Charter for Iran leet
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• Transfleet, the commercial vehicle contract hire company with a specialist local authority division, has been awarded a five-year contract to take over the running of the municipal vehicle requirements of Runnymede Borough Council in Surrey.
The contract involves the purchase and hire-back of 57 vehicles worth £507,000 and the provision of five new vehicles at a cost of £94,000. It will be operational from April 1987.
Transtleet has had a similar agreement with neighbouring Woking Council since July 1986, and from next year the maintenance facilities and spare vehicles of the two councils will be pooled.
As part of its agreement, Woking leased its maintenance workshops to Transfleet. These will be operated as a 24-hour facility from January 1987, handling outside contracts as well as council business.
Transfleet intends to reduce hire charges to both local authorities as a result of bringing in outside contract work.
Runnymede has relocated its work to one central site, leaving its Egham vehicle maintenance workshop out on a limb.
It will now demolish that workshop and Transfleet has undertaken to give first opportunities for employment to existing Runnymede staff.
Transfleet is also currently re-negotiating its contract with Three Rivers District Council. This contract has been running for three years with substantial savings for the council.
Two items of legislation in the Queen's speech to Parliament this session should further boost local authority interest in contract hire.
One will allow councils to count the capital value of a finance lease against their individual capital expenditure limits.
An exception to this is likely to be made for operating leases as determined by SSAP21, which without maintenance give local authorities whose policies preclude "privatisation" an alternative to a finance lease.
A second proposal may, however, force these authorities to consider including vehicle maintenance within the operating lease.
This would require councils to demonstrate value for money by competing against contractors for the maintenance of vehicles.