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Ministers under fire for allowing half of Britain's police forces to order 3,000 foreign-made vehicles
Police forces said they were powerless to offer the contracts to British car factories because European Union procurement rules meant they had to go to the cheapest bidder
Ministers are under fire for allowing a multi-million pound contract for thousands of new police vehciles to be handed to foreign car firms which will make them outside of the UK.
The deal is the first time that so many police forces have joined together to buy cars at the same time to try to secure a cheaper deal for taxpayers.
It will see Ford, Peugeot, BMW and Vauxhall provide 3,000 new vehicles worth tens of millions of pounds for over half of Britain’s police forces over the next two years.
Police forces said they were powerless to offer the contracts to British car factories because European Union procurement rules meant they had to go to the cheapest bidder.
Mike Penning, the Policing minister, said he would examine whether more could be done to encourage British police forces to buy British-made cars.
The news has come just as the Metropolitan Police – the country’s biggest force – is running its own procurement process to replace thousands of police vehicles.
The deal – worth £34million – was announced without fanfare last month by West Yorkshire police, which was the lead force in the negotiations. Buying in bulk saved the forces £5million.
The main vehicle supply contract was awarded to Peugeot, while Vauxhall was awarded a separate deal to supply vans using the same process.
It includes for Peugeot’s 208 and 308 cars, and the Partner, which are made in France, BMW's 3 and 5 series, which are made in Germany.
Also included in the deal are BMW's X5 which is made in Spartanburg, USA and Ford's Kuga, which is made in Valencia, Spain.
The only British-made cars in the deal are for the Astra 1.6 diesel, made by Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port, and for the Vivaro van, which is made in Luton.
The 22 forces involved in the deal include the British Transport Police, Cleveland, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Police Scotland, South Wales, Surrey, Sussex and West Yorkshire.
For years British police forces would only buy British cars until concerns about reliability crept it.
But there was controversy when 1965 the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary put an order for Volvo estate cars from Sweden.
That was followed by a decision by Thames Valley police to order BMW cars in 1972.
Labour criticised the decision pointing out that police and France and Germany are never seen driving around in British-made vehicles such as Nissan’s or Toyota’s models.
Jack Dromey, the shadow policing minister, said Home Secretary Theresa May “must not let London down” and intervene to ensure the vehicles were British-made.
He said: “The Government is guilt of a lamentable failure to use taxpayers’ money to buy British for British bobbies.
“No French police minister would ever buy British cars for French gendarmes. Buying British would also boost British manufacturing.”
Chris Matheson, Labour MP for the City of Chester, accused the Government of “betraying” the British car industry by not buying British-made cars.
He said: “No other major EU country would betray one of its leading industries in this way.”
It was very hard “to go to Germany and find a police car that is not an Audi, a Mercedes, or a Volkswagen or to go to France and find a police car that is not a Peugeot, a Citreon or a Renault”.
Britain is the fourth largest vehicle manufacturer in the EU, producing 1.6million cars and commercial vehicles every year.
Mr Matheson said awarding the contract to Peugeot was a “double insult” because the French car maker had closed its plant near Coventry in 2006, with the loss of 3,000 British manufacturing jobs, and outsourced the work to Slovenia.
He added: “In times of austerity it cannot be right that we are potentially taking millions of pounds of British taxpayers’ cash and posting it across the channel. Does that really represent value for money for British taxpayers?”
“I simply cannot understand why the Government, or other public authorities such as the consortium or police and crime commissioners, are so keen to open the doors to foreign corporate bidders and hand over huge public sums to globalised companies that hold no loyalty to the UK.”
A UK motor industry source said forces were unable to choose to buy British-made vehicles now because of the UK’s literal interpretation of European Union procurement rules.
The source said: “In the old days a lot more police forces tended to buy British.
“Other countries can opt out from EU procurement rules to support their local manufacturers, but Britain does not. In the old days a lot more police forces tended to buy British.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which sets policy on policing matters, said that it could not choose British manufacturers over foreign ones because of EU procurement rules.
David Wilkin, the Council’s lead for Vehicle Procurement and Standardisation, said: “The vehicle purchase consortium contract was awarded after suppliers were invited to bid under European procurement laws.
“The award criteria looked at the whole life cost of vehicles rather than just the purchase price; taking into account ongoing costs such as fuel usage and servicing to ensure police forces get the best value for money.
“The police are committed to getting best value for money for the taxpayer while obtaining high-quality goods and services to keep officers and the public safe.”
A spokesman added that the cars would be converted into police cars in the UK, so that would ensure that British workers benefitted more from the contract.
Mr Penning promised to examine British treatment of EU procurement rules to see whether forces could demand to buy British made vehicles.
But he said: “The key is having the right vehicles for the right people doing the right jobs.”
Mr Penning pledged that more forces will be combining in the future on large procurement programmes to save money.
Mr Penning added: "There remains more to do. That is why I have decided to publish key police procurement information on the prices that forces currently pay for the most common items of uniforms and equipment, like shirts, handcuffs, batons and helmets."
Manufacturer Model Where are they made?
Peugeot 308 Mulhouse and Sochaux, France
Vauxhall Astra 1.6 diesel Ellesmere Port, UK
Peugeot 208 Poissy and Mulhouse, France
Vauxhall Vivaro Luton, UK
BMW 3 series Munich, Germany
BMW 5 series Dingolfing, Germany
BMW X5 Spartanburg, USA
Ford Kuga 4X4 Valencia, Spain