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ACFO chairman John Pryor believes the forthcoming Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme goes against the Government's 'Red Tape Challenge' to cut bureaucracy, introducing yet another layer of administrative burden for fleet mangers.
The energy-audit scheme will be mandatory for businesses that either employ at least 250 people or employ fewer than 250 people and have an annual turnover of more than £40m plus a balance sheet exceeding £34.4m.
ESOS is being run by the Environment Agency and businesses will have to start submitting energy reports, which includes energy used by company cars, from December 2015. The EA will administer the scheme and issue penalty notices up to £50,000 for non-compliance.
The regulation will focus attention on a fleet's environmental efficiency and in particular any element of grey fleet that exists within an organisation.
Pryor told BusinessCar: "With the Government having instigated its Red Tape Challenge resulting in the scrapping of a raft of transport-related bureaucracy, it is disappointing to see more paperwork imposed on fleet."
One challenge for fleet managers is being be able to identify the business and private mileage split in company-provided vehicles because private mileage is excluded from ESOS reporting.
However, Pryor said: "A combination of mileage records and fuel reimbursement expenses should enable fleet managers to undertake the maths to convert mileage travelled into an energy consumption figure."
Top BC50 leasing firm Lex Autolease said it is looking at the implications of ESOS and is working with the BVRLA to ensure its business transport is correctly and fairly represented.
Meanwhile, Jon Burdekin, head of consultancy at Alphabet, said that if a company needed to reduce their emissions the leasing company would "go in and put together a carbon balance sheet saying 'this is how we save money'."
Some fleets are reviewing grey fleet policies due to those vehicles generally being older and more polluting.
Danny Alborough, fleet manager of buidling services firm Gratte Brothers and ACFO London East deputy chairman, told BusinessCar: "If our grey fleet drivers opted back into the company car scheme then I can manage which is the best vehicle for them to have.
"Ideally I would like to mirror our company car policy and tell drivers if their grey fleet car doesn't fall within the guidelines then we wont pay their mileage. But it's very a political argument."
Rental companies such as Europcar and car-sharing schemes such as Alphabet's Alphacity could benefit from ESOS as fleets look to replace grey fleet policies with alternatives for those drivers.
Ken McCall, managing director of Europcar, said: "Grey fleet cars will typically be much older than rental vehicles.
"Grey fleet vehicles are therefore likely to have a higher environmental impact. Plus, from a duty of care perspective, rental removes the usual headaches associated with grey fleet - checking business insurance is in place, that the vehicle is properly maintained, that it's fit for the purpose of the journey."
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