Fortress Business Justification Paper

Project Fortress concerns the implementation of a new electronic card access management system to the MPS estate. It addresses the need for a secure card management solution to maximise the use of buildings.

Further funding of £650,000 capital is requested to complete the project.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Approve £650,000 capital expenditure to complete the project. This has been included in the Quarter 2 capital review governance process and once approved, will be added to the capital programme.

2. Approve revenue costs of £5,000 in FY 20/21 and £31,000 p.a. from April 2021 to be funded from the Digital Policing revenue budget from April 2021.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The MPS is refreshing its physical estate to reduce costs but also accommodate growth in officer numbers. A software solution to manage access permissions has been deemed essential, enabling Smarter Working through a centralised model for allocating access and automating permissions based on roles.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. Two factors have contributed to the requirement for additional funding:

2.1.1. Since the project was scoped, funding has been provided for officer growth and this is above the tolerance for what the project allowed for. Therefore funding for licences and new pass cards have been included in this Business Justification Paper (BJP).

2.1.2. Secondly, the project has created the detailed designs and new business model, which has prompted a review of security policy for contractors, contingency workers and suppliers. This revealed a higher number of such staff than was initially estimated. The costs of providing these staff with software licences and new cards has also been included in the BJP.

In order to enhance the management of these support roles, enhanced software interfaces are proposed to avoid the need to increase FTEs to manage them.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The additional costs are summarised in the table below. This capital will form part of the Q2 Transformation portfolio capital planning process and it will, once approved, be transferred to Project Fortress.

3.2. The additional ongoing costs for this service are a direct result of officer growth. This cost will be managed within existing Digital Policing budgets.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above.

4.2. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (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 in excess of £189,330 shall be procured in accordance with the Regulations.

4.3. There are no new contracts associated with this BJP. The project will use existing suppliers and routes to market, as set out in the approved Final Business Case. These contracts have been reviewed as part of the BJP to ensure that they are compliant with all relevant regulations.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. There are no new contracts associated with this BJP. The project will use existing suppliers and routes to market, as set out in the Final Business Case for the Building Access Control project as approved by MOPAC in June 2019 (PCD 581).

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. A Data Privacy Impact Assessment has been completed for this programme/project. This business justification paper does not impact on that DPIA.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. This business justification paper raises no additional equality matters over and above the Final Business Case.

8. Background/supporting papers

8.1. The Building Access Control Final Business Case was approved in 2019 (decision PCD 581).