UP to 200 City of York Council staff who use local authority vehicles to commute – with council taxpayers funding their fuel bills – could soon lose the perk.

Labour councillor James Alexander said he had decided to take action after discovering, since he became council leader, that many staff were being allowed to take work vehicles home without having to pay for their fuel.

He said officers had told him that a review of home-to-work travel in the Building Maintenance department alone had identified an estimated cost of £83,000, based on current fuel prices. Initial work done across other areas of the council had suggested the total cost could be in the region of £150,000, although detailed analysis as to the precise figure had not yet been completed.

In some cases, staff had the vehicle because they were on call, but he said some lived as far away as Bridlington, and he understood one of the council’s vehicles had been broken into in Middlesbrough some time ago.

Coun Alexander said he accepted that in some situations, staff made a contribution towards pool cars, and there were cases where there might be implications, such as storage issues, if staff did not take the vehicles.

He understood the practice had first been approved in the early 1980’s and was in the terms and conditions of staff transferring from Ryedale and Selby under local government reorganisation.

But he said: “The council is struggling in the light of Conservative-led Government cuts and we need to try and save as many services for vulnerable people as possible.

“This cost is no longer something we can afford and I am sure I will have residents’ support and the wider staff’s support in taking this action.

“This system isn’t fair and should not have been allowed to go unchallenged for so long. The council will work with the unions over this issue.”

Heather McKenzie, of the UNISON union, said the situation was not straightforward, saying that when staff took vehicles home, they were often best placed to drive straight to a location the next day.

She said: “If they had to drive to the depot and then get their council car, and go through the same process at the end of the day, they could effectively be losing nearly two hours a day of productivity. This issue has not been costed up.”

She also said tracking devices had already been fitted on vehicles in the last year, which prevented any potential misuse.

Ballot over scrapping of free bus passes

UNIONS are organising a “straw poll ballot” on City of York Council proposals to scrap their right to free Park & Ride passes and cut their mileage rates.

The former Lib Dem administration agreed earlier this year to the budget proposals to save the cash-strapped authority £185,000 a year.

Heather McKenzie, of the Unison union said it had put out an “indicative, straw-poll ballot” to members just recently, to find out how they felt about the proposals and check the level of support for action, including industrial action.