PCD 1789 Command & Control Interim Business Case Extension

The purpose of this paper is to seek agreement to secure funding for the Command & Control Programme until the 31st of December 2024, as well as the approval for the procurement of a LifeX solution scheduled for delivery in 2024/25 and 2025/26; noting a refreshed Full Business Case is also going through governance.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to: 

• To approve a £29.3m funding uplift for the Command and Control Programme (C&C) covering November and December 2024, specifically for Milestones 9 & 10, in advance of the Full Business Case approval. Budget exists within the Strategy & Transformation allocated budget for this. 

• To approve the inclusion of the next in-flight Milestone 10, valued at £4m, within the Leidos C&C System contract. 

• To approve the extension of the Radio Interface (ICCS) Support & Maintenance contract with Frequentis at a contract value of £7.3m.  

• To approve spend of up to £3.6m next FY in relation to the Frequentis contract.  

• To note that the costs of £3.6m in FY 2025/26 have been included in the MTFP capital plan as part of the budget build process for next FY. 

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

1. Introduction and background 

1. This Interim Business Case Extension was considered at ExCo on the 26th of November 2024, with a subset of decisions approved. However further information was requested prior to full approval. This is now included in these latest papers. 

2. The Command & Control Programme is the initiative tasked with transforming the technology that the MPS currently uses to control officer deployment across the force. The technology covers a range of functions, from Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) to the Call Handling System (CHS). 

3. The MPS is failing to leverage technology advancement opportunities available to enhance its Intelligence & Crime-Fighting capabilities and empower its workforce. 

4. The current C&C Implementation Programme commenced in December 2018 after Leidos, a US-based company specialising in the Defence industry, was awarded the contract to implement the system and run it in BAU. 

5. The latest iteration of the FBC is due to be presented to ExCo for approval on the 17th of December 2024. 

6. Delivery costs to 31st of December 2024 plus the costs associated with the Frequentis contract over this FY and next FY totalling £31.9m.  

7. Financial cover is needed for £29.3m spend, of which £28.2m will be incurred in FY24/25 and £3.7m in FY25/26. As there is £2.6m of business case cover remaining from previous approved C&C business cases, the requested cover breakdown is as follows: 

2. Issues for consideration 

1. In its current form, the Frequentis Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS) 3020 platform leveraged by MetCC Dispatch teams runs on Airwave, Centracom, and Vortex technologies.  

2. The Home Office has mandated UK forces migrate to the new Direct Communications Server (DCS) technology at the earliest opportunity to limit risk exposure to the following issues: 

• Centracom and Vortex hardware spares are limited so support is provided on the basis that repairs may not meet contracted SLAs; 

• Airwave has indicated they will only provide support on a reasonable endeavours basis; 

• The ESET-5 anti-virus solution in use is at end-of-life and cannot be upgraded.  It has known security vulnerabilities which have already led to the removal of the functionality to create new secure TalkGroups for officers (fleet-mapping) in June 2023 and the risk increases the longer ESET-5 remains in use 

3. It was agreed with the Home Office that the MPS would migrate to Direct Communications Server (DCS) technology by Q4 2025 after already extending this deadline to accommodate the MPS in 2023 and 2024.  

4. Another key risk of not providing the requested cover is that the Programme is unable to fulfil its contractual obligations, with Leidos potentially seeking compensation through expensive litigation. 

5. While Milestone 9 is included within the current contractual arrangement, Milestone 10 is not. 

6. There is of course the possibility that the proposal to stick with Leidos via the revised FBC3 gets rejected, in which case the requested monies cannot be recouped. 

7. To maximise the chances of a successful Leidos delivery of a minimum viable product by March 2025, it is recommended that the Programme continues with the outline commercial agreement reached by the previous SRO and Transformation Director.  
   The negotiated position was reached with input from commercial and finance colleagues and reviewed by the steering group which included 5 board members (Strategy & Transformation, DDAT, Finance, Commercial, NED).  
   The milestones negotiated are included partly in the interim business case up to end December and in their entirety in the full case.  

8. The current composition of the programme delivery team was agreed by the previous SRO, and the BCEP includes the current spend level associated with this. A further review of the same will take place in January 2025 with the newly appointed SRO (appointed 9th December 2024). The interim Programme Director (appointed 2nd December 2024) and the Technical Director are already reviewing the resources on the programme. Contractors are not working over the Christmas period and permanent staff will continue with their current duties and/or take some leave. Current activity includes testing and planning for implementation. 

9. The new team will also work closely with the new SRO and business teams to assess which of the additional requirements beyond the minimum viable product are essential and which could be removed to increase the speed of delivery. 

10. No additional funding is being requested as Strategy and Transformation already have sufficient budget cover. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. This information is contained in the restricted section of the report. 

4. Legal Comments 

1. This information is contained in the restricted section of the report.  

5. Commercial Issues  

1. This information is contained in the restricted section of the report. 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy 

1. The MPS is subject to the requirements and conditions placed on it as a 'State' body to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. Both legislative requirements place an obligation on the MPS to process personal data fairly and lawfully in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals. 

2. Under Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Section 57 of the DPA 2018, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) become mandatory for organisations with technologies and processes that are likely to result in a high risk to the rights of the data subjects. 

3. The Information Assurance and Information Rights units within MPS will be consulted at all stages to ensure the programme meets its compliance requirements. 

4. A DPIA has been completed for this programme. The programme will ensure a privacy by design approach, which will allow the MPS to find and fix problems at the early stages of any project, ensuring compliance with GDPR. DPIAs support the accountability principle, as they will ensure the MPS complies with the requirements of GDPR and they demonstrate that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure compliance.   

5. Equality Comments   

6. 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. The Information Assurance and Information Rights unit within MPS have been consulted to ensure the project meets its compliance requirements. An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is in place and is subject to a further update. There remains ongoing work between the MPS and Leidos to ensure that Assistive Technology requirements are appropriately factored in to the product and any subsequent roll out of the solution.  

3. There is ongoing detailed work and engagement with key stakeholders to ensure that the core C&C solution meets accessibility criteria. There may be issues outstanding which require further investigation as the programme completes the final end to end testing of assistive technology components, these will be addressed at this stage. 

8. Background/supporting papers 

None, other than the Part 2 restricted papers. 

Part 2 - This section refers to the details of the Part 2 business case which is NOT SUITABLE for MOPAC Publication.   

The Government Security Classification marking for Part 2 is: 

OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE [COMMERCIAL]  

Part 2 of  Command & Control Interim Business Case Extension Paper is exempt from publication for the following reasons:  

Exempt under Article 2(2)(a) of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information)  

• Order 2011 (Data Protection Section 43 - Trade Secrets and Prejudice to Commercial Interests).  

The paper will cease to be exempt upon completion of the contract. This is because the information is commercially sensitive and could compromise future procurement activity.