Data Processing, Disclosure and Document Management Solution

This report is requesting approval to award a contract to Bouygues for the provision of Relativity software to deliver the data processing, disclosure and document management system.

The DMPC is asked to approve the award of a 3 year contract to Bouygues for the provision of Relativity software to deliver the data processing, disclosure and document management system with a maximum value of £285k.

Introduction and background

1. A Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing was announced by the Home Secretary in March 2014. The Inquiry Team issued a Rule 9 Disclosure Request on 24 September 2015 against the MPS, requiring the copying and provision of approximately 50,000 readable documents, most of which are sensitive, within a 14 day period. Using the current systems the disclosure of 50,000 will take the police and legal team 26,000 working days to complete.

2. The MPS and Pitchford Inquiry Teams have assessed that existing systems lack the user interface and capability to support disclosure on this scale, however, the proposed Relativity discovery platform fully meets the requirements.

Issues for consideration

3. The 50,000 documents which have been requested by the Inquiry Team is the first tranche of disclosure ordered and the Inquiry is likely to require provision of further material held in digital and paper systems.

Financial Comments

4. The total cost of the solution is £285k will be funded from within existing resources.

5. The MPS has recently procured a similar Relativity based document management system, it is therefore anticipated that Value for Money can be leveraged from Bouygues in terms of project management and Relativity licencing.

6. Full details are contained in the attached report.

Legal Comments

7. Regulations 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations provides that a contacting authority may use the Negotiated procedure without prior publication of an OJEU notice where it is strictly necessary for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events which were unforeseeable and where the time limits for procurement procedures elsewhere cannot be complied with.

8. This report confirms that the urgency is due to the need to comply with statutory timescales for disclosure. The disclosure requirements of the Public Inquiry leave MOPAC with insufficient time to comply with the time limits set out within other procurement processes and then to allow for a number of necessary actions to take place, such as vetting the contractor’s staff and pre-service implementation work.

9. Full details are contained in the attached report.

Equality Comments

10. The project will address both internal and external community confidence. This includes the MPS’s ability to deal with allegations of inappropriate practice within Undercover Policing which impacts on the trust and confidence of all communities both within and outside the service.