Aston University is leading the way to a company car scheme revival in the higher education sector that is greener by design, says PwC.

The University has introduced an innovative salary sacrifice scheme that allows employees to surrender up to 20% of their wage in return for a new car. The scheme is one of the first of its kind used by a University in the UK and demonstrates the organisation's commitment to reducing its CO2 emissions.

Robbie Wigley-Jones, partner and human resources expert at PwC in the Midlands, said:

"Car manufacturers have invested considerably in developing low emission cars, and where these are provided as company cars the starting tax rate on the benefit is typically 10%. When you then factor in that the salary sacrifice will also save National Insurance Contributions, providing a car as a benefit can save money, not only for employees but also for the business. Similarly, in today's market with a widespread freeze on salary increases, businesses are looking to lock in staff with attractive benefits packages. Some are also looking for ways to drive down their carbon footprint at the same time.

"The University's salary sacrifice car scheme features a carbon cap, with employees only able to select vehicles from 600 models, with emissions of 120g/km or less. This is a great example of an organisation encouraging the uptake of greener cars, whilst providing their employees with a valuable optional benefit."

Salary sacrifice schemes need careful implementation and it is important that they are well planned out before introduction to ensure they are effective." 

Robbie Wigley-Jones, partner and human resources expert at PwC in the Midlands, adds:

"It's essential that decisions on scheme design, policy and eligibility are considered at any early stage so you know this benefit is going to fit well within your benefits package without creating an administrative burden. With the University, we also worked with HMRC to ensure the benefit could be payrolled - this ensured that employees don't have to worry about managing tax code changes or risk building up an underpayment of tax on their benefit."