Contract Award for Supply & Delivery of Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats

Approval is sought to award a new contract for the Supply and Delivery of Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) to Zodiac Milpro International (ZMI). The contract is for a total contract value at £4.3M (including contingency) with an initial contract term of 36 months to commence by January 2022 with the option to extend for a further 12 months.

Approval to initiate procurement action was provided in September 2017 (PCD254) as part of the MPS Vehicle Replacement Programme 2018-21.

The MPS has undertaken the procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as advertised via the ‘UK Government Find A Tender’ and ‘Contracts Finder’ portals.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Approve the contract award to Zodiac Milpro International (ZMI) to supply and deliver up to 4 Rigid Hull Intervention Boats, with a total contract value at £4.3M (including contingency) with an initial contract term of 36 months to commence by January 2022 with the option to extend for a further 12 months.

2. Note that although the MPS have an initial requirement to only purchase 3 RHIB’s valued at £2.9M the contract will allow the option to purchase an additional boat over the life of the contract if required.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The MPS has a requirement to purchase new RHIBs built in accordance with Code A of the Police Boat Codes (PBC3) without exception and as accepted by the Maritime and Coastguard Association (MCA). The new boats are required to replace the current ageing fleet.

1.2. Demand for Counter Terrorism (“CT”) presence on the Thames has grown exponentially year on year and is a core MPU function. The MPU is an enabler and is required to be ready to respond to a policing incident at sea 24/7 on the Thames and on any of UK inland water. While the MPU has a number of other responsibilities such as dealing with Emergency calls, crime and anti-social behaviour there is a core element of CT work running through all MPU activity.

1.3. The MPU provides the MPS with its CT response on the water to incidents as diverse as a tourist or commuter vessel, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incident or delivering a team of Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (“CTSFOs”) into the Marine Environment to deal with a Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack (MTFA).

1.4. The MPU also provide the Marine Training for the MPS as a registered Royal Yachting Association (RYA) school and are the UK national CTSFO training centre for the marine aspect of the CTSFO training, the UK policing capability will use this fleet.

1.5. The operating environment for these vessels is primarily fast tidal river and estuary (tide speed can be in excess of 8 knots), containing driftwood, debris, flotsam, etc. This hostile environment, coupled with excessive use of aging vessels, contributes to excessive repair and maintenance.

1.6. Approval of this contract will allow the MPS to meet its operational needs through the new selected boats, offering a good range of functionality and resilience for policing the Thames based on the change in risk and threat since the original boats went into service in 2008 and 2009. The replacement of the RHIBs will reduce the reliability risk and allow the MPS to meet its legal obligation to ensure safety of its officers.

1.7. A collaborative procurement with the GLA (London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and Transport for London), along with other agencies such as Kent & Essex marine unit was considered, although for this procurement it was not pursued as the requirement was not relevant to some (LAS and TFL), LFB requirements were not consistent with MPS and Kent & Essex were considering reducing their fleet.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. Existing RHIBs have reached the end of their economic life, maintaining existing boats will become more challenging, specifically in relation to obtaining replacement parts/spares, potential hull failures and increased maintenance costs due to the aging fleet.

2.2. Approval to award the contract will enable the supplier to agree the final build schedule in time to take delivery of the first RHIB in quarter one 2023.

2.3. The MPS Environment and Sustainability policy and the MPS Environment & Sustainability Strategy 2019-2021 have been taken into consideration. The specification of requirements for the supply and delivery of RHIBs captured the MPS commitment to the GLA Responsible Procurement Policy, which was updated in March 2021.

2.4. The service solution delivered through this contract should demonstrate the application of circular economy principles , where possible, ensuring the supplier maximises the lifespan of any products associated with contract delivery. This should align with successful suppliers’ expected commitment to the waste hierarchy and the aforementioned GLA Group Responsible Procurement Policy.

2.5. Suppliers shall be expected to demonstrate a proactive approach to environment and sustainability in the delivery of the Contract Services and contribute to the objectives and targets of the MPS Environmental and Sustainability Strategy in areas such as recycling and waste reduction (including reducing unnecessary single use plastics), carbon emissions reduction, water management and responsible procurement.

• The Supplier shall comply with the principles of the MPS Environmental Policy and outline the measures it will take to improve its positive environmental impacts and reduce its negative impacts over the lifetime of the contract, as part of a contract-specific Environmental Management Plan;

• The Supplier shall use their best endeavors to implement measures to report and reduce carbon emissions (arising from energy use and transport) associated with delivery of the service and its own organisation including re-use at the RHIBs’ end-of-life, such as supplier take-back and scrappage schemes as appropriate;

• The Supplier shall use their best endeavors to implement measures to report and reduce waste and consider the Circular Economy associated with delivery of the service and its own organisation;

• The Supplier shall use their best endeavors to implement measures to report and reduce water consumption associated with delivery of the service and its own organisation;

• The supplier shall meet the requirements of the GLA Responsible Procurement Policy.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The contract award value is £4.3M, this includes the option to purchase a fourth RHIB over the life of the contract and 10% (£390k) contingency for necessary alterations to the proposed design concept, which could result in additional cost.

3.2. Funding for three replacement RHIBs is included in the CT capital programme approved in July 2020.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations”). When awarding public contracts for goods and services valued at £189,330 or above, all contracting authorities must do so in accordance with the Regulations. This Paper requests approval to award a contract, which exceed this threshold.

4.2. The report confirms the proposed contract award has been procured compliantly in accordance with the Regulations.

4.3. Paragraph 7.23 of the MOPAC “Scheme of Delegation and Consent” provides that the Director of Commercial Services has consent to award all contracts with the exception of those called in through the agreed call off procedure. Paragraph 4.14 provides that the DMPC reserves the right to call in all contract awards of £0.5m or above.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. Due to the high value and specialist nature of the requirement, the MPS undertook an Open procedure procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) as advertised via the ‘UK Government Find A Tender’ and ‘Contracts Finder’ portals.

5.2. Extensive market engagement activity took place in February 2021 via issue of a Prior Information Notice (PIN), which included sharing the draft specification of requirements, prior to official publication of an ITT.

5.3. Publication of the ITT documents took place on 19th August 2021, three bidders returned an ITT submission.

5.4. The tender consisted of a number of key evaluating areas with weighting appropriately proportioned equating to a total of 100%. Please see table 1 below for an overview of key evaluating areas:

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. 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.

6.2. 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.

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

6.4. Personal data is not required or stored.

6.5. Supply and replacement planning does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public or Met personnel, aside from essential basic contact details necessary to ensure the discharge of the contract, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. An equality screening has determined that there are no negative equality impact or diversity implications arising from this procurement process. The agreement for the Supply and Delivery of RHIBs will ensure the supplier adheres to their obligations in accordance with equality law.

7.2. In addition, it should be noted that the MPS support the Mayor’s Responsible Procurement Policy including: Enhancing Social Value, Encouraging Equality and diversity, Embedding fair employment practices, Enabling skills, training and employment opportunities, promoting ethical sourcing practices and improving environmental sustainability.

8. Background/supporting papers

8.1. Approval to initiate procurement action was provided in September 2017 (PCD254) as part of the MPS Vehicle Replacement Programme 2018-21.