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RESOLVED (a) That retrospective approval for the purchase of 21 small EV vans and 11 large EV vans from FleetEV, under the Welsh Government Electric Vehicle Collaborative Framework, be agreed. The total cost of the vans is £1,104,751.55. (b) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has commissioned an audit into the Governance Arrangements associated with the procurement of these vehicles and the level of adherence to the Authority’s Financial Procedure Rules and Contract Procedure Rules. (c) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has also initiated a management investigation into the circumstances leading to the presentation of an Individual Cabinet Member Decision (ICM) report without the full information and its associated recommendation for an ICM decision, which failed to include information relating to the prior purchase and receipt of the vehicles.
There were no declarations of interest.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED (a) That retrospective approval for the purchase of 21 small EV vans and 11 large EV vans from FleetEV, under the Welsh Government Electric Vehicle Collaborative Framework, be agreed. The total cost of the vans is £1,104,751.55. (b) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has commissioned an audit into the Governance Arrangements associated with the procurement of these vehicles and the level of adherence to the Authority’s Financial Procedure Rules and Contract Procedure Rules. (c) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has also initiated a management investigation into the circumstances leading to the presentation of an Individual Cabinet Member Decision (ICM) report without the full information and its associated recommendation for an ICM decision, which failed to include information relating to the prior purchase and receipt of the vehicles.
Cabinet considered a report by the Head of Infrastructure & Environment which outlined the Authority’s Procurement of Electric Vans. Councillor Rhys Sinnett, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Resident Services, introduced the report and stated that its purpose was to obtain the retrospective approval to purchase 21 small and 11 large electric vans (EV) as part of the Welsh EV Collaborative Procurement Framework. He noted that originally, this decision was approved as part of an ICM (Individual Cabinet Member) Decision as it met the requirements to be one. However, due to issues raised in the report and on advice he received from the Chief Executive, he rescinded his approval of the decision was and from a governance and audit perspective, it was agreed that it should be presented to Cabinet. The Chief Executive concurred with Councillor Sinnett’s comments and added that the ICM that Councillor Sinnett received was missing key information. Therefore, the Chief Executive had commenced an audit into the governance arrangements associated with the procurement of the EVs and in the level of adherence to the authority's financial procedure rules and contract procedural rules. Additionally, he had initiated an investigation into the circumstances leading to the apparent incomplete ICM. With regards to the EV purchase itself, Councillor Sinnett noted that it would help decarbonise the Council’s fleet in line with Welsh government policy aspirations by 2030 and that the Council’s current fleet was an aging one and it was costly to maintain. He recalled the content of the report and noted that as the vehicles were already purchased, Cabinet options were limited as they could either accept the purchase or try and return them but this would be difficult as some vehicles had already been modified to carry out their purpose and there was no contractual right to return the EVs. He concluded that the preferred option was 1A as it was in line with Welsh Government policy and would help meet Net Zero goals; 1B would lead to the Council incurring extra costs. The Head of Infrastructure & Environment noted that the Council’s fleet had over 200 vehicles and they were over seven years old; this fleet needed replacing as it was costly to repair them. He highlighted the environmental benefits of the EVs, the diversity of the Council’s fleet and financial implications as set out in the report. Due to staff shortages, the Integrated Transport Unit Manager stated that the Council was behind its Net Zero carbon targets for 2030 and the new fleet would be on the road more as it would need fixing as frequently as the current fleet. The Net Zero plan stated that combustion engines should not be purchased and from 2025 only low emission vehicles should be bought. Even after the purchase, he said that they would still need 54 more ultra-low emission vehicles and the diesel alternative vans were only a bit more expensive than their EV counterpart. Regarding EV charging, the Integrated Transport Unit Manager noted that funding had been obtained to install charging infrastructure in car parks and the Council’s depot sites. He recalled the maintenance benefits that EVs had over the diesel and petrol counterparts as stated in the report and that the EVs should save £700 annually in maintenance costs and £3688 per vehicle. In terms of fuel savings, the Integrated Transport Unit Manager said that with every Renault Kangoo, they were predicted to save £1976.90 in fuel over a period of eight years and £152.62 for the Ford Transits. Councillor Neil Prior stated that he had no objections with the purchase and running costs of the EVs but he expressed his concerns with the report’s process. The Leader queried if all the vehicles were bought at once or separately and whether the Council would be fined if they did not meet the appointed Welsh environmental regulations by 2025. In response, the Integrated Transport Unit Manager confirmed that they were bought at once as 55 vehicles needed replacing regardless and they saved money by buying them all at once. Regarding possible fines, he said that it was unconfirmed if they would be fined for not meeting the regulation by 2025 but there would be implications. They could look at repurposing some vehicles in their current fleet instead of replacing some, for example, parking services. The Head of Infrastructure & Environment added that EV maintenance was being carried out by the fitters but if there were any warranty issues then the vehicle would go back to the manufacturer to fix. Councillor Paul Miller concurred that he was happy with retrospective approval as the Council needed vans for multiple different things and new vans were needed and that the EV infrastructure needed for the vehicles had already been implemented. He added that this purchase would have needed to have been done in order for the Council to meet its Net Zero targets. However, Councillor Miller said that in order to stop retrospective approval happening again, the Council should review its processes. He continued that following the original ICM decision, it was implied that officers knew they had already purchased the EVs when the Cabinet Member was asked to make the decision which he found very disappointing. Therefore this implied that officers presented an ICM that was known to be misleading. Councillor Miller concluded that he had confidence in the Chief Executive and Disciplinary Committees to resolve the issue. The Leader concurred with Councillor Miller’s concerns. Councillor Jacob Williams stated that the purpose of this meeting was to resolve a procedural issue mess and did not see the point of discussing the benefits of EV’s as the decision had been made. He concurred with the comments made by Councillor Miller. Regarding the purchase of the EVs, Councillor Williams said that this information was only known after the ICM was initially called in and that the report underplayed what was presented in the original ICM. He concluded that the only option was to support the recommendations. The Leader emphasised that it was important not to discuss what would be discussed by the Disciplinary Committees when they met to discuss this issue. The Chief Executive clarified that this issue would not be downplayed when looked at by the Disciplinary Committees and an independent investigator would investigate the issue before reporting back to the Disciplinary Committees and Full Council. He added that an audit will be carried out on the collaborative framework the Council followed as part of this issue too. Councillor Rhys Sinnett Moved the Recommendation; Seconded by Councillor Neil Prior. The vote, undertaken by way of roll call was carried. The votes were recorded as follows: For the Motion: Councillors Paul Miller, Michelle Bateman, Tessa Hodgson, Neil Prior, Rhys Sinnett, Jacob Williams, Guy Woodham and Jon Harvey [8] There were no votes against or abstentions. RESOLVED (a) That retrospective approval for the purchase of 21 small EV vans and 11 large EV vans from FleetEV, under the Welsh Government Electric Vehicle Collaborative Framework, be agreed. The total cost of the vans is £1,104,751.55. (b) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has commissioned an audit into the Governance Arrangements associated with the procurement of these vehicles and the level of adherence to the Authority’s Financial Procedure Rules and Contract Procedure Rules. (c) That it be noted that the Chief Executive has also initiated a management investigation into the circumstances leading to the presentation of an Individual Cabinet Member Decision (ICM) report without the full information and its associated recommendation for an ICM decision, which failed to include information relating to the prior purchase and receipt of the vehicles.
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