Procurement for the Provision of Telephone Interpreting Services

This decision seeks approval for the use of the Leicestershrire Police framework to source a supplier for the provision of a telephone interpreting service. The current contract expires at the end of June 2021. The contract is anticipated to be of a 4-year duration with an estimated value of £2,890,000.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Approve the use of the Leicestershire Police Direct Purchasing System framework as the route to market

2. Where the results of the procurement process fall within the confirmed budget, (£2,890,000) delegate approval for the award of contract to the MPS Director of Commercial Services.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The current contract for the supply of a telephone interpreting service expires at the end of June 2021. In December the MPS received approval to initiate procurement [PCD899] via the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) framework.

1.2. This decision also noted that Leicestershire Police - the lead service within policing in Language Services sector - had a potential new route to market available via U.K. Police Service Language Services Dynamic Purchasing Solution (DPS).

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The MPS evaluated the Leicestershire Police purchasing solution and determined that it better met the requirements as it included the Police Approved Interpreters and Translators Scheme (PAIT) which the ESPO framework did not.

2.2. This paper seeks approval for the procurement of the service via the Leicestershire Police Language Services Dynamic Purchasing Solution (DPS).

3. Financial Comments

3.1. Based on current volumes the estimated cost over the potential 4 year life of the contract is £2,890,000. This costs will be met from within the existing resources of the MPS.

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 report confirms the value of the requirement is £2.9m. The MPS confirms the procurement process was undertaken by Commercial Services in accordance with the Regulations.

4.2. Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent requires that approval is obtained by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) for all requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above.

4.3. Paragraph 7.23 of the Scheme provides the Director of Strategic Procurement has consent to approve the award of all contracts except for those subject to call in. Paragraph 4.14 provides the DMPC reserves the right to call in any MPS proposal to award a contract valued at £500,000 or above.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. This paper is seeking re-procurement of the provision of a telephone interpreting service to support the work of the MPS in meeting a variety of lilnguistic requirements including but not limited to the Equality Act 2010, Human Rights Act 1988, and under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

5.2. The service will include interpreters and translators, via Face to Face interviews – Remote interpreting, Video and MS Teams,and Telephone Interpreting for evidential and non-evidential purposes. The service will opertae 24 hours a day, 7 days week, 365 days a year.

5.3. The proposed contract is for a period of upto 4 years with an initial tem of 2 years with an option to extend by a further 2 years (2x12 months). The Leicestershire Police DPS framework has been competed for national Police Forces, with the MPS being named as one of the police forces allowed to use this framework. Service providers listed on the framework were assessed during the procurement process for their financial stability, experience and technical & professional ability, as well as their Social Value benefits.

5.4. There are no direct awards permitted on the DPS framework and pricing can only be obtained as part of the further competition. The dynamic purchasing system is compliant with UK/EU procurement legislation. The MPS has been able to gain further savings via creating pricing tailored to MPS requirements, with a reduction in costs in line with usage.

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.

6.2. The MPS assure that this project does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

7.2. The MPS assure that all languages that are currently required are available to the MPS with the MPS able to add any new languages as and when they are required. An EIA is being completed to mitigate any risk of languages not being included.

8. Background/supporting papers

• Appendix 1a MPS Paper PROCUREMENT FOR THE PROVISION OF TELEPHONE INTERPRETING SERVICES FOR MPS

• Appendix 1b MPS Paper Initiation of Procurement The Provision of Telephone Interpreting Service for the MPS