FOI 1218-2024/25 Fleet

Request
Q1. How many motor vehicles are owned by the force?

Q2. Of those vehicles, how many are electric?

Q3. How many police stations with vehicle facilities does your force have?

Q4. How many of your police stations with vehicle facilities are equipped with electric vehicle charge-points? 

Q5. How much has the force spent on electric vehicles to date?

Q6. How much has the force invested in charging facilities for electric vehicles?

Q7. Does your force have a policy for charging electric vehicles and, if so, what is it?

Q8. What are electric vehicles used for in your force?

Q9. What further investments does the force plan to make for electric vehicles and charging facilities in the five-year period to March 2030?

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.

I can confirm that some of the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.

Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.

Q1. 237. This figure excludes covert, Armed Response Vehicles (ARV) and specialist vehicles pursuant to Section 31 of the Freedom of Informatio Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the below exemption explanation.

Q2. One.

Q3. The number of police stations with on-site parking is 26.

Q4. One.

Q5. £ 26,278.91

Q6. No information held. Expenditure was part of 2016/17 capital project cost.

Q7. No information held.

Q8. Logistics and stores.

Q9. No information held.

Exemption Explanation

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, 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 that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Section 31 – Law Enforcement
Section 31 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and there is a requirement to articulate the harm as well as carrying out a public interest test.

Evidence of Harm
As you may be aware, disclosure under FOIA is a release to the public at large. Whilst not questioning the motives of the applicant, releasing any information held regarding specialist vehicles such as Armed Response Vehicles, would allow criminals to note what capacity and tactical capabilities the force had, allowing them to target specific areas of the UK to conduct their criminal/terrorist activities. This would lead to an increase in harm of attacks and compromise Law Enforcement. This would be to the detriment of providing an efficient policing service and a failure in providing a duty of care to all members of the public.

Furthermore, the Police are there to support the public and deliver effective law enforcement. Releasing the number of specialist vehicles could provide intelligence when read in conjunction with other data in the public domain.

The threat from terrorism cannot be ignored. It is generally recognised that the international security landscape is increasingly complex and unpredictable. Releasing the number of specialist vehicles would hinder operational capabilities as criminals/terrorists would gain a greater understanding of the police’s resources, enabling them to take steps to counter them. It may also suggest the limitations of police capabilities in across the county, which may further encourage criminal/terrorist activity by exposing potential vulnerabilities. This detrimental effect is increased if the request is made to several different law enforcement bodies.

Information that undermines the operational integrity of the police will adversely affect public safety and have a negative impact on both national security and law enforcement.

Factors favouring disclosure under Section 31
Releasing information held relating to specialist vehicles would provide an insight into the police resources and enable the public to have a better understanding of the effectiveness of the police.

It would show how public funds are being spent in relation to protecting the public.

Information would ensure transparency and accountability and enable the public to see what tactics are deployed by the Police Service to tackle/assist in fighting crime.

Factors against disclosure under Section 31
It has been recorded that FOIA releases are monitored by criminals and terrorists and so releasing information held relating to specialist vehicles would undermine and compromise law enforcement and it would also hinder any local, regional or national operations.

It can be argued that there are significant risks associated with providing information in relation to any aspects that can assist criminal planning and that any nation’s security arrangements, by releasing the information, may reveal the relative vulnerability of what we may be trying to protect.

The Police Service would not wish to reveal resource information that would undermine the law enforcement operations and would impact on police resources, as more crime would be committed because criminals/terrorists would know which forces had less/more capability. This in turn would place the public at a greater risk and a fear of crime would be realised, especially for more vulnerable areas.

Balance test
The security of the public and the country is of paramount importance and the Police service will not divulge the resources, if to do so would place the safety of individuals at risk, due to providing freely available (single point) information under such requests and which in turn would undermine National Security or compromise law enforcement.

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing resources and providing assurance that the police service is appropriately prepared and effectively engaging with the threat posed by various groups or individuals, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police resources and operations in the highly sensitive areas such as extremism, crime prevention, public disorder and terrorism prevention.

Having considered the public interest factors I am required to determine whether on balance the factors favouring disclosure outweigh those which are against disclosure. It is my view that the factors favouring disclosure do not outweigh those which favour non-disclosure of the requested information. I would therefore inform you that North Yorkshire Police declines to release the information.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to part of your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.