Key information
Executive summary
This paper seeks approval to uplift the value of the Application Managed Service (AMS) Contract by 50% of its original value, from its original value of £85.99 million to £128.99 million. This is to accommodate current projected spend on digital transformation and improvement projects and act as an enabler to facilitate wider organisational transformation by the MPS to improve services and focus resources on operational policing and deliver improved technological capabilities and support services to end users.
Recommendation
The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:
- Approve an uplift of the total contract value of the Application Managed Service Tower contract with Accenture from the original contract value of £85.99 million to £128.99 million. This is not a request for additional funding or budget growth. This decision is required to ensure legal compliance of the contract in line with projected delivery via the contract.
Non-confidential facts and advice to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC)
1. Introduction and background
1.1. Accenture was selected as Application Managed Service Supplier following a competitive tender process and the Agreement governing the provisions of the Application Managed Services was entered into on 1 March 2016 by Accenture and MOPAC.
1.2. The Agreement is for an initial term of 5 years commencing on the Effective Date (1st March 2016) and contract extensions up to 2024.
1.3. It is expected that this will be the only request for an increase in the value of the AMS contract and should be able to last until the end of the extension term in May 2023, hence why the full 50% permissible under the Regulations is being requested. Commercial Services will monitor the expenditure under the contract together with Digital Policing colleagues and will work to control organisational expenditure in so far as possible.
2. Issues for consideration
2.1. Accenture are a critical feature in Digital Policing work due to their involvement in essential and publicly committed projects such as Body Worn Video, enabling video recording and archiving for all officers, and Mobility delivering mobile devices to all officers and staff throughout the MPS.
2.2. At the time of creating the AMS Tower contract these Digital Enablement projects were not envisaged or planned. These projects subsequently secured funding and resources to enable delivery and are now contributing to the increase in contract spend within the AMS tower. This request for contract value uplift ensures that the contractual cap reflects the overall commitments by the MPS to deliver the digital enablement that have already been made.
2.3. It is expected that due to this greater focus on ‘digital enablement’ and Accenture’s proven capability as a key supplier within future transformation projects, the contract cap needs to reflect the funded projects that are embedding change.
3. Financial Comments
3.1. This paper requests the re-baseline of the contract value ceiling of the Application Management Services (AMS), provided by Accenture, by 50% from its original value of £85.99 million to £128.99 million.
3.2. There are no funding implications in this request as there is no request for additional funding. The request will not guarantee the additional 50% uplift will be consumed, but rather provides flexibility to spend legally and compliantly on the AMS contract up to this revised limit. This will ensure compliance with contractual obligations of meeting the initial term of the contract and avoid finding alternative routes to market for a service that has already been procured.
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). Awards of public contracts for good and/or service valued at £181,302 or above must be procured in accordance with the Regulations. The report confirms the value of the AMS contract and the proposed value uplift exceed this threshold. Accordingly, the Regulations are engaged.
4.2. Regulation 72 sets out the grounds for compliantly modifying public contracts during their term without the need for a new procurement exercise. Regulation 72(1)(b) provides contracts can be modified:
(b) for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor—
(i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, services or installations procured under the initial procurement, and
(ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority, provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.
4.3. The current contract value will be exhausted before the end of the current contract term because of the additional work as described in the report. These works were not included in the initial procurement and it was necessary to use the AMS contract for both technical reasons (Regulation 72(1)(b)(i)) and because there would have been significant inconvenience and duplication of costs (Regulation 72(1)(b)(ii)). Therefore it is the professional opinion of MPS Commercial Services that this increase in contract value is compliant with the Regulations for the reasons as set out in Regulation 72(1)(b).
4.4. The increase in the contract value does not exceed 50% of the original contract and is thus compliant with the Regulations. It will not be possible to increase the value of this contract again and the MPS would need to undertake a new procurement should the need arise.
4.5. Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent (the Scheme) provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all unforeseen variations to contracts with an original value of £500,000 or above, when the variation is greater than 10% of the original contract value. This report confirms the value of the unforeseen variation is more than 10% of original contract value.
5. Equality Comments
5.1. As an extension of an existing service this work does not change any aspects relating to equality or diversity.
6. Background/supporting papers
6.1. Report
Signed decision document
PCD 442