PCD 1237 - MOPAC Research Services Contract 2023-27

Executive Summary:  

MOPAC are seeking approval to initiate the procurement process for the provision of research requirements for MOPAC for a period of three financial years with an option to extend for a further twelve months if required. The contract value will total £4,400,000 across four years (covered by MOPAC budget).  

The research contract will facilitate the delivery of Police and Crime Plan objectives, by providing a robust evidence base for improving public perceptions and victim satisfaction (via the Public Attitude Survey and User Satisfaction Survey). Utilising an external company enables MOPAC to achieve a fully independent assessment of Londoners’ voice.  

Recommendation:  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:  

1. Approve initiation of procurement for the MOPAC Research Services contract, on the basis of: 

2. a contract period of 3 years, with the option to extend for a further 12 months if required. 

3. a total value across four years of up to £4,400,000. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. This paper concerns the contract for the provision of research services for MOPAC. The current research contract expires in March 2023 and therefore procurement needs to be initiated for the new contract.  

1.2 The contract will facilitate core Police and Crime Plan objectives by providing a robust evidence base for improving public perceptions of policing and crime, and victim satisfaction.  

1.3 The research projects covered by the contract include: 

• User Satisfaction Survey (USS); 

• Public Attitude Survey (PAS); 

• Telephone Digital Investigation Unit Survey (TDIU); 

• Online Survey Portal; and 

• Other ad-hoc research. 

1.4 It is proposed that a mini competition will be carried out from the Crown Commercial Services Research Marketplace (CCS) (RM6126) framework agreement as soon as possible by the TfL procurement team.  

2. Issues for consideration 

1. This paper seeks the authority to initiate procurement for the Research Services contract. The contract would cover a period of three financial years, with the option to extend for a further twelve months if required. Total contract value across the four years would be £4,400,000. The contract start date will be 1st January 2023 (in order to allow sufficient set up time for data collection to begin 1st April 2023). 

2. The surveys and other research products contained within the proposed contract are core to delivery of the PCP. Many of measures to assess delivery success of the PCP are taken from the Public Attitude Survey and User Satisfaction Survey, making them crucial products for MOPAC. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. The total budget requirement for this work totals £4,400,000 across four years.  The programme will be funded from within the MOPAC budget. The proposed approach is to set up a 3+1 year contract. 

Legal Comments  

4.1 Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above.   

4.2 MOPAC’s general functions are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). Section 3(6) of the 2011 Act provides that MOPAC must “secure the maintenance of the metropolitan police force and secure that the metropolitan police force is efficient and effective.”. This is a broad power and the commissioning of research services to review public perception and victim satisfaction would enable the efficiency and effectiveness of the police service. Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 MOPAC has wide incidental powers to “do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office.” Paragraph 7(2) (a) provides that this includes entering into contracts and other agreements. 

4.3 Section 143 (1) (b) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides a power for MOPAC, as a local policing body, to provide or commission services “intended by the local policing body to help victims or witnesses of, or other persons affected by, offences and anti-social behaviour.”. The provision of the research services would also be consistent with this power. 

4.4 Legal advice will be sought prior to award of contract. 

5. Commercial Issues  

5.1 The approach taken for the current MOPAC research services contract was to initiate a call-off contract with one supplier. Utilising the same approach will provide efficiency savings by having only one contract to manage and subsequently re-tender. 

5.2 Approval for the route to market was obtained from Procurement, Contracts and Grants Oversight Board (PCGOB) on 21st June 2022.  

5.3 MOPAC Board approval was given on 29th June 2022.   

5.4 The governance of this procurement process will be managed by the TfL central procurement team to enable consistency of approaches across functional bodies and value for money. 

5.5 A mini-competition will be carried out from the CCS Research Marketplace (RM6126) framework agreement.  

5.6 The procurement exercise will take account of the GLA Responsible Procurement Policy, assessing ethical sourcing in the tender submissions.  

6. Public Health Approach  

6.1 A key strategic aim of London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is to increase feelings of safety – recognising that London is one of the safest Cities in the world. The key method for measuring perceptions is through surveys, including the Public Attitude Survey. This proposal therefore directly supports the VRU’s aims and the public health approach adopted to support them. This piece of work has been supported by the Violence Reduction Unit.   

7. GDPR and Data Privacy                                                    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 UK GDPR responsibilities.   

8. Equality Comments  

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. 

2. Crime disproportionately impacts areas with high deprivation and in general these are non-White areas. A greater granularity of understanding of what is going on at borough level, through the User Satisfaction Survey, TDIU Survey, and Public Attitude Survey, should allow for us and partners to make better informed decisions and have a greater impact on crime levels affecting these communities.