Decision

To approve the Council entering into a hire agreement with HYPE for the provision of one e-cargo bike and one e-trailer. The equipment was purchased by the Council in February 2022 using external grant funding from the Energy Saving Trust. The hire agreement will be provided at no charge for an initial period of 12 months, with an option to extend for a further 12 months

Reasons for the decision

Wirral Council has a long-held commitment to climate action with objectives and work programmes aimed at decarbonising travel. A partnership ethos underpins this work.

The original e-cargo project was fully grant funded by the Energy Saving Trust. The aim of the e-cargo project was to deliver a ‘Demonstrator Project’ trialling the use of 5 e-cargo bikes and 2 trailers through proposed collaborations and partnerships across the public, private and third sectors.

The project included:
• Try before you buy – events/ exhibitions/short term trials;
• Leasing – longer term trials; and
• Trials for Council departments.

The bikes and trailers were purchased using the grant from the Energy Savings Trust, which was awarded in May 2020, the total value of the grant was £36,584.66 and covered the full amount of purchase. The submission of the grant form was undertaken during the initial days of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. The period for the grant conditions has since lapsed and are no longer applicable to the e-cargo bikes.

The delivery of the e-cargo bikes were delayed by the Covid pandemic and lockdown, and further by the world-wide recall of one of the e-cargo bikes, which was replaced with a different model of the same make.

Within the grant conditions it states that “The Grantee shall not, without prior written consent of the Energy Saving Trust, dispose or allow the disposal by any other party of any asset funded, in part or in whole, with Grant funds within 3 years of the asset being acquired or developed.” The e-cargo bike was purchased in 2022 which is beyond the 3 year time constraint.

Once purchased it became apparent that in the covid lockdown the proposed method of hiring the bikes out to third parties was challenging and the original interest from third parties had fallen away. This work was de-prioritised with the focus of the project moving more towards using the bikes internally within the council. This has seen 3 of the cargo bikes regularly used.

Given the experience that the council has had with the internal operation of the e-cargo bike trial there has been interest now from a not-for-profit 3rd sector organisation called HYPE. This interest is in line with the original aims of the project and therefore it is proposed to continue the use of the 2 bikes in Parks and Countryside whilst putting in place a hire agreement with HYPE to hire 1 e-cargo bike and 1 e-trailer for 12 months for no fee, with the option to extend the agreement for a further 12 months.

HYPE are proposing to use the e-cargo bikes to transport bikes and items as part of their offer to young Wirral residents. More information on HYPE, who are based in Birkenhead Park including their aims and objectives can be found at https://www.hype-merseyside.co.uk/aims-mission/

Users of the e-cargo bikes will be HYPE employees and will be required to undertake specific training for riding e-cargo bikes and trailers, prior to their first journey using them, HYPE will be responsible and have committed to undertake the delivery of training.

As part of the hire agreement HYPE will provide the council with evidence of where the e-cargo bike and e-trailer will be stored overnight and securely locked when parking, when in use. HYPE will ensure that the equipment is regularly maintained and will be required to provide service details. Through the hire agreement the Council shall not be responsible for any loss of or damage to the equipment arising out or in connection with any misuse, neglect, alteration, mishandling or unauthorised manipulation of the equipment, the responsibility will lie with HYPE.
The hire agreement also stipulates that if the Equipment are damaged beyond economic repair, destroyed or lost or stolen HYPE will replace the Equipment on a like for like basis and transfer ownership of the replacement e-cargo bike to the Council at no cost

Prior to the hire agreement being undertaken the council will have the e-cargo bikes and e-trailers serviced, so that they are in good working condition prior to being handed over. All the e-cargo bikes are fitted with trackers, and these will be used to monitor location for security purposes and usage of the e-cargo bike and e-trailer in terms of mileage etc.

Alternative options considered

Charge HYPE a fee to hire the e-cargo bike and e-trailer

This has been discounted as HYPE are a not-for-profit 3rd sector organisation and are not looking to use the e-cargo bike or e-trailer for profitable ventures. HYPE are a charity that work with young people particularly around cycling and encouraging cycle skills and confidence. This will help young people access jobs and skills opportunities that might not previously be open to them due to the cost of transport. This work helps towards the council’s goals and hiring the e-cargo bike to HYPE will help them to deliver their work to a wider audience.

Given the age of the vehicles their value would have dropped significantly in comparison to if they were brand new, premium electric cargo bikes like Riese & Müller hold their value better than standard e-bikes, but typically drop to about 45% to 60% of their original retail price after 4 years. The e-cargo bike was purchased for £6,583.33 which would leave the value of the e-cargo bike between £4,000 to £3,000.

It should be noted that the small value that could be obtained for hiring the e-cargo bike and e-trailer should be considered against the associated costs with administering the scheme and processing a fee for hiring the equipment.

Advertise to offer other third parties the opportunity to hire an e-cargo bike
This is not being considered at this point in time, as the council has not undertaken a hire agreement before where they own the vehicle, this is seen as a pilot to gain further understanding of how it will work.

Extension of the existing pilot within parks and gardens to use all e-cargo bikes only and to not hire any out

This has been discounted as there is not any further demand from Parks and Countryside and therefore the hire options allows us to take advantage of the full potential of the fleet.

Extend the internal pilot of the e-cargo bikes to other departments within the council to provide pool e-bikes

This has been discounted due to e-bikes not being permitted within the Mallory building on the advice of our insurance brokers.