Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
2 January 2010
09:4036118Police forces are spending half a million pounds a week hiring cars, new figures reveal.
Forces in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland spent £132 million on rental cars in the last five years. That averages more than £70,000 a day.
The revelations come as forces are trying to save cash ahead of anticipated cuts in public spending.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne, who uncovered the figures, said: "At a time when police budgets are under extreme pressure, it seems unnecessarily
What the hell is going on?for that amount of money they could purchase a new cop car every day.A good Ford Anglia costs next to nothing these days.but joking apart the inner city/town police could purchase a 2 seater smart car which would give them greater flexibility around precincts etc.They don't all need a Starksy n Krutch go faster type machine?
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
2 January 2010
11:3436128Doesn`t surprise me at all Marek this news. Probably been going on for years, but then near voting time......................
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
2 January 2010
12:2536139In the 80s I was area manager for Budget Rent A Car (five fanchises including Heathrow & Gatwick airports) in the South East, and one of our largest customers was the Police.
The need for the police to rent vehicles is constant - they do rent cars, largely for CID use when their own are off road for body or mechanical repairs, but also vans and minibuses which are largely used for event policing. With demand for vehicles constantly changing, it is cheaper to rent on an ad hoc basis than to buy and keep the vehicles largely unused and off the road.
Where I do think money could be saved is for the Police Forces to have a central fleet vehicle unit that can move vehicles to where they might be needed rather than each force doing its own thing. Private companies have been doing this for years, and maybe it's time the Government started doing it too.
True friends stab you in the front.
