£2.5m bill on hire cars for police

Greater Manchester police have spent £2.5 million on hire cars.

A staggering £2.5 million bill was run up on hire cars by Greater Manchester police in only five years.

It works out at a cost of more than £1,300 a day — enough to buy one small car, such as a Vauxhall Astra, every week. Each year £500,000 was spent by the force.

The figures were uncovered using Freedom of Information laws by the Liberal Democrats who branded the practice unnecessarily lavish after it emerged £132 million had been spent nationwide on bringing in extra vehicles.

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, said: “At a time when police budgets are under extreme pressure, it seems unnecessarily lavish to be spending over £70,000 a day on hire cars.

“Hiring cars at appropriate times can save forces money but if they are being hired while police cars are not in use, it is simply a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) should issue forces with guidance about the best use of hire cars.”

Despite Greater Manchester’s £2.5 million cost it was dwarfed by the West Midlands five year total of £9.9 million and West Yorkshire’s £4.4 million.

Russell Brown, Greater Manchester Police’s assistant director of fleet services, said: “There are a number of reasons hire vehicles are used operationally by GMP.

“Situations do arise where the use of a hire vehicle is more cost effective and it should be appreciated there will be occasions where a liveried or identifiable police vehicle would not be suitable.

“Each division or department only hires a vehicle where absolutely necessary and must follow certain protocols to ensure the service is not misused.”

London’s Metropolitan Police spent a massive £48 million over the period.

A spokesman for ACPO said: “Transportation is key in policing and these figures reveal nothing about why hire cars may be used and provide good value for money.

“Obviously marked police vehicles are used daily but some aspects of policing, such as covert work, need unmarked vehicles and hiring them can be cheaper rather than owning them.

“It can also be cheaper than using trains or claiming costs for using officers’ own vehicles. Hire vehicles make up approximately eight per cent of all transport costs.”