Supply of Discreet Vehicles & Manufacturer Parts

This paper seeks approval to award contracts to nine different vehicle manufacturers for the supply to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) of Discreet Vehicles and manufacturer replacement parts.

The supply of the fleet plays an integral part in supporting all aspects of policing and enables the MPS to meet its strategic targets, ensuring it remains a mobile organisation capable of responding reactively and proactively to crime and policing matters and protecting those living and working in London.

The nine contracts will each run for four years commencing February 2020 with an overall cost to the MPS amounting to £11M.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1) Approve the award of nine contracts;

a) The purchase costs are valued at £10.5M and funded from the published Fleet Capital Programme. The MPS fund £7.7M and the balance of £2.8M will be funded directly by 3rd parties.

b) The purchase of replacement parts is valued at £0.5M and funded from existing budgets.

c) Four-year contracts commencing February 2020.

d) The total MPS award value is £11M.

2) Note the MPS led a collaborative procurement exercise for this requirement, which has resulted in Kent & Essex Police joining the MPS; their volume is valued at £1.1M.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The supply of the fleet plays an integral part in supporting all aspects of policing, enabling the MPS to meet its strategic targets and ensuring it remains a mobile organisation capable of responding reactively and proactively to crime and policing matters and protecting those living and working in London.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The DMPC approved the initiation in September 2017 (PCD254) as part of the MPS Vehicle Replacement Programme 2018-21.

2.2. The MPS require Discreet Vehicles to support covert operational policing.

2.3. Delivery and operation of the fleet are critical to achievement of the MPS Strategy 2018-2025 objectives.

2.4. With the recent HM Government announcement to increase officer and support staff numbers within the MPS, it is considered that the fleet will need to increase substantially over the next three years.

2.5. The MPS acknowledges the Air Quality implications of operating a fleet within London and has set out a number of ambitious targets to reduce emissions whilst still providing an operationally fit for purpose fleet.

2.6. The MPS published an Air Quality Strategy which covered the period 2017-2020, which supported the Mayor’s commitment to improve air quality in London, and the MPS has successfully deployed 549 ultra-low emission vehicles some 18-months early.

2.7. The MPS intend to publish a new Air Quality Strategy for 2020 to 2025 in which it will continue to look beyond 2025 to set out its 5-year strategy to develop future aspirations and targets to work towards the Mayors ambition to purchase zero emission vehicles from 2030.

2.8. The introduction of an intelligent Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) scheduling function to support asset replacement decision making will enable the MPS to not only identify ULEZ non-compliant vehicles but also forecast the optimum replacement of a single asset over a 20-year cycle.

2.9. The tender has made available a wide range of vehicle options that will be compliant with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone for the MPS and this will enable the MPS to fully operate a compliant fleet by Q3 2023.

2.10. Whilst at present there are no hybrid or electric vehicles that meet this technical required, the MPS will adopt innovative low emission technology as it develops. One manufacturer offered a hybrid vehicle that is shortly to be released for sale, once available the MPS will purchase this model.

2.11. Fleet Services expects the vehicle landscape to change significantly during these tenders and the technical requirements within the contracts allow the MPS to adopt other hybrid and zero emission vehicles as they are released for sale.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The nine contracts are valued at £11M over a four-year period, which include the purchase of vehicles and the associated original equipment manufacturer of parts and is in accordance with the initial value approved by the DMPC in September 2017 (PCD254) as part of the MPS Vehicle Replacement Programme 2018-21.

3.2. The purchase of vehicles is estimated at £10.5M over a four-year period and will be funded from the published Fleet Capital Programme. The MPS will fund £7.7M and the balance of £2.8M will be funded directly by 3rd parties.

3.3. The purchase of associated manufacturer components is estimated at £0.5M over a four-year period, this will be charged to existing revenue budgets.

3.4. The Crown Commercial Services framework (RM6060) allows for the purchase of vehicles and replacement parts directly from the manufacturer, which delivers significant savings over retail prices. The MPS led a collaborative procurement with Kent & Essex police in order to maximise the opportunity for additional savings by increasing the vehicle purchasing volume.

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, which apply to the contracts to be procured as their values are £181,302 or above.

4.2. Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Consent and Delegation provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime has delegated authority to approve the procurement strategy and requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above, as is the case with these contracts.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

5.1. 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.

5.2. 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.

5.3. A Data Protection Impact Assessment has been undertaken with support from the Information Assurance Unit.

6. Equality Comments

6.1. Equality and Diversity impact has been considered with no issues identified or foreseen.

7. Background/supporting papers

7.1. Part 2 is not suitable for MOPAC publication. Disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is exempt by section 43(2). Confidentiality should be reviewed after 2028, the expected end of life of the longest contract.