October 23, 2018 10.53 am This story is over 64 months old

£41k rollout of council vehicle tracking devices

The council said it will not be using the devices to monitor staff

City council owned vehicles are set to be installed with tracking devices as part of a £41,000 rollout, but officials have insisted they will not be used to monitor staff.

Telematics is a system which records where a vehicle is and how fast it is going in order to help with maintenance.

The device combines GPS with an on board system which tracks the car and helps to monitor fuel consumption, driving standards and length of travel.

The system can also help with investigations into accidents involving the vehicle.

Senior councillors on City of Lincoln Council have been recommended to approve installing the software in its own vehicles at an executive meeting next week.

City Hall, off Orchard Street. Photo Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The authority is set to fit the hardware into the remaining cars in its 78 vehicle fleet which do not already have the device installed.

This will include the council’s Housing Repair Service vans.

The rollout is estimated to cost the council £13,899.60 a year over a three-year period, totalling £41,698.80.

Officials said the system will help with such things as reducing fuel consumption and locating drivers in emergencies.

But they insisted the system will not be used to monitor council staff.

In a report going before the council’s executive, officials said the software will not be used for any such activities.

It said: “Individuals will not be personally or routinely monitored and data will only be used in the event of an incident or cause for concern.

“Therefore the system will not be used under any circumstances for ‘time and motion’ processes or the like.

“There will be no routine operational monitoring utilised and the system will only be accessed on the grounds a formal written complaint or a serious vehicle incident as listed at the end of this document.

“The council does not have the staff resource or any rationale for routine monitoring.”


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