THE Metropolitan Police has decided to outsource the maintenance of most of its 4,500-vehicle fleet after a major review of operations. Covert vehicles will continue to be maintained in-house and core vehicles such as patrol cars, traffic cars and senior officers' vehicles will still be managed in-house, but more peripheral activities will be contracted out.

The decision follows a four-month review of areas as diverse as personnel, IT, property services and transport in conjunction with management consultants Coopers & Lybrand.

It is believed the force will now conduct a tender process to appoint the outside suppliers before the contracts go live next year. The Met will retain teams in-house to oversee the contracts, manage work and set standards, while also retaining some operational duties.