Forensic Consumables, Scene of Crime Kits and Exhibit Packaging

The MPS’s current forensic consumables contract is due to expire 30th November 2021. The products provided under this contract are critical for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) as they are used in the retrieval and packaging of all recovered property and criminal exhibits in support of Police Investigations, as part of MPS custody procedures for detainees, and/or within Forensic laboratories.

This Business Justification concerns the award of a 5-year (3+1+1) contract for the supply of Exhibit Packaging, Forensic Consumables, and Modular Kits to WA Products T/A Scenesafe. The total anticipated value of the contract (including extensions) is £10.77m. The contract will commence on 1st December 2021.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve the award of a 5-year (3+1+1) contract for the supply of Exhibit Packaging, Forensic Consumables, and Modular Kits to WA Products T/A Scenesafe. The total anticipated value of the contract (including extensions) is £10.77m. This will be funded from existing approved budgets. The contract will commence on 1st December 2021.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The MPS’s current forensic consumables contract is due to expire 30th November 2021. The products provided under this contract are critical for the MPS as they are used in the retrieval and packaging of all recovered property and criminal exhibits in support of Police Investigations, as part of MPS custody procedures for detainees, and/or within Forensic laboratories.

1.2. In September 2020 approval was granted to initiate a tender process for a new contract. That tender process is now complete and this paper recommends the award of a new contract to cover the following:

Goods

1.3. 1) Modular Kits - pre-assembled bespoke kits containing a set number of specific forensic consumables, instructions. This includes but is not limited to:

1. Breathalyser consumables

2. Evidential Drug Identification Testing (EDIT) Kits

3. Gunshot Residue Kits (GSR) Testing Kits

4. Serious Sexual Assault Kits

1.4. 2) General Forensic Consumables - all items relied upon by Police Officers and Staff in the retrieval, packaging and storage of property and criminal exhibits and subsequent examination within Forensic Laboratories.

1. Forensic Exhibit Bags and Packaging - all exhibit bags and packaging required for recovered property and criminal exhibits.

2. Personal Protective Wear (anti-contamination and H&S)

3. Exhibit recovery products

4. Laboratory Consumables

5. Laboratory Chemicals

Services

1.5. 3) Stock Control, Storage and Routine Delivery to MPS central location in London.

1.6. 4) Emergency bespoke requirement - upon demand, urgent response to a significant incident to meet the demands bespoke to the situation for MPS.

1.7. The approval to initiate paper stated that “The MPS requires all consumables to meet the specifications and requirements of the MPS to ensure that the quality and the integrity of the evidence recovery is maintained to support a thorough police investigation. MPS requires a robust Forensic Consumables contract from a supplier with the ability and experience to meet MPS demands and has a supply chain which is able to meet current and future requirements of Forensic Regulation. The Forensic Science Regulator is due to obtain statutory powers which will mandate adherence to stipulated ISO standards, which provides further justification for the sourcing of Forensic Consumables with a suitable contract.

1.8. MPS requires a contract that can meet current and future operational and accreditation demands and has the ability to react and support incidents where there is an urgent requirement for forensic consumables.”

1.9. A detailed specification of the goods and services required was drafted by Forensic Services (MO4) with support from Commercial Services in order to deliver the aims set out in the approval to initiate paper. Details of the tender and evaluation process are set out in the Commercial Case section.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The total contract value for the full 5-year term (including extensions) is £10.77m (£2.15m per annum). The price is based on the anticipated volumes of each item multiplied by the tendered price for each item. The current budget value is £8.3m (£1.66m per annum).

2.2. The increase in price is largely driven by the impact of Covid on the cost of PPE items, particularly gloves, and raw material costs associated with increased oil prices.

2.3. Part of the contract management role will be to monitor market pricing and, in compliance with the indexation provisions of the contract, ensure that the MPS takes advantage of price reductions as the supply market for PPE items stabilises post-Covid.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. Pricing for certain PPE items has risen significantly over the last 12-18 months due to COVID and is likely to remain volatile until the COVID risk reduces. Based on this, Commercial Services recommended annual pricing reviews for the new contract, based on an appropriate pricing index (Producer Price Index (PPI) – Output Index) to ensure that MPS pricing reduces in line with falls in raw material and production costs post-COVID.

3.2. The total contract value for the full 5-year term (including extensions) is £10,761,540.96 (£2,152,308.19 per annum).

3.3. Forensic Services manages the contract on behalf of the MPS and the majority of products are purchased by business groups on demand.

3.4. The current contract costs £8.3m (£1.66m per annum) and is funded from existing budgets.

3.5. The anticipated additional annual cost is £0.49m taking the overall estimated spend from £1.66m to £2.15m per year.

3.6. The Additional cost will fall across the MPS and will be be managed by prioritising within existing devolved budgets. While this contract is utilised by all areas of the MPS, 70% (£0.3m) of the additional spend is anticipated to be within Met Ops. To manage this pressure Met Ops will off-set the additional cost against vacancies.

3.7. It is anticipated costs of the raw materials involved in the production of these products will decrease in future years as the supply chain stabilises post-Covid. There will be a review of contract prices each year and therefore, the additional cost above budget is anticipated to reduce.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. 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 £189,330 or above shall be procured in accordance with the Regulations. This report confirms the value of the proposed contract exceeds this threshold.

4.2. The Part 2 report confirms the MOPAC’s route to market is compliant with the Regulations and explains how ‘Best Value’ has been achieved.

4.3. Paragraph 7.23 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Director of Strategic Procurement 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

5.1. The ‘Approval To Initiate’ paper approved by MOPAC in September 2020 stated that the MPS will run an ‘OJEU’ tender process to award a contract with an initial term of 3 years, with two 1-year extension options.

Pre-Tender Work

5.2. Forensic Services (MO4) with support from Commercial Services conducted a review of the current specification and list of forensic consumables with subject matter experts within MO4. The outcomes from this process were fed into the drafting of the specification for the new contract to ensure the successful supplier’s obligations will meet MPS and Regulatory requirements over the length of the new contract. This included reviewing requirements from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) as part of MO4 maintaining accreditation to perform forensic services, as well as setting KPI’s on quality and delivery which enable the MPS to measure supplier performance and ensure any under-performance is identified so rectification plans can be put in place.

5.3. Market engagement: Prior to running the tender process a Request For Information (RFI) was published to the market in November 2020. The purpose of the RFI was to prepare the market in advance of our tender process, to gain an understanding of the level of competition and provide an opportunity for the MPS to question the market on current supply chain issues relating to Brexit and COVID to inform commercial strategy.

5.4. All of the suppliers who responded discussed the volatility of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) costs relevant to this contract, e.g. gloves and facemasks. The increased cost of raw materials relating to oil, e.g. polymer used in evidence bags was also part of the feedback received.

5.5. Pricing Model: Pricing for certain PPE items has risen significantly over the last 12-18 months due to COVID and is likely to remain volatile until the COVID risk reduces. Based on this, Commercial Services recommended annual pricing reviews for the new contract, based on an appropriate pricing index (Producer Price Index (PPI) – Output Index) to ensure that MPS pricing reduces in line with falls in raw material and production costs post-COVID.

5.6. Evaluation criteria and weightings were agreed by the evaluation team and where appropriate, minimum scores were stated in the ITT documents against certain key criteria. Any bidder who failed to achieve any of the minimum scores would not be awarded a contract.

5.7. Social Value: Following the introduction by central government of the requirement to include social value criteria in contract awards, the evaluation criteria included questions aligned to social value principles around Responsible Procurement, Ethical Sourcing, compliance with the Modern Slavery Act and Environment & Sustainability. This section of the evaluation criteria was weighted at 10% in line with the central government guidance note (PPN 06/20).

Tender Process

5.8. An Open tender process was published on 8th March 2021 via the MPS’s e-Tendering portal (Coupa) and advertised through the new Find-A-Tender System (FTS) which replaced the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) following Brexit. The tender return date was 9th April 2021.

5.9. The MPS received 1 tender response from the incumbent supplier, WA Products T/A Scenesafe. A number of other suppliers viewed the tender documents but declined to submit a tender due to not being able to provide the full scope of the contract.

5.10. The Evaluation team included the MO4 contracts manager, MO4 subject matter experts and Commercial Services. The evaluation was based on scoring the written tender response and product samples. Certain key quality processes were verified via a supplier site visit. Following completion of the evaluation, the WA Products had met or exceeded all minimum scores.

5.11. Pricing: The total contract value for the full 5-year term (including extensions) is £10,761,540.96 (£2,152,308.19 per annum). The price is based on the anticipated volumes of each item multiplied by the tendered price for each item.

5.12. Social Value: WA Products’ tender response demonstrated the following:

• Compliance with environmental accreditation (ISO 14001:2015)

• Part of the TfL Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS) for low emissions

• Pledged to reduce emissions further within the next 12-months

• Members of the Sedex Ethical Sourcing Index

• Members of the UN Global Compact (an organisation set up by the members of the UN to commit private companies to achieve Sustainable Development Goals)

• A Living Wage Foundation accredited company

• Make contributions to local volunteer organisations, charities and NHS Trust

• Have provided policies on Equality and Diversity, Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability.

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. 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.

6.2. 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.

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

6.4. The project does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. MPS Strategic Diversity & Inclusion have been consulted on this contract award. This business case has undergone an initial equality screening. Due regard has been taken to the Equality Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty. Real consideration has been taken to assess equality impact caused by the proposed business changes. As a result no positive or negative impact has been identified to any individual and/or group safeguarded by a protected characteristic and those who are not.

8. Background/supporting papers

8.1. The procurement initiation was approved in decision PCD 826 in September 2020.