A total of £5.3m has been saved under a national vehicle purchase consortium led by West Yorkshire Police. The buying group, which contains 22 forces across the UK, has confirmed a deal that has secured the use of Peugeot, Ford, BMW and Vauxhall vehicles.
Steve Thompson, Head of Transport, West Yorkshire Police, said, “Over the past six months, we have been working together with other northern forces and some further south to negotiate the best deals for the purchase of our vehicles. This work developed into the creation of a national buying group, led by West Yorkshire Police.
“The combined purchase power of this consortium has enabled us to achieve the best possible contract and bring about some substantial savings. As we continue to face austerity measures, this will make a real difference, not just for policing in West Yorkshire, but up and down the country.
“The range of vehicles we have negotiated meet all the nationally required specifications and actually improve upon those we currently have across our fleet. By moving to more fuel efficient vehicles, we estimate there will also be additional savings of £40,000 for West Yorkshire alone, once the replacement programme is completed.
“We anticipate that the vehicles will be introduced across the 22 forces from late autumn.”
The Regional Procurement Unit, under the leadership of Nigel Hiller, the Director of Finance for Humberside and South Yorkshire Police, conducted the tendering process. Nigel said that by going to market as a consortium, it has brought tangible benefits to the region.
“This collaborative way of working coupled with the innovative use of an online auction process allowed us to drive down costs even further and save in the region of a million pounds,” said Nigel. “This is the first time that such a large volume of fleet for blue light services has taken this approach.”
David Wilkin, National Policing Lead for Vehicle Procurement and Standardisation, said, “For a number of years, police fleet managers have led the way in standardisation and collaborative procurement to create better value for money and ensure police officers have the right equipment to undertake their roles.
“This is a great result and a similar exercise will be undertake later this year for the remaining forces to maximise savings across the country.”
