Development of the Action Plan

This draft Action Plan has been developed to support senior leaders, fleet managers, building and estate management teams, sustainability, procurement and finance specialists across the public sector. It is also intended to provide insights for the private and financial sector organisations with an interest in fleet services, operation and decarbonisation.

The Action Plan has been developed in collaboration with public bodies and aligns with the ambition and approach to meeting emission reduction targets as set out in the CCP.

Over the past two years Transport Scotland has worked with the Energy Saving Trust (EST) to engage with public sector fleet managers and other stakeholders with an interest in how the public sector fleet operates through their public sector Fleet Manager Forum.

Engagement has also included working with the Blue Light Emergency Services EV group, including members drawn from Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Scottish Ambulance Service and National Health Service, and the Fleet, Transport and Vehicle Maintenance Network Group from Association for Public Service Excellence, including representatives from across Scotland’s local authorities, to identify the top ten challenges associated with decarbonising the public sector fleet. 

Fleet managers and sustainability leads were then invited to participate in focused workshops to review the identified barriers/challenges and discuss potential actions to address or mitigate those barriers/challenges in more detail, including sharing lessons and experience associated with approaches and actions that have already been tested or implemented in parts of Scotland’s public sector. Information gathered through forums and workshops has been instrumental in identifying the top challenges facing public sector fleet decarbonisation.

Challenges, barriers and associated actions to mitigate or manage their impact have been further explored and are included in this Action Plan as either short-term or strategic actions. Short-term actions should be implemented from now and completed by 2030 while strategic actions address issues that will continue to influence the public fleet to 2040 and beyond and should be planned for and implemented from now through to 2040 and beyond.