Procurement of Water and Waste Water Services

The existing contract for the supply of water and waste water services expires at the end of March 2022. This decision seeks approval for the procurement via a Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework for a two year period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024. The estimated cost of £3,320,000 will be funded by existing utility budgets, officer uplift funding and if necessary the Property Services Estates Transformation reserve. The procurement will be via the Crown Commercial Services led mini competition procurement process from Framework RM6178. It will take the form of an aggregated e-auction.

The MPS assure that options were explored with Bluelight Commercial, GLA and CCS to understand the collaborative options available, and that it was clear that utilising the skills, knowledge and aggregation of the CCS RM6178 Framework would provide the MPS with the largest opportunity for savings and the greatest customer service.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Approve authority to continue to source water and waste water services through the renewed Crown Commercial Services RM6178 Framework for a two year period 01/04/2022 – 31/03/2024. The estimated spend for the period is £3,320,000.

2. Approve Delegated Authority for MPS Commercial Director to approve the award outcome of the Crown Commercial Services led mini-competition procurement exercise concluding in January 2022.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. The existing contract for the supply of water and waste water services expires at the end of March 2022. This paper seeks approval for the procurement via a Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework for a two year period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. Whilst the physical MOPAC estate is expected to contract the estimated value of £3.32m is higher than historic levels as it is based on increasing officer and staff numbers and inflation.

2.2. Whilst the estimated two year value is £3.32m MOPAC will only pay for the actual utilities consumed. Construction and major refurbishment work across the estate that leads to the installation of water efficient devices will reduce the use of this natural resource.

2.3. Property Services will monitor consumption and spend on a quarterly basis against the budget. This will enable water usage to be benchmarked and a revised position presented capturing officer uplift, the new estate position for the next 2024/25 water and waste water procurement and opportunities for collaboration.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The estimated cost of £3.32m over the two year period will be funded by existing utility budgets, officer uplift funding and if necessary the Property Services Estates Transformation reserve.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. MOPAC is the contracting authority for the MPS in relation to utilities and is subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) (the 2015 Regulations). The 2015 Regulations require that contracts above the value of £189,330 for goods/service generally needs to be subject to an open, advertised procurement or a procured by means of a framework agreement that was itself subject to open and advertised procurement. This would be satisfied through the use of a CCS awarded framework agreement set out in this paper.

4.2. 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.

4.3. Paragraph 7.23 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Director of Strategic Procurement has delegated authority to approve 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 Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime reserves the right to call in any MPS proposal to award a contract for £500,000 or above.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. This procurement is for the supply of water and waste water services. The procurement will be via the Crown Commercial Services led mini competition procurement process from Framework RM6178. It will take the form of an aggregated e-auction.

5.2. The Met assure that options were explored with Bluelight Commercial, GLA & CCS to understand the collaborative options available, and that it was clear that utilising the skills, knowledge and aggregation of the CCS RM6178 Framework would provide the MPS with the largest opportunity for savings and the greatest customer service.

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. 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.

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

6.3. The Met assure that options were explored with Bluelight Commercial, GLA & CCS to understand the collaborative options available, and that it was clear that utilising the skills, knowledge and aggregation of the CCS RM6178 Framework would provide the MPS with the largest opportunity for savings and the greatest customer service. The GLA were approached to understand if a collaborative option was available with the other bodies but this yielded no viable option at this time. The recommended route continues to be the collaborative partnership between the MPS and CCS for energy procurement.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. 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.

7.2. As this represents a continuation of an existing procurement approach, this work does not change any aspects relating to equality or diversity.

8. Background/supporting papers

• Appendix 1a MPS paper SOURCING STRATEGY FOR WATER AND WASTE WATER SERVICES

• Appendix 1b Business Justification Sourcing Strategy for Water and Waste Water Services