Allocation of vehicles within the MPS

Report: 08
Date: 23 October 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

Correct vehicle allocation can contribute significantly to both the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the MPS. Following recommendations made in the October 2001 MPS Fleet Strategy and the Accenture Efficiency and Effectiveness Review Programme, a Vehicle Allocation Formula was devised to optimise vehicle allocation to Boroughs. A revised vehicle allocation has been developed for the 32 Borough OCUs; it distributes the available vehicles more equitably and provides fleet mixes that reflect local needs. It will be implemented by 31 March 2005. The distribution of the remainder of the fleet between other OCUs is also being reviewed. A revised Transport Services Strategy will be presented to the MPA early in 2004.

A. Recommendation

Members are asked to note the contents of the report.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The allocation of vehicles to Operational Command Units (OCUs) within the MPS is largely based on previous experience and precedent, tempered by adjustments made as the result of regular review. Most recently, the 2001 MPS Fleet Strategy [1] recommended that there should be a formula to ensure correct vehicle allocation. This conclusion was also reflected in the Accenture Efficiency and Effectiveness Review Programme [2] which highlighted that improved utilisation of the MPS vehicle fleet could deliver greater efficiency.

2. As a result of these recommendations, steps were taken to develop a Vehicle Allocation Formula (VAF) as a tool to adjust the distribution of the MPS vehicle fleet in order to improve its overall utilisation. This paper provides a progress report on the results of reviewing the MPS vehicle fleet using VAF.

Vehicle Allocation Formula

3. In order to assess the optimum distribution of the Borough fleet, the VAF used five criteria to determine an individual Borough OCU (BOCU)’s correct share of the available vehicle resources. These were:

• Numbers of Police Officers: The proportion of the total number of Police Officers by BOCU as determined by the Resource Allocation Formula (RAF).
• Road Length: The proportion of the total road length by BOCU.
• Numbers of Immediate Responses: The proportion of Immediate Responses by BOCU.
• Road Density: The density of roads (by length) per square kilometre by BOCU.
• Results of the 2001 Fleet Review: The re-distribution of vehicles determined by the previous 2001 Fleet Review was used as the start point. This previous review had used a method based upon vehicle utilisation by time. Individual BOCUs’ utilisation percentages were related to the average for all BOCUs to determine whether they were over- or under-utilised and vehicle allocations were adjusted accordingly.

By adopting an averaging approach, these five criteria were used to recommend a new vehicle allocation for each Borough. After initial consideration of the results, Territorial Policing (TP) agreed that, in order to provide local flexibility for Boroughs, the allocation would be converted to a financial value and BOCUs largely permitted to select the makeup of their own fleets to meet their individual particular policing needs within the constraint of their overall ‘vehicle budgets’.

New MPS borough vehicle fleet profile

4. The table at Appendix 1 illustrates the post VAF BOCU fleet profile. This new distribution will however take three years to implement fully; it is planned to be completed by 31 March 2005. The new fleet profile also takes account of other changes such as C3i which includes the provision of mobile data terminals in vehicles and the introduction of supervisors’ vans, and the decision to replace Pandas by additional Incident Response Vehicles (IRVs).

Other elements of the MPS vehicle fleet

5. Whilst the distribution of TP’s Borough fleet can be optimised against demand and geographical factors, a modified approach has to be taken to the assessment of the correct distribution of available vehicle resources for TP’s pan-London OCUs, OCUs in Specialist Operations (SO) and the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) and supporting functions within the Deputy Commissioner’s Command and Resources Directorate. Unlike Borough Response Vehicles, much of the remainder of the MPS fleet is not operated intensively around the clock, seven days a week. This difference is reflected in the MPS Vehicle Replacement Programme where response vehicles are renewed every 2–3 years whereas most of the remainder of the fleet has a 5-6 year replacement cycle and even longer for the more complex specialist vehicles.

6. In the case of these other components of the MPS vehicle fleet, vehicle utilisation is measured on mileage and frequency and length of tasks as well as taking account of particular specialist operational requirements. The impact of the increased attention to Counter Terrorism post 11 September 2001 and an increasing number of crime reduction initiatives, such as those targeted at street and gun crime have generally increased vehicle utilisation. Nevertheless, a number of under-utilised vehicles have still been highlighted and recommendations for redeployment made to business groups; such vehicles provide headroom for manoeuvre and reallocation to areas where needs are more pressing.

Way forward

7. The two major Transport Services’ outsource contracts, covering equipping vehicles for Police use and in-service maintenance, are due to be replaced in April 2006. Work on the programme to replace these two contracts, and the other major MPS outsource contracts, is now well underway. The important first phase for the Transport Services’ project is to develop a new MPS Transport Services’ Strategy as the basis of deciding what functions should be outsourced after April 2006 and, in particular, how vehicle procurement, equipping, fleet management and in service maintenance can be undertaken most cost effectively in future. It is intended to seek MPA endorsement of this new strategy early in 2004.

8. New Technology. The tracking of vehicle utilisation can be greatly improved and eased by using automatic recording and reporting devices. Technology to undertake this task is available and already in partial use by some police forces. The imminent introduction of the C3i mobile data terminals in a proportion of the vehicle fleet and the existing incident data recorders in a greater number of MPS vehicles provide opportunities to exploit this approach. Work is therefore now underway considering how such improved data recording and reporting can be effected at reasonable cost in future.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no equality and diversity issues with MPS vehicle allocation although the distribution of vehicles takes account of numbers of police officers allocated to and incident calls received by Boroughs and should therefore, in that way, reflect local community issues.

D. Financial implications

The overall size and shape of the MPS vehicle fleet has a significant impact on the MPS’s Capital and Revenue budgets. Optimising the vehicle fleet in order to increase utilisation should therefore reduce this impact in the longer term.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Stuart Middleton, Director of Transport Services, MPS.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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