DMFD278 - OneRisk funding envelope

1.1.    Report LFC-25-069 to the London Fire Commissioner (LFC) provides a detailed overview of the proposal. This is a summary of that report. LFB’s work to develop its OneRisk solution is set out in LFC-0689y (2022); LFC-0461 (2021); and LFC-0212 (2019). The previous Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience approved capital and revenue expenditure for this project (in DMFD167 and DMFD100), to the amounts set out in Part 2 of this report.
1.2.    London Fire Brigade (LFB) receives and collects information about building safety risks from multiple sources and across its functions. It has developed separate systems to record and store this information; however, they do not all speak to each other. LFB considers that a single, integrated system, known as the OneRisk solution (OneRisk) would improve the capacity, functionality and access to data; and address the barriers and risks that the current systems present. 
1.3.    LFB expects to deliver OneRisk by the end of August 2027, in line with its current project plan. LFB spent £12,500 on OneRisk procurement in 2022-23, funded from Protection Uplift Grant funding (part of the spending approved in DMFD167) and reported as part of Home Office grant returns for that period. The figures in LFC-025-069 do not reflect that spending; LFB disaggregated it from the current project due to the break between 2022-23, and the current project scope and procurement activity. Other work on OneRisk to date has been funded from existing LFB budgets. LFB acknowledges that its exploratory work experienced delays between 2022 and 2025. 
1.4.    LFB is ready to start the tender process for OneRisk, and is seeking approval for a revised spending profile for the project, as set out in Part 2. It anticipates awarding the contract in Q3 2025-26; and aspires to start delivery in Q1 2026-27, subject to budget approval.
1.5.    LFB is requesting approval to revise the agreed spending profile. This is because it has changed what it plans to procure to provide OneRisk, and how it will be funded: 
•    LFB reports ‘significant progress’ in 2025, having completed market engagement and preparatory work – after which it decided that OneRisk should be based on an off-the-shelf data system.
•    When LFB received spending approvals for OneRisk in 2021 and 2022, it had either not decided on the type of data system to procure, or envisaged that it would be a bespoke system requiring a capital outlay.
•    LFB now proposes to fund OneRisk through a combination of existing revenue budgets and a Protection Uplift grant from national government. The proposal does not include training costs.
 

2.1.    LFB’s objective for OneRisk is to replace the separate systems that collect and manage building risk information with a single system – one that provides an integrated view of building-fire-related risk. 
2.2.    LFB expects OneRisk to have a ‘transformational impact’ on its ability to manage and respond to building safety risks in London, with outcomes including: 
•    better, more modern data systems and tools that support LFB to collect, store and use building safety data more effectively
•    a more intuitive and accessible system with increased capacity, that allows access for ‘all necessary stakeholders’
•    reduced barriers to information sharing and risks around information loss
2.3.    LFB highlights ‘key protection benefits’ from OneRisk – i.e. it would allow integration of the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. These mandate that responsible persons share critical building safety data with Fire and Rescue Services. LFB reports that this will allow it to fulfil outcomes from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. 
2.4.    LFB now expects to fund OneRisk via a combination of revenue funding from budgets across LFB, supplemented by an application to the Home Office for a Protection Uplift grant. If available, Protection Uplift funding would be ring fenced for the initial infrastructure development of the protection elements of OneRisk, it would not cover any ongoing costs. 
 

3.1.    The LFC and the Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service are required to have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010) when taking decisions. This in broad terms involves understanding the potential impact of policy and decisions on different people, taking this into account and then evidencing how decisions were reached. 
3.2.    It is important to note that consideration of the Public Sector Equality Duty is not a one-off task. The duty must be fulfilled before taking a decision, at the time of taking a decision, and after the decision has been taken. 
3.3.    The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of the requirements to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination), race (ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, and sexual orientation. 
3.4.    The Public Sector Equality Duty requires decision-takers in the exercise of all their functions, to have due regard to the need to: 
•    eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. 
Having due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to: 
•    remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons who share a relevant protected characteristic where those disadvantages are connected to that characteristic
•    take steps to meet the needs of persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are different from the needs of persons who do not share it
•    encourage persons who share a relevant protected characteristic to participate in public life or in any other activity in which participation by such persons is disproportionately low. 
3.5.    The steps involved in meeting the needs of disabled persons that are different from the needs of persons who are not disabled include, in particular, steps to take account of disabled persons’ disabilities. 
3.6.    Having due regard to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it involves having due regard, in particular, to the need to: 
•    tackle prejudice 
•    promote understanding. 
3.7.    LFB completed an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 3 June 2023 which it reviewed on 22 July 2025. The EIA found that, overall, the new solution would promote inclusion because accessibility tools would be enabled throughout the system. This benefit would also be enhanced by the more widespread use of PCs and tablets/laptops (instead of Citrix) where accessibility tools such as dictation, voice control and speech recognition will be able to run locally.
 

4.1.    LFB reports that there are still some unknowns in the OneRisk project which may affect the cost forecasting and spending profile in Part 2. LFB expects the tender process to make things clearer. 
4.2.    LFB may need to re-evaluate the OneRisk spending profile if ongoing costs are higher and upfront development costs lower than anticipated. Its revised spending profile assumes an ‘average balance’ between upfront development costs and ongoing licensing costs, as market research found significant variation between the two from potential suppliers.
4.3.    LFB will need to either reduce the OneRisk budget, or close the funding gap, if Protection Uplift funding is either not secured or no longer available. LFB has received an initial indication from the Home Office that the protection elements of OneRisk are eligible for Protection Uplift funding, but it is yet to confirm that these grants will be available beyond 2025-26.
4.4.    LFB has excluded the cost of in-house training. It reports that, unless OneRisk training costs are absorbed by existing resources, they could create additional budgetary pressures in 2026-27. LFB notes that it has an active end-user working group; and is planning a full programme of engagement with users throughout the OneRisk development. 
4.5.    LFB plans to procure the One Risk solution, in line with the LFC’s obligations, by following a compliant competitive procurement procedure.
4.6.    LFB highlights that, should this proposal not be delivered:
•    it will continue to operate with an increasingly outdated and unsupported system that is used by very few other services
•    it will lose the opportunity to gain the potential strategic benefits of aligning systems with other services in the sector.
Conflicts of interest
4.7.    There are no conflicts of interest to declare from those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision.
 

5.1.    Financial comments are provided in Part 2 of this report

The LFC’s General Counsel’s Department have confirmed the following.
6.1.    This report seeks the approval of additional revenue funding for a new ICT system: the LFB OneRisk solution. 
6.2.    Under section 9 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the LFC is established as a corporation sole with the Mayor appointing the occupant of that office. 
6.3.    Section 1 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) states the LFC is the fire and rescue authority for Greater London. 
6.4.    Under section 327D of the GLA Act 1999 the Mayor may issue to the LFC specific or general directions as to the manner in which the holder of that office is to exercise his or her functions. 
6.5.    By direction dated 1 April 2018, the Mayor set out those matters, for which the LFC would require the prior approval of either the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor, Planning, Regeneration and the Fire Service (the Deputy Mayor). In particular, paragraph (b) of Part 2 of the said direction requires the LFC to seek the prior approval of the Deputy Mayor before “[a] commitment to expenditure (capital or revenue) of £150,000 or above as identified in accordance with normal accounting practices”. The decision to procure the services as set out in the recommendation of this report exceeds this value, therefore, this report to the Deputy Mayor fulfils the aforementioned requirement in the direction. 
6.6.    The Procurement department will be engaged in the project team and in the tender process from start to end to ensure compliance with the requirements set out in the applicable procurement legislation; the GLA responsible procurement policy, and LFC’s Scheme of Governance. The project team will also ensure the specification and end product is compliant with other requirements including and not limited to DPA/GDPR. Additionally, the external legal advice will be procured by General Counsel’s Department in accordance with the requirements set out in this paragraph by way off a call-off from an extant compliant framework, the London Borough’s Legal Alliance. 
6.7.    Section 7 of the 2004 Act requires that the LFC “must make provision for the purpose of (a) extinguishing fires in its area, and (b) protecting life and property in the event of fires in its area”. This includes, per section 7(2), by securing “the provision of the personnel, services and equipment necessary efficiently to meet all normal requirements”. Section 5A of the 2004 Act enables the LFC to “do anything it considers appropriate for the purposes of the carrying out of its functions”. 
6.8.    The development and procurement of the OneRisk solution and related outputs fall within the duties and powers of the LFC. It will assist all staff and workers to be more efficient and effective in their day-to-day work; seek to address some of the recommendations from the Phase 1 Grenfell Tower Inquiry; and generally ensure best practice in terms of data management. 
6.9.    The recommendations in this report fall within the LFC’s powers.