To consider the report relating to Pathway to Net Zero – Fleet (CFO/03/2526).

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ged Sheridan, drew Members’ attention to the report in the agenda and welcomed Area Manager, Dave Watson to provide a presentation to Members regarding the wider contribution to Net Zero.

Area Manager, Dave Watson explained to Members that as part of the Government’s ‘Reducing emissions from road transport: Road to Zero Strategy’ the plan was to move to a system whereby all tailpipe emissions from vehicles would be removed. It was noted that from 2030, new petrol and diesel cars would no longer be available to purchase in the UK and from 2035, new hybrid vehicles would cease to be sold.

In addition, 2035 would see an end to the sale of new non-zero emission HGVs (Heavy Good Vehicle) weighing 26-tonne and under and from 2040, all new HGVs sold would have to be zero emission. Dave Watson explained that the vast majority of operational fleets came under the 26-tonne threshold and it was only a minor number of appliances such as the aerial appliance that came above that. It was noted that the long-term aim was for the Authority fleet to move to Ultra Low Emission Vehicles in a practical and financially stable way.

Members acknowledged that the Authority had 92 small fleet cars in total which included blue light response vehicles and departmental vehicles. The fleet contained six 48v Mild Hybrid vehicles and 15 self-charging hybrid blue light response vehicles. Dave Watson explained that the Authority had been moving towards all blue light response vehicles used for Senior Officer’s response to incidents to the hybrid system in incremented steps to get the Authority to achieve a zero-emission position in the future. Members were advised that the small car fleet at present had 23% low emission vehicles within it which was a significant milestone.

It was reported that there would be a further seven self-charging blue light response vehicles introduced to the fleet as part of the vehicle capital replacement programme. With the introduction of the seven self-charging vehicles, seven hybrid vehicles would be moved from blue light response and reallocated as station vehicles, replacing current diesel vehicles on stations.

Councillor Mike Sullivan queried why the Authority was changing to hybrids and not full electric vehicles. Dave Watson explained that the infrastructure was not in place yet for the Authority to move to full electric vehicles as there wasn’t sufficient charging points in every location. Members were advised that due to the blue light response, there was a greater chance that an electric vehicle would run out of energy and would not have the opportunity to immediately recharge the battery. He reassured Members that this was part of the long-term plan which was why the new Training and Development Academy was built with charging points. It was also explained that there was an intention to add charging points to Service Headquarters in the future and to buy full electric vehicles at a future point. Dave Watson noted that incremental changes were taking place to not exhaust the Authority when the infrastructure was not yet in place.

Transport Manager, Dave Seasman added that due to the operational use of blue lights and the fact that some Officers take their vehicles home whilst on duty, some residences may lack the necessary charging points.

It was queried by Councillor Mike Sullivan whether the Authority was confident that they would be able to provide charging points where needed. Dave Watson noted that this would not be introduced until the infrastructure plan had been approved and put in place, however, that was part of the estate’s improvement.

Councillor Kieran Murphy raised concerns around the lack of charging points to enable the Authority to go fully electric and queried whether these vehicles were those that Members approved the purchase of at the AGM on 12^th June 2025. Dave Watson noted that those approved were 12 diesel appliances.

Councillor Sam Gorst asked whether the Authority would pay for electric charging points in staff members own homes and it was confirmed that there was no current plan in place for blue light vehicles to become fully electric, so this would need to be considered in the future. This would be at the back end of the vehicle replacement programme, towards 2035.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Ged Sheridan, added that another reason why Senior Officer vehicles had not been changed to fully electric was due to the fact that petrol hybrid vehicles gave a significant amount of resilience. In terms of emergency fuel provisions and responsibilities under the Contingencies Act, there was a need for Senior Officers to be able to respond and having a fully electric fleet, did not offer that resilience at the present time.

It was queried by Councillor Mike Sullivan how long the medium-term and long-term plans were. Dave Seasman advised that he was responsible for producing the Transport Asset Management Plan and explained that this had a five-year Capital Replacement Programme which was based on different life cycles depending on the vehicle use. It was noted that Officer response cars were kept under five years old due to the nature of the job and departmental cars were on a ten-year replacement programme. Members were reassured that the Transport Asset Management Plan was refreshed each year.

Dave Watson told Members that 2026-27 would see the introduction of 19 plug-in hybrid or full electric vehicles into the small vehicle fleet. It was also noted that by the end of 2026-27, 51% of the small car fleet would be low emission vehicles, which was a positive for the Authority.

In line with the Long-Term Sustainability Plan, it was noted that the Authority would continue to migrate the small car fleet to low emission vehicles and move the light commercial van fleet towards low emission vehicles also. Members were advised that the Authority would continue to monitor the market for developments and advances in the electrification of fire appliances as the technology for heavy fleet vehicles was currently in its infancy.

It was mentioned that there was an ongoing review of fleet use to reduce or adapt the fleet where possible which would benefit the goal of decarbonisation.

Dave Watson advised Members on the cost analysis, noting that the cost of self-charging petrol hybrid vehicles was comparable to the equivalent diesel vehicle, with plug in hybrids being slightly more expensive. The benefit of a plug-in hybrid was that with a charging point, the vehicle could be charged for the initial journey. The cost of a full electric vehicle was considerably more expensive and Members acknowledged that the market needed to be monitored for the best value for money. The Authority was hopeful that the cost of electric vehicles would lower when they became more widely available on the market.

Members noted that there were two electric fire appliances being used operationally in the UK, which were between 2-3 times more expensive than a conventional fire appliance. Dave Seasman was part of the Transport Officers Group who looked closely at the emerging market and how technology was evolving.

To conclude, Dave Watson advised Members that the Authority invested in specialist advice and guidance to support Pathway to Net Zero. Eunomia Research and Consulting Limited were appointed to support the Authority in undertaking a detailed review of the Service’s existing Greenhouse Gas footprint, including key recommendations for improvement and developing a Pathway to Net Zero which aligned with Liverpool City Region’s 2040 Net Zero ambition. Multiple departments were working together to ensure that actions highlighted in the route map could be progressed, such as, Estates, ICT, Operational Planning, Operational Response, People and Organisational Development, Procurement, Finance, Catering, Training and Development Academy, Corporate Communications, Strategy and Performance and Legal Services.

Councillor Kieran Murphy asked how far a fully electric vehicle could travel on a single charge. Dave Seasman confirmed that the appliance London Fire Brigade were using, had a battery life of four hours based on mileage. He confirmed that it was fully electrically operated but still had a six-cylinder internal combustion engine to keep the batteries charged. It was however, not a zero-emission vehicle.

Councillor Heather Westhead felt very reassured by the Authority’s approach not to compromise on response times and keeping with hybrid vehicles. She added that new technology was expensive and was hopeful that the price would drop in the future when it was more widely available.

Councillor Andrew Makinson queried what the timescale was for charging points to be installed at Service Headquarters and every location in the Service. It was advised that there was a plan for this, however, the team would confirm the timescale and let Members know at the earliest opportunity.

It was noted by Councillor Jeanette Banks that she thought the Authority was doing the right thing in waiting for the correct infrastructure to be in place before purchasing full electric vehicles. 

Councillor Doreen Knight queried what the cost was and whether there was any support being given by the Combined Authority in relation to fleet. It was confirmed that this was funded through the Authority only. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer concluded that until the Authority could offer reassurance that they could still respond in the excellent way they did, they could not move to a full electric fleet. It was acknowledged that careful decisions needed to be made regarding how budget was spent to ensure reliability and resilience.

Councillor Sam Gorst left the room at 13:29.

RESOLVED that the progress so far and future intent for fleet vehicles be noted.