To consider the above report.

David Scott, Head of Communities and Highways explained to Members that this was a follow up report due to earlier interest in using more efficient vehicles. There were four recommendations focused around procurement of up to 10 hybrid and electric vehicles. Further analysis was being carried out to ensure the correct, most efficient number of cars were procured.

The Employment panel would be looking at the pool car use policy to try and increase staff usage of the cars. The whole fleet would not be able to be electric only as Social Workers required the cars for longer journeys, therefore, the fleet would need to be a mix of hybrid and electric.

David Scott explained to the Panel that the Borough was looking at starting a pilot car scheme where the public could use the fleet during evenings and weekends. He was also looking at the number of car rights linked to properties, and a car club scheme could help to reduce the number of cars in the Town Centre.

The final recommendation was regarding charging points and looked at final locations and applying for grant funding for installation. There were a number of options for charging points, access and availability and parking provision issues. There were limitations to parking in Windsor and Ascot. David Scott confirmed the team were looking to building flexible, longer term solutions into the contract with the lease company due to the rapidly changing market situations.

David Scott confirmed the Borough was using the same company that supplied the last fleet of cars because when the Council originally went with them, they did not offer an electric fleet, but now they did. By using them again, it would minimise any early termination fees of contract. Councillor Sharp stated he did not like the original contract and did not see the point of sticking with that company as they could only supply one type of vehicle. He added he would not vote to have the contract with that company; two years ago, the Council was stuck with a company that did not supply what the Borough wanted and now, the Borough was sticking with them again. David Scott responded he was happy to take the feedback away regarding carrying out a rival market study and see if there was further potential to not staying with Alpha City to supply the fleet.

Councillor Sharp said he was very in favour of electric cars, but until electric charging points were installed, the Borough should stick with the current vehicles on lease. He added that everything in the current contract was very restrictive and the vehicles were not that good and the new contract would mean the Council would have more vehicles that were not good enough.

Martin Fry stated that Hurley Village were planning on installing electric vehicle charging points. David Scott stated they could contact him and he could help them with putting the Parish Council in touch with a company that installs the charging points. He added that the Borough was looking at an infrastructure improvement plan and was looking at electric charging points being put in place more widely around the Borough as the use of electric cars increases.

Councillor Sharp queried what happened to the pool cars if they were used as part of a car club scheme and they ran out of power outside of the Borough. David Scott explained that that might influence the overall mix of electric and hybrid cars. The Chairman stated there were a lot of people concerned that the original pool car lease did not go to Panel when the Mini’s were chosen. Technology was changing so quickly and it worried her that the Borough’s technology will be left behind. The Chairman added that the best electric cars of 2017 was the BMW i3; however, more research needed to be done.

The Chairman stated one of the sites that had been identified for the installation of a charging point was a private road which was a concern. The Chairman said she wanted more choice. Councillor Yong commented there were a lot of properties being built in Maidenhead and the younger buyers might not have the finances to also have access to their own cars. The car club scheme was a good idea for residents and se encouraged more people to share cars. David Scott confirmed the legal team at the Council were looking into insurances for the car club scheme. He added that Transport for London had carried out work on how to operate and they looked at registering users in a similar way to hiring a car. He would like to get agreement in principal to look for a partner who had experience in car clubs elsewhere. He wanted to identify partners for the next stage of the process. With regards to charging points, David Scott stated that he wanted to make sure that private roads would not limit access people using the cars.

Councillor Sharp stated he agreed with Councillor Yong’s comments as the Borough could not guarantee usage for residents on purely electric cars and the scheme would not work until the charging points issue was sorted. The other issue with charging points was that people might not want charging points right outside their house as  others my use them and then residents would not be able to park outside their houses David Scott stated there were a whole raft of issues that needed to be resolved but, unless the Borough started to look into them, nothing would be able to get started. The Chairman stated that the Sustainable Panel were very happy to move towards both hybrid and electric cars but, more work was needed on this.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Panel endorsed the recommendations with the additional comments:

The Sustainability Panel were very happy to move towards hybrid and electric vehicles however, the Panel requested a rival market study be carried out to see if there was an alternative provider which was better value for money and had a greater choice of vehicles. Members also requested that an update be brought back to the Sustainability Panel prior to the final decision being made.