MPS Temporary Agency Workers

The MPS currently has a contract with Reed to supply temporary agency workers via the national MSTAR2 framework. The contract was agreed in October 2016 for an initial 2-year period plus the option to extend by two additional 12-month extension periods. In March 2018 an extension of 1 year was approved until October 2019.

This report acknowledges the proposed initiation of the procurement process for a new Temporary Agency Worker contract by the GLA Collaborative Procurement Team as a central purchasing body and the MPS’ subsequent requirements under it.

The report seeks approval for the implementation of a “foreseen” optional extension period of one year with a subsequent increase of £50m onto the current contract. This equates to an increase in value of 45% against the original contract price.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

• Note the proposed initiation of the procurement process for a new Temporary Agency Worker contract by the GLA Collaborative Procurement Team as a central purchasing body and the MPS’ subsequent requirements under it.

• Approve the implementation of a “foreseen” optional extension period of one year with a subsequent increase of £50m onto the current contract headline value relating to contract SS3/16/68 - The Engagement of Temporary Agency Workers with immediate effect.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The contract with Reed was originally awarded in October 2016 on a 2+1+1 basis (an initial 2 year period with two optional extensions of 12 months). The total value of the contract was set at £110m, split evenly over a 4-year contract period commencing October each year - £27.5m per year. The contract value was limited in this way as the organisation was committed to reducing overall agency spend during the lifetime of the contract and the subsequent increase in demand from significant operational events was not reasonably foreseen.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. Establishing and utilising a broader workforce including temporary agency workers is a cost effective option when it comes to addressing short to medium term skill / capability gaps when it does not make financial sense to retain within the substantive workforce. This resourcing option also addresses surge requirements and offsets future redundancy / outsourcing costs where change is imminent. The use of ex-officers has been particularly valuable in the response to the increased demand for detectives and investigative skills.

2.2. The flexibility to increase capacity through Temporary Agency Workers continues to provide valuable support to the MPS in a number of roles and areas aligned to the Met Direction and the strategic workforce plan. In particular, the demand for Civilian Investigators has increased in response to the rise in violent crime and the continued requirement for Investigators on the Grenfell investigation and current detective requirements in Child Abuse and Sexual Offices (CASO) teams. This is in addition to a broad spectrum of technical and specialist agency workers including: Associate Trainers, Digital specialists and other roles within the sectors of Programme Management; Legal; Procurement; and Finance. The facility to engage highly specialist individuals is instrumental to service delivery.

3. Financial and Commercial Comments

3.1. Approval is sought to increase the existing contract value by £50m to £160m in total, to cover the remaining four months of the existing contract period plus the proposed 12 month extension to October 2020. The proposed increase in contract value should not be viewed as authority to spend, as Business Groups will still need to meet the cost of temporary agency workers from their devolved revenue budgets and approved project budgets.

3.2. The proposed increase in the existing contract value has been calculated using the average monthly spend on temporary staff based on May 2019 of £2.8m per month, which gives an annualized figure of circa £34m. The proposed increase also takes into account the £9.7m of remaining value on the current contract and other potential business requirements, for example, for temporary civilian investigators. It is anticipated the existing contract limit of £110m will be reached within the next 12-14 weeks, if current spending levels are maintained.

3.3. The report acknowledges the initiation of a procurement process for a new contract for £170m (£42.5m p.a.) over 4 years for the period from October 2020 to October 2024, which will provide the MPS with greater flexibility to utilise the contract value in support of business need.

3.4. Expenditure in respect of the existing and proposed new Temporary Agency Workers contracts will be met from approved MPS budgets.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. The MOPAC is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (the PCRs). All awards of public contracts for goods or services valued at £181,302 or more must be procured in accordance with the PCRs. This report confirms that the request exceeds the £181,302 threshold and therefore the PCRs are engaged.

4.2. The report confirms the procurement will be undertaken by the GLA Collaborative Procurement Team on behalf of and for the benefit of the Functional Bodies of the Greater London Assembly, which includes the MOPAC. Regulation 37(2)(a) provides contracting authorities may acquire works, supplies and services or any one or more of them by using contracts awarded by a central purchasing body.

4.3. Paragraph 4.14 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Deputy Mayor delegated authority to approve all variations and extensions with an original value of £500,000 or above.

4.4. Whilst MOPAC is not the contracting authority which will undertake the procurement paragraph 4.13 will be applied to ensure proper scrutiny regarding budget and strategy.

4.5. Further information is contained in the restricted section of the report.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

5.1. 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.

5.2. 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.

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

5.4. The project does not currently use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no current GDPR issues to be considered. If the project uses personally identifiable data of members of the public at a later date DPIAs will be completed as needed.

6. Equality Comments

6.1. This business case has undergone 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.

6.2. Regular screening will take place throughout the procurement process and a full Equality Impact Assessment will be carried out if necessary.

7. Background/supporting papers

7.1. None