End of the road for commuters’ perk in council drive to cut costs

Senior executives at York Council are looking at ending the long-running perk which allows as many as 200 workers to take the vehicles home without having to pay for the fuel.

The move has been instigated by the new council leader, James Alexander, as a cost-saving measure.

Councillor Alexander said he learnt of the policy after Labour won power in last month’s local elections.

It is thought the total savings to the taxpayer could be in the region of £150,000, although a review is now under way to establish the exact amount.

The council is having to enforce more than £20m in cutbacks across its services in this financial year in order to cope with the current economic climate.

Coun Alexander said: “The council is struggling in the light of Conservative-led government cuts and we need to try and save as many services for vulnerable people as possible.

“This cost is no longer something we can afford and I am sure I will have residents’ support and the wider staff’s support in taking this action. This system isn’t fair and should not have been allowed to go unchallenged for so long.”

He also pledged to work with union officials to bring to an end the benefit of using the council’s vehicles.

Workers have been allowed access to a council vehicle while on call, but Coun Alexander claimed the perk had been used by staff living as far afield as Bridlington.

It is also understood by the Yorkshire Post that one of the council’s vehicles was broken into while in Middlesbrough.

Coun Alexander accepted staff made a contribution towards pool cars in certain situations.

He added that there might also be further implications, such as storage problems, if workers did not take the vehicles home from depots.

It is thought that the policy was first approved in the early 1980s and was in the terms and conditions of staff transferring from Ryedale and Selby under local government reorganisation.

Other cutbacks being proposed are to scrap a major project to build a new council base in the Acomb district.

New offices, earmarked for a site next to Acomb library, had been due to replace the council’s existing base off Carr Lane but are now likely to be mothballed in the face of tightening budgets.

Labour was last week drawing up an emergency budget to look at how the cutbacks would be administered.