Nottingham City Council launches a car salary sacrifice scheme with Tusker

Nottingham City Council launches a car salary sacrifice scheme with Tusker

Nottingham City Council, which provides a range of services to local people, has implemented a new car salary sacrifice scheme for its eligible c7000 employees. Its new Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle scheme, delivered in partnership with Tusker and launched on 10 March, enables the Council to support both employees and the Council financially while promoting greener travel choices.

The Tusker salary sacrifice scheme enables eligible employees to access a brand new or ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV), directly from their salary. It includes insurance, servicing, maintenance and breakdown cover for fixed, cost-effective motoring.

Nottingham City Council’s HR Reward Consultant, Lynn Griffin-Pearce, says: “Our new benefit provides a cost-efficient and environmentally responsible alternative to traditional vehicle ownership, and is supported by competitive Benefit in Kind rates and optional access to a nationwide public charging network.”

“Providing a car salary sacrifice scheme as part of our Works Perks programme was fully supported by our HR Director. We considered two key elements: how much a scheme could financially benefit our employees, as well as how it generates National Insurance savings for the Council. Officially, this is a re-introduction of the Tusker benefit – we had a car scheme 10 years ago with the Tusker team.”

Nottingham City Council is enabling eligible employees to access new hybrid or electric vehicles, as well as optional access to charging points around the country. Additionally, employees can choose to take the car over periods of between 24 and 60 months, creating choices to reduce monthly amounts.

Kara Harrison, HR Reward Advisor at Nottingham City Council, explained that preparation and setting clear guardrails was essential for the scheme, to reduce the financial risk to the Council.

“Our payroll, finance, and legal teams were all involved to ensure scheme compliance. It had to be fully robust pre-launch for all parties. Beyond Tusker’s protections, we also ask that managers approve the cars to help protect against people leaving or retiring.”

The Council also benefit from Tusker’s Lifestyle Protection programme to protect employees and employers from early termination fees from unforeseen circumstances, perhaps maternity, long-term sickness or death in service.

The launch was supported by Nottingham’s communication team as well as Tusker’s ready-made videos, FAQs and launch materials, all placed on the Council’s intranet. These not only minimised questions to the HR team (to just one) but resulted in 216-ups in a single day, and 21 vehicle orders in the first week – one third of its annual target.

Building on this early success, Nottingham City Council and Tusker will also be introducing a Pre-loved car scheme, providing employees with an additional, cost-effective route into low-emission and electric vehicles. This extension to the offer, will increase affordability and widen access across our workforce.

Cheryl Clements, Head of Business Development at Tusker, explains: “We are so pleased to welcome Lynn, her team and Nottingham City Council back to Tusker. HMRC has set clear guidelines that protect car salary sacrifice schemes for the future, plus there are robust systems and guardrails to protect employees and employers. The green movement makes complete sense when a council such as Nottingham is so focused on building a sustainable, inclusive city.”

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