April 3, 2023 7.00 pm This story is over 12 months old

Lincoln council claims it won’t make a loss as it sells fleet of vehicles

35 vehicles to be sold

The City of Lincoln Council. | Photo: City of Lincoln Council
By Local Democracy Reporter

City of Lincoln Council claim they will not lose any money from the sale of their former housing repair vehicles following complications with their new lease.

The previous provider of the vehicles that made up the Housing Repair Services (HRS) department requested the fleet either be purchased or surrendered back to them due to unforeseen circumstances.

In order to ensure they remained on the roads, the council decided to acquire the 35 motors at the cost of £269,000.

Delivery of a new fleet has reportedly been delayed due to the impact of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, but plans have already been put in place to sell the old vehicles at auction once the new ones start to arrive.

The council are confident they can break even as the vehicles in question have only done a limited amount of miles.

Abbey ward Councillor Martin Christopher (Liberal Democrats) said it showed that contracts were being mismanaged.

“It seems highly likely a failure in contact management and planning for transition has resulted in yet another reactive decision to send tax payer money with minimal room to negotiate,” he said.

“It seems like there has been a lack of foresight from those responsible.”

Matt Hillman, Assistant Director of Investment at City of Lincoln Council said: “In 2021, we agreed the contract hire of new vehicles to replace our outgoing fleet.

“Due to the pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, the fleet’s delivery has been delayed. We have, therefore, taken the decision to purchase some of the old vehicles to allow our services to continue being delivered while we await the new fleet.

“As the new vehicles arrive, we will sell the old ones at auction. In the meantime, we are saving in excess of £5,000 per month in lease fees.

“This decision was essential in order to ensure our housing fleet remained on the roads and our staff are able to continue providing essential repairs on people’s homes.

“Given the lease savings made, and the expected income from auction sales, we anticipate we will at least break even once all of the old vehicles are sold.”

MyLocal Lincolnshire is the new home of The Lincolnite. Download the app now.