? Where possible/relevant please include: · Changes over and above business as usual · Evidence or measurement of effect · Figures for CO2e · Links to relevant documents	Explain how you plan to mitigate any negative impacts.	Explain how you plan to improve any positive outcomes as far as possible.
Minimise greenhouse gas emissions e.g. reducing emissions from travel, increasing energy efficiencies etc.	Emissions from travel			X	Any travel using internal combustion engine vehicles results in roadside emissions. Pre-pandemic in 2019-2020 the fuel card volume was 351700 litres. This resulted in 921.4tonnes of CO2 emissions. The level of emissions during the pandemic from fuel card volume has fallen but not to the extent that may be assumed as the services that use fuel cards have continued to run.	· Services encouraged to minimise the need to travel and to both maximise the use of technology for service delivery and seek alternative methods of service delivery. · Battery Electric vehicles will be considered for use if charging can be done effectively. · Vehicles sourced are ULEV or the lowest emissions level possible wherever practicable · A driving strategy is to be developed to lower fuel volume used by encouraging better driving. · Develop corporate policy to facilitate home charging of BEV where possible.	· Development of driving strategy to reduce fuel use by safe and fuel efficient driving
	Emissions from construction
	Emissions from running of buildings
	Other
Minimise waste: Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost e.g. reducing use of single use plastic			X
Reduce water consumption			X
Minimise pollution (including air, land, water, light and noise)				X	Aside from the impact upon greenhouse emissions noted above, the use of diesel vehicles increase the level of NO2, CH4 and particulate pollution at the roadside and there are adverse effects on health and the environment from these emissions.	The mitigations are the same as for greenhouse emissions.
Ensure resilience to the effects of climate change e.g. reducing flood risk, mitigating effects of drier, hotter summers			X
Enhance conservation and wildlife			X
Safeguard the distinctive characteristics, features and special qualities of North Yorkshire’s landscape			X
Other (please state below)

Are there any recognised good practice environmental standards in relation to this proposal? If so, please detail how this proposal meets those standards.

Fuel supplied in the UK must meet BS EN 590 for diesel fuel, the BS EN 228 for petrol. These regulations ensure that fuel sold in the UK meets the required composition standards.

Summary Summarise the findings of your impact assessment, including impacts, the recommendation in relation to addressing impacts, including any legal advice, and next steps. This summary should be used as part of the report to the decision maker.

There is no alternative but to continue to require fuel card provision to purchase diesel and petrol at this time. However, the use of battery electric vehicles will be expanded as the availability charging infrastructure improves. The use of BEV reduces roadside emissions but there are still emissions therefore services are encouraged to reduce the need to travel to eliminate any emissions from fuel.

Fleet item selection will consider the use of BEV and default to ULEV (sub 75g/km CO₂) where possible and in any event lower emission vehicles will be selected where value can be demonstrated.

The Driving Strategy to be developed will reduce emissions from travel that is essential.

The corporate carbon reduction strategy includes the development of charging infrastructure to allow for the wider use of BEV.

Sign off section

This climate change impact assessment was completed by:

Name	ANDREW SHARPIN
Job title	Operations and Fleet Manager
Service area	TECS
Directorate	BES
Signature	Andrew Sharpin
Completion date	17/04/2021

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Michael Leah

Date: 19/04/2021