Electric vehicles currently in the MPS fleet

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026133

I note you seek access to the following information:

The request relates to the number of electric vehicles in your fleet and how they are charged.

My questions are as follows:
1. How many electric vehicles does your police force currently have in its fleet? Please break down by make/model and state how many of each there are.
2. What was the total cost of purchasing these electric vehicles?
3. How many police stations with vehicle facilities does your force have?
4. How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities are equipped with electric vehicle chargepoints?
5. How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities have electric vehicles stationed at them?
6. How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities have both electric vehicle chargepoints fitted and electric vehicles stationed at them?
7. What is the total number of electric vehicle chargepoints at police stations with vehicle facilities in your force’s area?
8. Does your force have a policy for charging electric vehicles and, if so, what is it? For example, are these vehicles charged on-site at police stations or are public chargers used?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 43(2) - Commercial Interests

Reason for decision

Q2 - What was the total cost of purchasing these electric vehicles?

The exemption provided by Section 43 has been utilised, in that to provide pricing information would be detrimental to the commercial interests of our suppliers and the MPS and would reduce the level of competition within the procurement process.

Even a total value of purchase can be used to average out purchase costs to estimate purchase prices.

Section 43(2) - Commercial Interests - The information relates to pricing and is provided solely to the MPS during the procurement process. Vehicle manufactures do not have the expectation that this information will be shared with competing companies.

By disclosing this information under the Act, it becomes public and thereby could be used by competitors to inform future business decisions, which would significantly impact the market position of our suppliers.

This is because pricing may include discounts, package pricing, services, and other elements that could be of a competitive / strategic advantage during future tenders. It is predominantly the vehicle manufacturers who hold the commercial interests for this business area and therefore wouldbe directly prejudiced by the disclosure of the information sought in this request. Ultimately the disclosure of the pricing information would damage their business confidence. Therefore it is possible that the release of this information could prejudice the future commercial interests of vehicle manufacturers.

It would be harmful to the commercial interests of the MPS to disclose the requested information as this would prove detrimental to the relationship between the MPS and our suppliers and as a result damage the bargaining position of the MPS. This may in turn impact the procurement of similar products in the future, as companies would be less willing to share details with the MPS through fear of disclosure under the Act. The MPS has previously consulted with vehicle manufacturers on this subject and they have evidenced an expectation of non-disclosure, specifically due to concerns regarding commercial interests.

The perceived harm in disclosing pricing information is not associated with the financial interest of the vehicle manufactures, but more so with their ability to engage in a competitive manner within the marketplace.

Furthermore, exposing the discounted cost at which vehicles are supplied to the MPS could potentially provide an indication of manufacturer profit margin when studied in parallel to list prices.

As the ICO Freedom of Information Awareness Guidance states, "there is a public interest in ensuring that companies are able to compete fairly". The level of competition within the procurement process would be directly affected by the release of the requested information. If commercially sensitive information relating to current suppliers were to be placed into the public domain, then the MPS would not be able to easily obtain aggregated public sector discounts in their future commercial activities.
Potential details surrounding these discounted costs would be exposed to the wider market for fleet services and could result in increased costs. This would be of detriment to the public purse.

It is not in the public interest for the relationship between the MPS and vehicle manufacturers to be negatively affected. This is due to the fact that harm to, or termination of, these relationships may result in the MPS being unable to procure our preferred choice of performance vehicles; which we require to facilitate effective policing. In the event that our current suppliers terminate their relationship with the MPS, we would have to seek out new suppliers and renegotiate terms. By narrowing the range of manufacturers that will supply to us, we would restrict our access to
certain vehicles and it may force us to use less preferable suppliers.
This could subsequently lead to us having to procure less suitable models or utilise public funds in a less efficient manner.

Having considered your request and having examined the associated risk in release, we have found there is a risk to the commercial interests of our suppliers. We believe this risk, as outlined above, is both real and likely.

Therefore, it is our opinion that for these reasons the balance test for disclosure is not made out.

Disclosure

Q1 - How many electric vehicles does your police force currently have in its fleet? Please break down by make/model and state how many of each there are.

There are 99 fully electric vehicles on Fleet (this number fluctuates as vehicles enter and leave operational service), details below:

Vehicle Description	Number
BMW K17 C EVOLUTION MOTORCYCLE	8
NISSAN E-NV200 ACENTA RAPID PLUS PANEL V	50
NISSAN LEAF HATCHBACK E SINGLE SPEED TEK	41
Total	99

Q3 - How many police stations with vehicle facilities does your force have?

The number of buildings listed with vehicle Parking facilities is 128.

Q4 - How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities are equipped with electric vehicle chargepoints?

There are circa 33 MPS buildings that have vehicle charge points.

Q5 - How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities have electric vehicles stationed at them?

The MPS deploys all electric vehicles to locations where adequate charging facilities are available but these vehicles are often deployed locally to alternative locations as and when operational needs require. Due to daily movement of vehicles we cannot be specific enough to answer this question.

Q6 - How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities have both electric vehicle chargepoints fitted and electric vehicles stationed at them?

The MPS deploys all electric vehicles to locations where adequate charging facilities are available but these vehicles are often deployed locally to alternative locations as and when operational needs require. Due to daily movement of vehicles we cannot be specific enough to answer this question.

Q7 - What is the total number of electric vehicle chargepoints at police stations with vehicle facilities in your force’s area?

There are circa 264 charge points across the MPS estate.

Q8 - Does your force have a policy for charging electric vehicles and, if so, what is it? For example, are these vehicles charged on-site at police stations or are public chargers used?

MPS Electric vehicles are mainly charged at MPS locations but they can also be charged at selected public chargers.