He has also set a 110-mile journey limit for employees using their own car on business. Limits set by other public sector fleets at the roundtable meeting included 60 miles at Northamptonshire Police, 75 miles at the Environment Agency and 110 miles at Derbyshire County Council.

“The buy in to making cuts in fleet costs is easier to achieve because of the funding review,” Johal said. “You either lose front line services or you make the cuts.”

Hine has started using a pay-as-you-go car club scheme (Hertz Connect) for occasional drivers who can use the cars for private or business mileage. They can reclaim any costs incurred on business.

“It’s more flexible and it’s a cheaper option than car hire or public transport,” he said. “Staff can also cycle or use the bus to get to the campus and then use the car to get to a meeting, rather than using the car for all of the travel.”

The car club scheme is replacing car hire when the journey is less than four hours. Any longer and the cost benefit works in favour of hire.

However, Hine admits one issue is getting staff to refuel the car at the end of the hire.

Adkins’s solution at Leicestershire Police is to issue staff with an agency card so any fuel costs come out of their wage. “Only around 10% don’t refuel,” he said.

Mitch Elliott, commercial manager – Fleet Services at Lincolnshire County Council, added: “For us it’s more like 90%.”

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