PCD 1326 Disposal of Property and Assets via Auction

PCD 1326 Disposal of Property and Assets via Auction

This paper seeks approval for the re-procurement of an auction facility to enable the disposal of non-estate property and other assets that the MPS comes into possession of and where a lawful owner cannot be found. The proposed term of the contract is upto four years.  There will be no cost to the MPS as the buyers will pay a premium to cover the auction house costs.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the initiation of procurement activity via a public framework and award an MPS contract for the disposal of various items of property by public auction.  This will allow continuity of service once the existing contract expires on 30th June 2023.   

2. Approve delegated authority to be given to MPS Director of Commercial Services to award and sign the resulting contract, ensuring continuity of this service beyond the expiry date of 30th June 2023 for a maximum term of four years.

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

1. Introduction and background  

1. The existing contract for the provision of the auction service expires on 30 June 2023.   

2. Issues for consideration 

1. The Metropolitan Police Service comes into possession of a variety of different items of property and assets, for example, these can be from items handed in to the police, crime related and have not been traced back to a legal owner, or which have been subject to a court seizure order. 

2. Where these items no longer serve a policing purpose, they must be disposed of in a way that complies with various pieces of legislation. This legislation puts an obligation on the MPS, where possible, to dispose of these items in such a way as to raise funds that can be directed to the benefit of Londoners. 

3. Funds generated from the disposal of these items is either allocated to the courts, the MPS or to the Police (Property) Act Fund (PPAF). MOPAC use the PPAF funds to support the delivery of services by charities to support activities that divert young people from crime, support victims of crime and contribute towards the wider objectives of the MOPAC Police & Crime Plan 

4. The disposal of these items by way of auction supports the Mayor’s Environment Strategy by providing a route via the the highest level of the recycling hierarchy (reuse) and avoiding for example disposal via landfill. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. The cost of running the auctions will be met from the buyers premium applied as part of the auction process and so there is no financial impact on the MPS. The estimated value of this service over a upto 4 year contract could be in excess of £500,000 subject to the level of buyers premia and the value of the items brought forward for auction. 

4. Legal Comments 

1. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (“MOPAC”) is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations”).  All awards of public contracts for goods and/or services valued at £213,477 or above shall be procured in accordance with the Regulations.   

2. The MPS assure that the MOPAC’s route to market is compliant with the Regulations. 

3. The MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (“DMPC”) has delegated authority to approve:  

• Business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 and above (paragraph 4.8); and 

• All requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above, or where there is a particular public interest (paragraph 4.13).  

4. Paragraph 7.23 of the Scheme provides that the Director of Commercial Services has consent for the approval of the award of all contracts, with the exception of those called in through the agreed call in procedure.  Paragraph 4.14 of the Scheme provides the DMPC reserves the right to call in any MPS proposal to award a contract for £500,000 or above. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. This paper seeks approval for the procurement of a auction service to dispose of items which have come into MPS possession and which need to be disposed of. 

2. The proposed procurement route is to acquire the service via an existing Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework.  The proposed contract term is for an initial period of three years with one optional 12 month extension. 

3. The successful bidder will impose a percentage premia to the value of the goods sold that the buyer will pay resulting in nil cost to MOPAC/MPS. 

4. The proposed use of the CCS framework supports responsible procurement and the London Anchor Institution Charter (LAIC) objectives by supporting the small & medium enterprise (SME) sector as 54% of the framework suppliers are classed as SMEs, and the framework supports Government Buying Standards and sustainable procurement by assisting buyers to reduce their CO2 emissions by using electric vehicles, bikes and cargo bikes. Ten per cent social value weighting will be applied in the evaluation of bidders. As part of the supplier on-boarding the suppliers/ supplier will be required to have produced a Modern Slavery statement as part of the award/competition process or be willing to work towards it.  

6. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. 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 GDPR responsibilities.   

2. The MPS assure that the procurement of the auction facility does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered. 

7. Equality Comments    

8. 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. 

9. The MPS assure that no equality or diversity issues have been identified.  Any approved suppliers will be evaluated for acceptable equality and diversity statements, as well as their ability to meet the MPS requirements under the Equality Act 2010 as suppliers to MOPAC.  Items will auctioned where it has not been possible to identify a lawful owner or is subject to a Court seizure order, and the auctions will be widely advertised and open to the general public enabling a full and fair opportunity for participation for all communities. 

8. Background/supporting papers 

• Appendix 1 MPS Report - Disposal of Property/Assets via Auction