Under the scheme, nine low-emission vehicles – including two EVs – have been provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car and are now being used by staff travelling on council business. The efficiencies from making this switch will save the council an estimated £100,000 a year as well as significantly reduce its carbon footprint.

By analysing the data from council business trips undertaken in employees’ own cars, Enterprise was able to determine that 81% of those journeys were shorter than 50 miles and 71% of trips lasted for fewer than four hours. In addition, the most common reason these employees didn’t use public transport instead was the lack of a train station near their intended destination, so an alternative to private vehicles was essential.

As a result of this analysis the council has introduced nine Enterprise CarShare cars as a virtual pool car fleet – including two Nissan LEAFs – to cover the organisation’s shorter business trips. It has also provided employees with access to Enterprise’s online technology so they could hire vehicles on a daily basis for longer journeys.

All AVDC employees are now required to use the new rental and CarShare vehicles rather than their own cars for work journeys.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, AVDC’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Health, said: ‘It is important that the council leads from the front to demonstrate what can be done to reduce our impact on the environment.

‘We are committed to finding more environmentally sustainable ways of doing business and daily business travel is part of that. Our new car pool scheme will help cut down emissions of carbon dioxide and reduce costs of staff travel. We also now have better control over employee journeys and can monitor where vehicles are.’

Adrian Bewley, director of business rental UK & Ireland at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, adds: ‘The council wanted to move away from the expense and hassle of mileage reimbursement but the question was how best to do this in the absence of a public transport option. Our technology provided the data capture that enabled us to analyse exactly how, where and why rental and car sharing would be a better alternative.

‘A lot of organisations are still unsure how much they’re spending on the grey fleet and therefore don’t see that there could be a better way. That’s why we help them analyse those costs and behaviours right down to the tiniest detail.

‘Aylesbury Vale District Council is a forward-thinking council that understands the cost, environmental and social benefits of rental.’