Some £1m has been invested in purchasing new heavy plant equipment as part of Powys Council’s initiative Spend-to-Save
Plant equipment in Powys, Wales, has received a boost after the local council announced it has invested nearly £1m on machinery.
The investment forms part of the local authority’s plans to spend money in order to save it.
The investment includes dozens of traffic lights and trailer units, as well as JCB mini-diggers, skid steer loaders, ride-on rollers, Ifor Williams trailers and Massey Ferguson tractors
Savings are needed
Powys Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Councillor John Brunt said: “The council has to find significant savings over the next three years so making the best use of capital funding to reduce day-to-day revenue spending, which is under considerable pressure, makes financial sense.
“In the past we have relied on hiring plant equipment to carry out highway works and this has not been a cost-effective use of our budget.
“By buying this equipment we are providing the right tools for our staff to carry out the work and improve our highway maintenance service and cutting costs.
“This is a positive spend-to-save initiative which will help the council meet its savings targets.”
Review of plant equipment spending
The council has been reviewing its spending on plant and vehicles over the last 14 months to ensure efficiency. This investment forms part of that project, which is also looking into how the council carries out routine highway maintenance works. Any redundant plant equipment has been sold and the money reinvested into new machinery.
Brunt added: “The investment was carried out through a full tender process for the traffic lights and using a plant framework agreement for the JCB equipment and tractors.
“We did have initial issues with the mini-diggers and traffic lights being delivered not meeting our tender specifications as a result of an error by the suppliers.
“But, the problem was very quickly rectified at the supplier’s expense and did not compromise operations.
“The new equipment is already in service with the highways team and used for routine maintenance works including patching, sweeping, ditching and drainage works.”