Aberdeen City Council still needs to undertake a ‘substantial’ amount of work to bring its transport fleet up to scratch, a report has concluded.
A document due to be put to the town hall’s audit, risk and scrutiny committee on Monday has applauded the ‘significant’ improvements made by the local authority after ‘ongoing concerns’ were voiced about the quality of its vehicles.
Chief executive Angela Scott had previously placed the council’s fleet service in special measures, demanding a ‘complete root and branch’ review following months of problems.
A public inquiry into Aberdeen’s goods vehicle operator’s licence last December saw transport commissioner for Scotland, Joan Aitken, granting the town hall until the end of January to address significant concerns about the service.
Ms Aitken reigned in the council’s licence at the time, warning it would be ‘at risk’ if any more vehicles stopped by the police or Drivers and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA) were found to have faults or MOT issues.
She added that the town hall would be subject to two unannounced visits by the DVSA to inspect records and ensure vehicles were roadworthy.
An external team of commissioners was tasked with managing the fleet service and resolving problems.
An internal audit is now nearing completion while work is underway in developing a quality management system and local IT systems have seen ‘substantial’ redevelopment. Progress is also being made in the development of a robust, customer led procurement system for vehicles, the council said.
Council officers will consider the report at a meeting on May 11.
The document states: ‘A compliant, effective and efficient fleet services is business critical and the transformation from its current service delivery standards must be a priority for Aberdeen City Council.
‘It should be noted that whilst significant improvements have been made across the fleet service since October 2014, a substantial amount of work is still required to bring the service up to the desired standard and to maximize the potential opportunities on offer to the greatest extent.
‘A wider service transformation plan for post May 2015 is currently being developed and will be reported to the communities, housing and infrastructure committee along with progress in general at the next committee meeting.’
