FOI 00354 - Lease vehicles
Request:
Received: 16 February 2024
REQUEST 1:
Out of the entire National Board (to include the Principal Officers and CEO), how many lease vehicles are provided by PFEW to National Board members? Please provide the make and model of these vehicles.
REQUEST 2:
Out of the above number, which company provides these lease vehicles?
REQUEST 3:
Do the lease vehicles come directly from the company or is a broker / third party agent used? If so, the name of the broker / agent to be provided please?
REQUEST 4:
Please provide details of the tender process to award this contract?
REQUEST 5:
The total cost of providing lease vehicles to the National Board (to include the Principal Officers and CEO) for years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
REQUEST 6:
Can these lease vehicles be used for personal usage, if so, who pays the Benefit in Kind?
REQUEST 7:
Please provide the total cost to fuel / charge these vehicles for years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
REQUEST 8:
Are electric vehicle charging points provided for the users of lease vehicles at their home addresses? If so, the cost of installing these charging points and who pays for that?
REQUEST 9:
Are electric vehicle charging points provided at PFEW HQ, Federation House, Leatherhead? If so, do users pay to charge their vehicles at this location?
Response:
Responded: 15 March 2024
RESPONSE 1:
21 vehicles are leased. The CEO does not have a leased vehicle, and uses his own vehicle. Please see below for vehicle details:
| Make | Model | Number leased |
|---|---|---|
| Kia | e-Niro | 15 |
| Mercedes | A250e | 1 |
| Skoda | Enyaq | 1 |
| VW | Golf | 1 |
| MG | MG4 | 2 |
| Cupra | Born | 1 |
RESPONSE 2:
All vehicles leased to the PFEW are from Lex Autolease.
RESPONSE 3:
All vehicles leased to the PFEW are via Hanborough Enterprises LTD.
RESPONSE 4:
The PFEW is not obliged to follow public procurement/tendering guidelines, as it is not a public body.
RESPONSE 5:
The total paid to car leasing companies for the years requested are set out in the table below.
Please note:
1. In considering whether or not to lease vehicles, the PFEW considers the relevant individual's estimated annual mileage and the associated costs of this – that is, of reimbursing the individual for their mileage expenses when using their personal vehicle for work purposes (at 45p per mile). The PFEW then compares this with the annual cost of leasing a vehicle for that individual.
2. The current costs of leasing vehicles is significantly less than the total anticipated mileage costs for the individuals concerned, and there is therefore a costs saving obtained through vehicle leasing. Because vehicle lease agreements require an upfront payment to be made (typically 6-9 months), costs savings are generally not realised until year two of the lease (and thereafter).
|
|
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total cost (£) |
30,993 |
36,191 |
97,895 |
180,963 |
RESPONSE 6:
The lease vehicles can be for personal usage in addition to usage for the PFEW business but the car holder is responsible for paying their own Benefit in Kind.
RESPONSE 7:
The PFEW relies on section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FOIA") in response to the above request. This allows public authorities to refuse to comply with a request for information where the cost of compliance exceeds a statutory limit (known as the "Appropriate Limit"). At present the Appropriate Limit is set at £450 by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (see Reg. 3(3)). The cost of compliance is to be calculated based on a rate of £25 per person per hour (Reg. 4(3)). This means that the Appropriate Limit will be exceeded if it would require more than 18 hours of work in order to respond to a request.
In order to seek to respond to this request, the PFEW would need to conduct a manual review of all expenses claimed by those individuals who had lease vehicles in the period 2020-2023 to identify expenses claimed for fuel/vehicle charging. The PFEW would then need to seek to determine which of those expenses claimed related to the relevant lease vehicle as opposed to the individual's personal vehicle. On occasion, an individual might use their personal vehicle for work related purposes and claim expenses for this (for instance, where the lease vehicle is being serviced or otherwise out of use). This would require consultation with the relevant individuals, which would not be possible where the individual has left the organisation and, where the individual remains with the PFEW, he/she may be unable to recall with accuracy which vehicle the expenses claims related to.
It is therefore not known whether the PFEW holds the information for the purposes of FOIA, and to attempt to determine this would, it is estimated, take a minimum of 1 hour per individual, and therefore this exercise would exceed the Appropriate Limit, given the number of individuals who have had lease vehicles in the relevant period (currently 21 individuals alone).
RESPONSE 8:
Charging points can be installed at user’s home addresses and the cost is met by the PFEW.
In the period 2020-2024 (to date), the total cost of installing charging points amounts to £25,832.60.
RESPONSE:
The PFEW HQ (Federation House) has installed eight electric charging points. These are provided for use by guests of the site hotel and people who work at/are visiting Federation House and are available for use at no cost to the driver.
