July 22, 2025 | Finance and Procurement , Vehicle Fleet
Request Number: FOI/15098
Category: Finance and Procurement - Vehicle Fleet
Subject: Electric and/or Hybrid Fleet Vehicles
Request and Answer:
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold some information to which your request relates and this is being provided to you.
We further consider the information you seek in request number 2 is exempt by virtue of Section 43 of FOIA and have detailed our rationale as to why this exemption applies. We have also provided you with links to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office which we have followed in responding to your request.
Request 1
Could the PSNI please confirm how many vehicles in its fleet are currently electric vehicles and or/hybrid? Please provide this information broken down into category by type of vehicle and as a proportion of the total number of vehicles in the fleet.
Answer 1
There are currently 1037 liveried vehicles in the commissioned fleet;
Diesel 914
Unleaded 89
No Fuel 26
Hybrid 4
Electric 4
Request 2
How much money has been spent on upgrading the police vehicle fleet by the purchasing of electric and/or hybrid vehicles over the past five years? Please provide this information broken down by financial year.
Answer 2
Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
a. states that fact,
b. specifies the exemption in question and
c. states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.
The exemption/s, as well as the factors the Department considered when deciding where the public interest lies, are listed below:
Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests – Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
Section 43 is a qualified class based exemption and a public interest test is required.
Factors Favouring Release – Section 43
Releasing this information would facilitate the accountability and transparency of public authorities in the spending of public money. There is a keen public interest in how public authorities spend taxpayers’ money and that value for money is achieved. Disclosure would better inform the public of the costs involved.
Factors Favouring Retention – Section 43
To divulge the requested spend information has the potential to damage the commercial interests of the both the PSNI and the supplier in any future public sector procurement competitions.
Releasing this detail could disadvantage a company and weaken their ability to tender for future contracts in a competitive market, impacting on future business revenue. The PSNI's commercial interests could also be prejudiced if commercial details and costs were disclosed which would damage the business reputation of the Service. The FOIA does not define commercial interests and the ICO Guidance on the application of s43 suggests that “… a commercial interest relates to a person’s ability to participate competitively in a commercial activity i.e. the purchase and sale of goods or services.”
Disclosure could discourage companies from submitting commercially sensitive information and consequently undermine the ability of the PSNI to procure best value for public funds and to conduct a fair tender competition in the future. To disclose such commercially sensitive information could diminish confidence in the integrity of the public tendering process thus discouraging companies from competing in public sector tenders. A consequence of this would be to reduce the ability of public authorities to obtain value for money in procurement. Obtaining value for money is in the overriding public interest when considering whether to disclose the further information sought
Decision
Release of this information would be likely to harm the process of future tenders and prejudice the commercial interests of the PSNI and any supplier concerned. A release under Freedom of Information is considered a release into the public domain and would therefore be a release in effect to other competitors. Disclosing this information would provide an advantage to rival businesses and undermine the main contractor’s trading ability to tender for future contracts. If tenderers are discouraged this may adversely affect the quality of tenders for public contracts and this would not be in the public interest.
Whilst accountability surrounding the use of public funds is always a strong argument in favour of releasing information, we have decided that disclosing a breakdown of costs would not be in the public interest.