Public sector bosses are potentially putting the lives of their staff and the public in danger by failing to manage their grey fleet drivers.

They are also putting themselves at risk of Corporate Manslaughter charges should one of their grey fleet drivers cause a death while at work.

Exclusive research by Fleet News has found that tens of thousands of county council employees in England are using their own vehicles for work without their employers carrying out even the most basic checks.

Of the 30 county councils quizzed, who between them employ 572,000 people and have more than 140,000 grey fleet drivers, not one inspects their grey fleet vehicles for safety.

More than half of the councils do not even have a policy for checking grey fleet vehicles have valid MoT certificates.

It contravenes Government advice, which states public sector managers should be “carrying out checks on driving licences, insurance cover and MoT certificates before allowing employees to drive their own vehicle for work, and then repeating these at regular intervals”.

However, the majority of county councils rely on grey fleet drivers’ honesty when they state that they have a safe and roadworthy vehicle.

“Health and safety legislation says that employers must assess risks to their workforce and those affected by their activities and take steps to deal with those risks,” said a Department for Transport spokesman.

“Driving at work needs to be treated in the same way as other work activities – ownership of a vehicle is irrelevant.”

However, the DfT said it was up to each council to implement a policy – it would not be intervening, despite Fleet News' findings.

“How employers discharge their obligations is for them to decide,” said the spokesman.

The Fleet News research found that more than 77,000 county council grey fleet drivers are using private vehicles for business journeys knowing their employers will not only never check safety-critical items such as tyres or windscreens, but will never ask them to produce a valid MoT certificate.

Checking grey fleet vehicles are roadworthy and have valid MoT certificates is essential as the typical grey fleet vehicle is between six and seven-years-old.

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), confirms that grey fleet vehicles are often older than lease or hire vehicles, meaning that they may have higher emissions levels than newer equivalents and fewer safety features.

The number of county councils that have a policy to check their grey fleet drivers have adequate insurance cover is also shown to be inadequate.

Fewer than half (47%) require employees to provide documentary evidence that they have insurance that covers them for using their vehicles for work.

They rely solely on a declaration from employees that they have cover.

This means more than 50,000 county council employees are driving private vehicles for business without employers checking their insurance cover.

“Grey fleet is the elephant in the room,” said Stuart Walker, brand director at Automotive Leasing, which specialises in public sector lease contracts.

“Though there are examples of well-managed grey fleets, these are the exception and not the rule.”

Automotive Leasing’s own research found some public sector organisations have “no idea” about their level of grey fleet use.

It found some public sector fleet managers don’t see the grey fleet as their responsibility.

Walker said: “There’s a worry that having employees drive new cars gives the wrong impression of how public money is being spent, but the reality is that the grey fleet is a financial drain on the whole sector, not to mention the environmental and safety impacts.”

He said that the average grey fleet payment is 59 pence per mile, which means many council employees will profit from using their own vehicle.

“There are far more efficient ways of covering these miles, such as putting some in a lease car,” said Walker.

The OGC also suggests pool cars, daily rental, public transport, car sharing and challenging whether journeys have to be made at all.

“It is important that organisations do what they can to breakdown internal barriers to change and implement a successful grey fleet management programme,” an OGC spokesman said in response to the Fleet News findings.

The OGC initiative has resulted in 22 million fewer grey fleet miles and £8.6 million in savings.

“We would urge public sector organisations to engage fully with our programme to help achieve further improvements.”

Essex County Council is piloting OGC’s five-step process to tackle grey fleet and Derbyshire County Council has carried out a study on the use of pool cars.

The findings will be shared.

Managing duty of care to employees driving for work is a legal requirement.

This includes employees driving their own vehicles, states the OGC.

The financial arguments against grey fleets

At an average of 59p per mile paid to grey fleet drivers, the financial argument for reducing the grey fleet mileage is compelling. For example, a typical grey fleet driver undertaking a 180-mile business trip the would cost a county council an average of £106.20 – substantially more than in a hire or leased pool car. And both hired and leased cars will be newer, safer and cleaner.

 

  • Cost of journey in grey fleet car £106.20
  • Cost of journey hire car £46.62*
  • Cost of journey in leased pool car £34.10**
    * Hire rates calculated for one day in a lower-medium sector car including delivery and collection, full insurance and fuel (courtesy of Enterprise).
    ** Leased rates calculated on a three-year with full maintenance contract for a Ford Focus including full insurance and fuel.

Presenting the wrong image to the public
"As foster carers for a county council, my wife and I looked after children under the age of two. On occasions, social workers and support staff transported children in their own cars.
On at least two occasions, contact with parents had to be cancelled as local authority staff had broken down and on one of these occasions I had to attend the breakdown and transfer the baby to my car.
On another occasion, I had to advise a support worker of the dangers of putting a child seat in the front passenger seat with an airbag. She was totally unaware of the risks.
The problems of using their own cars for work was acknowledged by the social services staff themselves. It was not something that they liked doing and they recognised some of the issues relating to client transportation in private vehicles.
It would be far better if the council provided newer, safer and more reliable cars for its staff to use, especially when they are carrying young children."
Patrick Nolan, Manchester

 

‘Using your own car is the last resort’ – Gloucestershire County Council

Gloucestershire County Council is one of only two county councils to be named a ‘business champion’ by the Government-backed Roadsafe Driving for Better ‘Business campaign.

Its 1,500 ‘essential’ grey fleet car users and ‘a number of other casual’ grey fleet drivers cover more than 7.5 million miles a year.

Following a review of fleet operations it produced a policy on safe driving procedures, which include checks on driver and vehicle-related documents, such as driving licences, insurance, MoT certificates and servicing.

It already outsources licence checking of grey fleet drivers.

In addition, driver risk assessments are carried out and additional training provided.

It is developing a policy to challenge all grey fleet miles.

“We will question and challenge every mile,” said Bob Gibbons, transport engineering manager.

“We are developing a decision tree which means using your own car will be the last resort.

"This will be policy; there will be no opt out.”

The council is looking at alternatives to the grey fleet.

Where to get help
The OGC grey fleet initiative email greyfleet@ogc.gsi.gov.uk or visit http://seek.ogc.gov.uk/commodities_procurement_fleet_8595.asp


 

The HSE driving for work guide www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf

The OGC is holding fleet workshops for procurement, operational and sustainability leads from member councils in conjunction with the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs).

Log onto its site for more details.