Ministerial cars involved in crash once every three weeks

Ministerial cars are involved in an accident once every three weeks, The Telegraph can reveal.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by this newspaper found the Government’s elite fleet of cars, which includes Range Rovers and electric Jaguars, are regularly damaged in crashes.

Between January 2017 and October 2023, Department for Transport (DfT) data shows that 129 accidents took place involving its cars.

This is despite the fact that the Government claims to provide “high-quality”, “secure” and “safe” travel for ministers and senior officials.

One Conservative MP blamed the state of London’s roads for the number of accidents, while the Lib Dems called the data “staggering” and said questions needed to be answered.

Two accidents are recorded as having involved a cyclist, one of which caused more than £4,000 worth of damage to an electric Jaguar i-Pace.

A spokesman for the DfT said: “The Government Car Service takes safety extremely seriously. No persons were injured in any of these incidents.”

It added that although 129 accidents had been recorded, some of them involved criminal damage on the part of a third party. All of its vehicles are insured.

In a number of cases, the cause of an accident is recorded as a ministerial car rear-ending or pulling in front of another vehicle.

‘Simply staggering’

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem environment spokesman and former party leader, said: “When we said this Government was a car crash we didn’t expect them to take it literally.

“It is simply staggering that there have been so many crashes involving ministerial cars. The public deserve answers about why this is happening so frequently.”

In 2022, a Jaguar XF appears to have collided head-on with an unspecified animal, damaging the bumper, grill and trim to the cost of almost £3,000.

Six cars are recorded as having been damaged by security gates or road blockers, while a Land Rover Discovery had to be repaired after “car wash damage”.

Greg Smith, a Tory MP who sits on the Commons transport committee, suggested that the priority given to other forms of transport in London could be to blame.

He told The Telegraph: “Perhaps if London’s streets were still available for cars rather than carved up with bike lanes and bus lanes, there may be fewer accidents.”

The Government Car Service did not record whether any minister was present in the cars at the time of the accidents.

A spokesman for Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said he was “determined” to prevent death and serious injury on the roads and ensure Londoners could travel “as safely, sustainably and efficiently as possible”.