Background - Public Sector Fleet

In Scotland over 100 public bodies, out of over 240, collectively operate over 33,000 vehicles (referred to here as the public sector fleet) - this includes the Scottish Government and its agencies, local government, NHS Scotland, emergency services, higher education bodies, as well as public bodies delivering specific services on behalf of the Scottish Parliament or Scottish Ministers.

The public sector fleet is diverse and includes vehicles that are owned or leased ranging from motorbikes and cars to fire appliances, ambulances, and refuse collection vehicles. It accounts for at least 14% of Scottish heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), expressed as a body type. The largest proportion of fleet vehicles are operated by local authorities, followed by blue light emergency services and health bodies.

A survey of the public sector fleet in 2025 highlighted important progress in fleet decarbonisation, identifying several public bodies that have made significant progress in decarbonising their fleets. Eleven public bodies have now transitioned between 75% and 100% of their fleet to zero-emission vehicles, with three of these now operating fully zero-emission fleets. The survey indicated that 23% of the fleet is now zero-emission, including 50% of cars and 17% of vans (see Table 1 below).

The results of the 2025 public sector fleet are provided in Annex 2.

While zero-emission technology is currently available and used by the public sector for lighter vehicles like cars and vans and for many heavier vehicles, suitable technological solutions for some long distance or more specialised public sector vehicles are not yet widely available. Where zero-emission heavy or specialist vehicles are available, they often come at a significantly higher purchase cost compared to fossil fuel equivalents, although when considered over their full lifetime they may be cost effective, especially when oil price volatility is taken into account. Individual modelling of routes and applications is required to understand where investing in zero emission is most effective. Where specialist vehicles are currently made only as prototype or low-volume production models, uptake has been limited to date.

The 2019 Programme for Government (PfG) established stretching targets specific to the decarbonisation of public sector fleets in stages and based on vehicle type. These targets were also incorporated into the 2020 Climate Change Plan update, which reflected zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) technology available at the time as well as technology developments anticipated over the coming years. Over the past five years limited availability of certain ZEV models and higher upfront costs for many types of ZEVs have negatively impacted their adoption.

In addition to operating fleet vehicles leased or owned, the public sector also relies on car clubs, short term vehicle rentals, contracted fleet services, and employees using their own vehicles for business purposes (the “grey fleet”) to deliver its services. Although not part of the public sector fleet, public bodies tend to have less direct control over grey fleet vehicles, but these still contribute to fleet transport emissions.