Catering Contract Extension

This paper is to obtain agreement to fund an extension to the 1st generation catering contract with Elior, catering suppliers to the MPS. The contract expires in April 2020 and the MPS are seeking to extend the contract until April 2022.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to agree the funding of a subsidy of £1.04m in 2020/21 and £942k in 2021/22, to extend the current catering contract for a further 2 years from April 2020. This will be funded from the medium term financial plan.

1. Introduction and background

1.1 Extending this contract will allow sufficient time to research and fully explore a 2nd generation catering business model working alongside Property Services and Commercial.

1.2 The 1st generation catering extension options will require funding for the continuation of a catering at the current 14 sites. Operational Feeding, Detainee Feeding, Retail Vending and Hospitality will also continue.

2. Issues for Consideration

2.1 The extension of the catering facilities at the 14 MPS sites is for a period of 2 years from the end of the initial term in April 2020.

2.2 It should be noted that without a catering provider the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for Operational feeding does not fully cover the scale and scope required for large volume planned and unplanned events, e.g. Notting Hill Carnival and Bridges. Trials continue with both PSOP self-claim and gift cards. Also, the current BCP will not cover service provision at staff restaurants.

3. Financial Comments

3.1 The extention of the 1st generation service will require a subsidy of £1.04m in 2020/21 and £942k in 2021/22 and will be an unbudgeted pressure in the medium-term financial plan.

4. Legal Comments

4.1 The report confirms the proposed extension period was included as an option from when the contract was originally awarded in 2017. On that basis the extension is compliant with the procurement rules.

4.2 The issue of a voluntary ex-ante transparency (VEAT) notice allows potential suppliers across Europe ten days within which to mount a legal challenge. The VEAT was published on 02/10/2019, and the ten day period ended without challenge.

4.3 Paragraph 7.24 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Director of Strategic Procurement has consent to approve all variations and extension for contracts with the exception of those called in through the agreed call in procedure.

4.4 Paragraph 4.14 of the Scheme provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) reserves the right to call in all variations and extensions to contracts with an original value of £500,000 or above.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

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

5.2 The project does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

6. Equality Comments

6.1 This business case has undergone initial equality screening. Due regard has been taken to the Equality Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty. Real consideration has been taken to assess equality impact caused by the proposed business changes.

6.2 As this is an extension of an existing service this work does not change any aspects relating to equality or diversity.

7. Background/supporting papers

None.