The London Borough of Hackney has introduced a wide range of at-work driving safety initiatives that has seen the council become a ‘business champion’ under the Government-backed ‘Driving for Better Business’ campaign, which is delivered by RoadSafe.

Hackney is the first local authority in London to achieve ‘business champion’ status and is one of only four councils in the country among the now 29 organisations that have achieved ‘champion’ status.

The council’s fleet embraces some 350 vehicles including company cars, LCVs, welfare buses, refuse vehicles, HGVs and plant equipment. In addition more than 450 employees drive their own cars on work-related journeys - the so-called ‘grey’ fleet.

Overseeing the implementation, legislative compliance and effectiveness of the council’s initiatives is its newly established Fleet Management Unit (FMU), a key department within the Council’s Finance Directorate. The Unit is also responsible for coordinating the council’s fleet transport management processes.

Chris Hudson, assistant director of procurement and fleet, said: “The council recognised that the traditional devolved management processes for controlling the use of vehicles for both council-owned and grey fleet vehicles were no longer relevant to the complexity of the transport resource. Therefore, the Council has established the FMU to co-ordinate all vehicle-related activities.

“Each user’s requirements are quite different and responsibility is delegated to the appropriate management level for detailed procedures relevant to particular equipment or procedures.”