Taunton Deane Borough Council extend partnership with BT Fleet

Taunton Deane Borough Council has signed a new four-year contract with BT Fleet, extending their partnership until 2019.

As a local authority, Taunton Deane Borough Council is responsible for the delivery of services to both Taunton Deane and West Somerset’s residents and visitors, providing such functions as housing, council tax collection, benefits, environmental health, open space maintenance and street and toilet cleaning, amongst others. The daily demands placed on the council mean that it is critical its fleet of vehicles remain on the road and meet the stringent compliance standards required.

BT Fleet is consolidating all of the council’s requirements under one fleet management programme and is providing account management, vehicle scheduling, service, maintenance and repair, hire services, breakdown services, administrative and legislative management and access to training and support services. The Taunton workshop, which is a five-minute drive away from the council depot, offers direct support, reducing ferrying time and net downtime.

Chris Hall, assistant director of operations at Taunton Deane Borough Council, said: “Local authority organisations are coming under increased scrutiny to ensure public money is being utilised effectively. Outsourcing our fleet management to a partner we can trust means we can save a considerable amount of time and achieve significant cost savings.

“BT Fleet identifies the needs of our fleet on a day-to-day basis and ensures that vehicle downtime is kept to a minimum. This helps to ensure that our programme of works can flow as planned, without interruption. This collaborative working arrangement provides tangible operating benefits to all, which underscores how well the partnership is working.

"Since we started working with BT Fleet in 2011, we have made substantial improvements to time and cost efficiencies and we are looking forward to seeing how these results improve even further over the next four years.”

Joe Fielder, sales director at BT Fleet, added: “Expectations on local authorities to rationalise and consolidate spend are only increasing and it can be extremely challenging to deliver consistent, efficient performance. Taunton Deane Borough Council is a fantastic example of a public sector organisation approaching fleet management in an innovative way by being open to working in parternship and gaining knowledge from fleet providers such as ourselves. We have established a strong relationship with the team over the past four years and it was from this partnership we were able to really understand their needs and expectations in meeting financial challenges and procurement requirements.”