West Lothian Council has reduced its pool of vehicles in an effort to save money.
The council introduced pool cars for staff to use in 2011 in an effort to reduce costs and fuel usage. The majority of staff that use pool cars are social workers, care professionals, education, housing and building standards staff. They have to undertake regular travel to visit customers.
It has now taken the step of reducing the number of vehicles from 297 to 200. This will save the council over £250,000. A report at the council’s Environment Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel highlighted that a new allocation model has been introduced that will provide the ability to maximise the utilisation of the cars whilst reducing business mileage.
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The panel heard that the council is looking at introducing new working practices that should reduce the need for some staff to travel from their office to carry out tasks.
Over the next four years, the council faces a budget gap of over £51million as a result of Scottish Government grant funding not being sufficient to meet increased costs faced by the council.
Savings of £15million will be made in 2019/20. The council is expected to have delivered nearly £157 million of savings between 2007/2008 and March 2023
