22 October 2010 | Angeline Albert
A new framework agreement for police vehicles will save £3.4
million a year, according to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA).
UK police forces spend £83 million a year on vehicles. The
new agreement cuts hundreds of vehicle options to 18, with only 25 suppliers.
The NPIA worked with the National Association of Police Fleet Managers
and collaborated with 54 police forces. The fire, NHS and coastguard services
can also use the framework – the first time such a framework has been made
available to all blue-light services.
NPIA director of resources David Horne said: “To put a £3.4
million saving into context, this is the cost of an average force’s entire
fleet budget.”
With a single procurement process for all police vehicles,
the NPIA will save most forces an average of £25,000 per procurement activity,
a total potential saving of about £1.35 million over the four-year contract.
NPIA buyers recently helped the police avoid paying an extra
£3.1 million by renegotiating a national tyre framework, the agency said. The
fleet and tyre frameworks are part of the NPIA’s goal to find nearly £300
million in non-IT savings for the police service by 2013.
The NPIA is one of the
quangos to be scrapped by the government.
