North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority 16 Capital Asset Replacement Scheme Last year, members voted to allocate a proportion of our reserves towards replacing our ageing operational assets, namely our RIBs, pick-up trucks, vans and ATVs. They agreed a proposed strategy put forward by the CEO for the approach to, and timeframe over, which all these assets would be replaced; this was set at three years and amounted to an estimated £500,000-£600,000 net expenditure from our reserves over this period. A new policy for the normal timeframes in which such assets should be routinely replaced was also drawn up. It was agreed that, for our RIBs, replacement timeframes will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, but pick-up trucks and vans will be replaced every five years and ATVs every three. The process for replacing all these assets began last year and will continue in earnest in 2024/25. We will look to replace two more of our oldest remaining pick-up trucks and sell another, superfluous one which does not need replacing. We will also replace our two oldest vans and our four oldest ATVs. As part of an organisational move towards more sustainable, environmentally friendly policies we will look to procure electric vans to replace our current diesel / petrol ones, if it is cost effective and appropriate to do so. During this annual plan period, we will review the operational requirements around our two RIBs based in the central and southern areas of our district, and by the end of the year, will have developed some proposals for members to consider how best to proceed with replacing them. It is unlikely that either RIB will be replaced in 2024/25, but a succession plan for them will be agreed this year and, if new RIBs are required, the procurement process began. Lead Officer: CEO Drones Two specialist drones were procured by the Authority in 2023 to support our operational work across both our Enforcement and Science Teams. With all the necessary policies, procedures, risk assessments and insurance now in place, this year we will focus on developing operational competence amongst our four officers trained to fly the drones and implement and refine our use of the drones in the field. We will focus on learning more about how we can get the most from our new drones, and so, at this stage, no explicit targets for number of flights or operational outputs are being set. We will also ensure we continue to communicate with our stakeholders, in particular fishers, who may be affected by, or have queries about, our drone usage. Lead Officers: Heads of Enforcement and Science
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