THE Ministry of Defence has taken the first steps to outsourcing the remainder of its 11,000-strong support vehicle fleet with a pre-tender conference in York. About 30 leading leasing companies attended the meeting, at which MoD officials outlined their requirements for the private sector management of the Armed Forces' 'White Fleet' under the Government's Private Finance Initiative.

Delegates included representatives from Lex Vehicle Leasing, PHH Vehicle Management Services, Ryder, Cowie Interleasing and GE Capital Fleet Services. The meeting follows the successful completion of a 'pathfinder project' under which Lex Vehicle Leasing won the five-year contract to supply vehicles to the RAF's 2,700-vehicle White Fleet of administrative cars and vans.

The deal was Lex Vehicle Leasing's largest single contract and established the ground rules for future fleet management arrangements for the rest of the Armed Forces' vehicles. The MoD expects to make savings of some £17 million as a result of the Lex deal and intends to buy in private sector fleet management expertise for a further 6,000 vehicles by early 1999. Like the RAF's arrangements, the MoD is looking for a fully outsourced contract, with the supplier retaining ownership of the vehicles and full responsibility for their management.

The next stage of the process will be a full-scale tender exercise, involving contracts to manage vehicles on behalf of the MoD in Scotland, central England and Wales and London. A shortlist of between six and eight potential bidders will be drawn up for each region prior to selection. Two further projects for the South of England are likely to be initiated in the near future.