The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is pleased to welcome the Department for Transport as the category sponsor for the pan-government fleet collaborative procurement team.  The appointment of Graham Pendlebury, Director of Environment and International at DfT, as chair of the Collaborative Category Board is a significant forward step in integrating the policy and commercial goals of government in managing public sector fleets.

Graham brings a wealth of experience to the role.  Within DfT, he has responsibility for improving the environmental performance of the transport sector, particularly from road vehicles; strengthening DfT's influence overseas; promoting the better regulation agenda within the Department; and overseeing DfT interests in planning policy reforms.  Graham is a member of DfT's central Strategy Committee, and chairs several programme boards and inter-departmental committees. He is also a member of the Audit Committee of the Government Car and Despatch Agency.

DfT's involvement comes at a critical time in category management for public sector fleets.  An intensifying requirement for efficiency savings means not only a renewed focus on ensuring the public sector is sourcing its vehicles as effectively as possible through collaborative framework agreements, but also that it reaches a new level of maturity on fleet management - from implementing whole-life cost models, demand management strategies, maximising vehicle utilisation and driving down carbon emissions.

The category team has already built-up an impressive track record in reducing public sector carbon emissions through its national initiative to reduce "grey fleet" miles - that is, those driven by employees in their own cars on official business.  OGC has worked with the emergency services and central and local government organisations to eliminate unnecessary journeys and encourage a shift to lower cost and carbon alternatives.  This programme is on course to deliver £15m in cashable efficiency savings in 2009/10, bringing total carbon emissions reduction to over 9,000 tonnes since the start of the programme in 2007.

Speaking about his chairmanship role, Graham said - "Procurement is an important lever in delivering policy objectives - and that's why we need to make the most of this opportunity to work collaboratively across central and local government to further improve the cost and carbon efficiency of public sector fleets."
About OGC

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is an independent office of HM Treasury, established to help government deliver best value from its spending. The OGC works with central government departments and other public sector organisations to ensure the achievement of six key goals:

    * Delivery of value for money from third party spend;
    * Delivery of projects to time, quality and cost, realising benefits;      
    * Getting the best from the government's £30bn estate;
    * Improving the sustainability of the government estate and operations, including reducing carbon emissions by 12.5% by 2010-11, through stronger performance management and guidance;      
    * Helping achieve delivery of further government policy goals, including innovation, equality, and support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs);      
    * And driving forward the improvement of central government capability in procurement, project and programme management, and estates management through the development of people skills, processes and tools.

OGC provides policy standards and guidance on best practice in procurement, projects and estate management, and monitors and challenges departments' performance against these standards, grounded in an evidence base of information and assurance. It promotes and fosters collaborative procurement across the public sector to deliver better value for money and better public services; and it provides innovative ways to develop government's commercial and procurement capability, including leadership of the Government Procurement Service.