MD2743 Lateral Flow Testing Centre Provision for north-east London

1.1 London is currently at the forefront of the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Greater London Authority (GLA), as the strategic authority for London, is an integral part of the London response alongside local authorities, the NHS, Public Health England and the Government, to ensure that London has in place the mechanisms to slow the spread of the virus and to save the lives of Londoners.

1.2 On Thursday 10 December 2020, London Resilience Group , contacted the GLA on behalf of the Chief Executives of LB Redbridge and LB Havering to ask the GLA for assistance in securing resources, on an urgent basis, to support the set-up and operation of Lateral Flow Testing Centres in eight north-east London boroughs for a period of up to three months commencing 18 December 2020, noting that under the current plans funding is available for a six-week operation but given the fast-moving nature of the pandemic situation, this may change. These testing centres will support mass testing of asymptomatic Londoners within these boroughs as a key strategy to attempt to slow the rate of growth of COVID cases in the area and need to commence immediately to be effective.

1.3 The GLA was contacted given our experience in establishing mortuary hubs in the first wave of the pandemic and the GLA’s experience in working with event production companies who are best able to provide significant levels of resources and who have significant experience in pulling together large-scale events/operations in short timeframes.

1.4 Given their experience in setting up and running the mortuary hubs, we contacted Loud Sound Limited (who operate under the name Hub Logistics for COVID-19 response work). They have confirmed that they anticipate that they are able to meet the needs specified, noting that at the time of writing, these requirements were still be developed and understood. Their experience in running large-scale entertainment events on behalf of major entertainment companies like AEG means that they have access to significant resources and infrastructure.

1.5 As a result of this, on Thursday 10 December 2020, London Resilience Group, requested that the GLA engage and contract with Loud Sound to support the planning, delivery and operation of Lateral Flow Testing Centres in eight locations in north-east London, and, as necessary, provide similar support for further locations identified (subject to the availability of Loud Sound resources and budget).

1.6 The GLA was asked to contract with Loud Sound directly as no single London Borough in the region was comfortable procuring this separately and given the GLA has good working relationship with Hub Logistics and is able to activate a contract at speed, given the first Lateral Flow Testing Centres needed to be activated within a week of the first meeting. A single contract across eight boroughs is also more practical, timely and will enable economies of scale to be achieved when compared to each borough contracting independently.

1.7 Loud Sound are not on any GLA or Transport for London procurement frameworks, and as such, will be single-sourced to deliver this work.

1.8 Section 9 of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code requires that goods and services over £25,000 are procured competitively. However, Section 10 of the Code sets out the circumstances in which such a single-source exemption may be sought. These include urgency, defined as satisfying the definition of urgent through an unforeseen event such as flood, fire or civil unrest. As set out in this decision form, we consider this single sourcing of Loud Sound meets the criteria for urgency and this Decision Form requests an exemption from the requirement in the Code to procure competitively.

1.9 Approval is being sought for expenditure of up to £4.8 million to support north-east London’s Lateral Flow Testing Centres. The full cost of this work will be recouped from the eight London boroughs who have all confirmed £400k funding per month from the Department for Health and Social Care, as per appendix A. This is based on a six-week commitment. If further budget allocation is made by the Department for Health and Social Care, the GLA may be asked by the north-east London boroughs to procure further services. This will be subject to a further Decision.

1.10 The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is assisting with the scoping of venues, but at the time of writing, no military resources have been committed to setting up and operating the centres.

2.1 At the time of writing, commitment has been made to set up Lateral Flow Testing Centres: one small, one medium and one Mobile Testing Unit in each of the north-east London boroughs including Barking & Dagenham, City of London, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Further sites may also be required within these boroughs. It could also be necessary to roll out this model to other London areas. Additional services exceeding the allocated £4.8 million would be subject to a further Decision.

2.2 Work is currently underway to determine the exact scope of works required. At the time of writing this is expected to include:

2.3 The GLA will support Loud Sound with reporting progress to the collective of North East London boroughs, known as the North East London Sub-regional COVID Response (NELSCR), particularly in the early stages of mobilisation. The GLA (alongside a nominated borough representative) will also provide tactical and communications support to Loud Sound as necessary.

2.4 The GLA will also closely monitor all expenditure associated with this contract.

3.1 Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. Accessibility issues will be considered as part of the planning of each Lateral Flow Testing Centre.

Risks

4.1. The key risks and mitigations are set out in the table below.

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2. This work links to the Mayor’s responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act.

Consultation

4.3. The Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and the GLA’s Chief Officer have been consulted on this proposal. This proposal has also been discussed with the Strategic Coordination Group chaired by John Barradell. Chief Executives of all eight boroughs are also consulted on the proposal, and have confirmed their support (Appendix A).

Conflicts of interest

4.4. The drafting officers have no known conflicts of interest.

5.1. This decision requests approval of expenditure of up to £4.8 million to support the operating costs of Lateral Flow Testing Centres in London required because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

5.2. The costs will be incurred by the GLA, before they will be recouped from the eight local boroughs who have confirmed Government funding as detailed in Appendix A.

5.3. Formal confirmation from the Government has been provided that costs will be reimbursed or covered by other bodies. The Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Chief of Staff, has the power to stop or limit funding dependent on the actual rate of spend and progress with confirming that the expenditure is covered by the Coronavirus Act or otherwise.

5.4. An emergency payment was authorised by the Executive Director of Resources of £150,000 + VAT to ensure the Lateral Flow Testing Centres were established quickly. A second payment was made on 21 December 2020 of £730,963.33 + VAT towards the costs associated with this contract. Retrospective approval is sought for these payments.

5.5. The GLA would not be liable for any costs over the committed £4.8 million which will be paid by London boroughs who have all confirmed £400k funding per month (for a six-week commitment) from the Department for Health and Social Care. This is because either the Executive Director of Resources can halt any proposed expenditure over the £4.8m or the Government and / or Boroughs will commit to meet any costs above this limit.

6.1 The GLA is a Category 1 Responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (“CCA”). Other Category 1 Responders include local authorities, the Metropolitan Police Service, the London Fire Brigade, NHS primary care trusts, and the Environment Agency. Section 2 of the CCA requires a Category 1 Responder to maintain plans for the purpose of ensuring that if an emergency occurs it is able to perform its functions so far as necessary or desirable for the purpose of preventing the emergency, reducing, controlling or mitigating its effects, or taking other action in connection with it.

6.2 There is a general duty upon Category 1 and 2 Responders to co-operate with each other in the performance of their duties under Section 2 of the CCA.

6.3 Under section 30(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended) (GLA Act), the Mayor may do anything which he considers will further one or more of the principal purposes of the Authority of promoting economic development and wealth creation, social development, or the improvement of the environment in Greater London. The allocation of funding proposed in this Mayoral Decision falls within one or more of the GLA’s principal purposes and is not precluded by any of the limitations contained in section 31 of the GLA Act.

6.4 In order to exercise the power under section 30 of the GLA Act, the Mayor must consider as appropriate various matters contained in section 30(3-11); none of which are relevant to proposed decision. The Mayor must also consult with the bodies listed in section 32(2) of the GLA Act, if he considers this appropriate. The report above demonstrates that the Mayor is consulting as appropriate.

6.5 Under section 34(1) of the GLA Act, the Mayor may do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the Authority.

6.6 Part C of the Contracts and Funding Code (the ‘Code’) requires the GLA to seek a call-off from a suitable framework, where possible, or if not, undertake a formal tender process which will be managed by TfL in respect of the services. However, the Mayor may approve an exemption from this requirement from paragraph 10, Part C of the Code upon certain specified grounds. One of those grounds is that the approve of the exemption if such services are required in urgent and unforeseen circumstances. Officers have indicated at paragraph 1 of this report that this ground applies due to the urgent need to undertake these actions in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. On this basis the Mayor may approve the proposed exemption if satisfied with the content of this report.

6.7 Officers must ensure that the appropriate contract documents are put in place and executed by Loud Sound Limited and the GLA as soon as possible.

6.8 Section 86(1)(c) of the Coronavirus Act 2020 provides that there is to be paid out of money provided by Parliament expenditure which is incurred by a public authority in connection with the making of payments, or the giving of financial assistance to a person (whether directly or indirectly), as a result of coronavirus or coronavirus disease. The GLA’s expenditure and proposed expenditure under this Mayoral Decision is likely to qualify as money that is to be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

7.1 The project may continue beyond six weeks if Lateral Testing as a response to COVID-19 is still required in the north east London boroughs. For this extension, the relevant boroughs would need to be in agreement with sufficient funding in place to continue.