PCD 1323 - Smart Phone Role Out

PCD 1323 - Smart Phone Role Out

The Commissioner has identified a number of initiatives as part of his one hundred day plan. The deployment of a smartphone to every officer and to front line policing staff is amongst the high priorities. 

The rollout of smartphones will increase accessibility and mobility of MPS officers, in turn this is expected to improve victim care, support the MPS officers & staff, and rebuild trust and confidence in the police. 

The proposal is to acquire and provide 29,737 smartphones to all officers and identified staff at a capital cost of £8.6m (£8.2m in 2022/23 and £0.4m in 2023/24), with revenue for on-going support of £0.8m in 2022/23 rising to £3m per year from 2023/24.  There is an ongoing capital refresh requirement of £3m in 2024/25 and £9m in 2025/26. The costs will be funded in part from the 2022/23 underspend, a reallocation of existing budgets and by adding to the Capital Programme in future years. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the procurement, staging and on-boarding of 29,737 smartphones to all officers and identified staff at a capital cost of £8.6m (£8.2m in 2022/23 and £0.4m in 2023/24), with revenue for on-going support of £0.8m in 2022/23 rising to £3m per year from 2023/24 and an ongoing capital refresh requirement of £3m in 2024/25 and £9m in 2025/26. This will be funded in part from the 2022/23 underspend, a reallocation of existing budgets and by adding to the Capital Programme in future years. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

2. The MPS previously purchased 10,000 Samsung A32 smartphones with in-tune technology to replace the end of life Blackberry Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) devices.  This covered replacement of UEM devices allocated principally to senior officers, staff and detectives.  As part of the replacement project, the MPS made updates to its core infrastructure to allow for 40,000 devices to be managed.  There is now an opportunity to procure additional smartphones to ensure that all officers and staff operating in the field are better equipped to carry out their roles.  

3. The MPS currently do not routinely issue officers with smartphones as part of their allocated kit. 

4. As part of the Commissioner’s hundred day plan, he has committed to roll out smartphones to all officers and identified staff by April 2023.  The procurement of a further 29,737 Samsung A32 smartphones with in-tune technology and accompanying accessories will ensure the correct technology is in place to support officers and staff with decision making, be more accessible to victims as well as bring the MPS in line with most other UK forces.  MPS corporately issued devices ensure that officers are using a secure, auditable platform to call victims and witnesses eliminating the need to use personal devices for policing purposes. 

5. The rollout of smartphones will increase accessibility and mobility of MPS officers.  Officers will be able to make contact with victims / witnesses whilst on the move removing the need for officers to return to police buildings to make calls as well as provide victims with a direct contact number.  There is also potential for further functionality to be added to smartphones once the rollout has been completed by enabling numerous applications which are available via android devices, namely those supported by Microsoft Office 365 including a growing number of PowerApps to support decision making.  This is in support of the MPS strategic objectives to ‘seize the opportunities of data and digital technologies to become a world leader in policing’. 

6. Initial functionality will be increased over time to include access to key corporate solutions including but not limited to Connect and Command & Control. 

7. Issues for consideration  

8. This paper is in direct support of the Commissioner’s commitment to equip all officers and identified staff with Smartphones in order to improve victim care, support our officers & staff and rebuild trust and confidence in the police.  Due to the volume of smartphones required an order needs to be placed as soon as possible to secure stock ready for deployment. 

9. The remainder of this information is contained in the restricted section of the report. 

10. Financial Comments  

11. The procurement, staging and on-boarding of the 29,737 smartphones has a capital cost of £8.6m (£8.2m in 2022/23 and £0.4m in 2023/24), with revenue for on-going support of £0.8m in 2022/23 rising to £3m per year from 2023/24 and an ongoing capital refresh requirement of £3m in 2024/25 and £9m in 2025/26. 

12. These costs will be funded in part from the 2022/23 underspend, a reallocation of existing budgets and by adding to the Capital Programme in future years. 

13. Legal Comments  

14. MOPAC is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the Regulations).  All awards of public contracts for goods and/or services valued at £213,477.00 (inclusive of VAT) or above must be procured in accordance with the Regulations.  This report confirms the proposed contract exceeds this value.  Accordingly, the Regulations will be engaged. 

15. MOPAC already have a compliantly procured contract in place with Vodafone for the provision of devices, this procurement therefore falls within regulation 72(1)(a) of the Regulations and is a contract modification provided for in the original contract and is compliant with the Regulations. 

16. Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime has delegated authority to approve all requests to go out to tender for contracts valued at £500,000 or above Populated upon decision. 

17. The remainder of this information is contained in the restricted section of the report. 

18. Commercial Issues  

19. No new contracts are required to be procured. Existing Contract provisions are to be exercised and new purchase orders will be raised against the existing handset contract for the additional requirements. 

20. The additional Netmotion licences will be procured via the MPS’ Value Added Reseller CDW Ltd.  

21. The voice and data requirements will be met via the existing airtime contract and its replacement, currently being procured.  

22. The remainder of this information is contained in the restricted section of the report. 

23. GDPR and Data Privacy  

24. The MPS is subject to the requirements and conditions placed on it as a 'State' body to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. Both legislative requirements place an obligation on the MPS to process personal data fairly and lawfully in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals. 

25. Under Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Section 57 of the DPA 2018, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) become mandatory for organisations with technologies and processes that are likely to result in a high risk to the rights of the data subjects. 

26. The Information Assurance and Information Rights units within MPS will be consulted at all stages to ensure the project meets its compliance requirements. 

27. The Smartphone is not designed as a processing or storage platform for policing purposes, a DPIA was completed as part of the rollout of the original 10,000 devices in January 2021. The applications that are installed on the smartphone will have their own relevant DPIA, a national DPIA has also been completed as part of the National Enabling Programme for the use of Microsoft 365 applications. 

28. Equality Comments  

29. All aspects of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion have complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty within the Equality Act 2010 by conducting an Equality screening against the 9 Protected Characteristics.  If a user is deemed to have a disability then it will be the duty of the MPS to provide a bespoke reasonable adjustment to support the individual’s needs. This will be facilitated by the completion of an occupational health referral by their line management.  It is important to note that any pre-existing Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) for mobile Smartphone devices should be reviewed regularly to make sure that it is still fit for purpose and in date for mobile Smartphone device upgrades.   

30. Background/supporting papers 

31. MPS Report – Smartphone Rollout