VRES Continuity Project & Strategic Options

The purpose of this project is to secure the continuity of the Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service (VRES). VRES is an essential Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) function, providing a vehicle recovery, removal, examination, storage and disposal service across London in accordance with over a dozen statutory regulations. It processes over 36,000 vehicles a year that interfaces with operational teams across the MPS and plays an important and increasing role in crime-fighting.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Agree that the ‘as is’ VRES operating model (with storage provided in-house and Recovery Services remaining outsourced) is retained and the option to outsource non-crime storage is removed.

2. Approve the project’s recommendations with regard to the future of the sites at Perivale, Charlton and Northolt.

3. Agree that the Director of Commercial Services initiates a procurement competition to replace the existing Recovery Contract upon its expiry in 2021, on the basis of the procurement strategy set out in this paper, and that the Director of Commercial Services is given delegated authority to award the contract to the most economically advantageous bid. Agree further that any increase in income from statutory fees for storage and recovery are ring-fenced to support VRES.

4. Agree that the VRES Estates requirements are included as a formal requirement within the revised Estates strategy and that, in the event that the estates options set out above are not secured, that the Estates-related capital and revenue funding associated with these options is retained for the pursuit of alternative Estates options. Agree further that the Director of Property Services is given authority to pursue emerging opportunities to secure the long-term VRES Estate and that the necessary governance processes can be expedited to ensure that appropriate opportunities can be secured as they arise.

5. Subject to approval of point 1, agree that the Estates aspect of the VRES project move into Programme 11, with the Director of Operational Support Services remaining as the Senior User and that aspects relating to the review of statutory fees and the re-tender of the Recovery Contract move into BAU with continued support from Commercial Services.

1. Introduction and background

1.1 The business challenges impacting on VRES’ operational continuity are the leases of its sites at Perivale and Charlton and the contract for providing the vehicle recovery service, for which the contract expires in 2021.

1.2 The goal of the VRES Continuity Project is to mitigate these risks and secure the continuity and sustainability of the service. Last year’s Strategic Outline Case (SOC) for the project outlined a set of short and medium-term strategic options for the VRES operating structure, covering both its Estates footprint and arrangements with commercial third parties.

1.3 This OBC (Outline Business Case) evaluates these options and sets out a recommended way forward for both vehicle storage, examination and recovery, both of which would significantly reduce the medium-term risk of service disruption or failure.

2. Issues for Consideration

2.1 The SOC for the VRES Continuity Project, with support from the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) and Operational teams, assumes that the role and scope of the VRES service will remain ‘as is’ in the short to medium term, both with regard to crime and non-crime activity. This assumption builds on the DLS opinion that VRES is an essential MPS service with a clear role in enabling the MPS to fulfil its statutory functions and retain important crime-fighting capabilities. This OBC retains this assumption and explores the options set out in the SOC for how this scope and role could be delivered differently, while minimising operational risk for the MPS.

2.2 The consequences of VRES losing one or both of the current pounds without an adequate replacement would be significant and would almost certainly result in service failures across many aspects of operations.

2.3 The primary benefit of the project is the reduction in operational risk through increased service resilience and the avoidance of service failure. In delivering this benefit, the project will enable VRES to operate on a secure, sustainable operational foundation over the short, medium and long term. As well as reducing operational risk, this may enable the service to identify and explore potential future opportunities to improve VfM in service delivery, such as the development of income generation opportunities.

2.4 VRES is an essential MPS service that contributes to the safety and efficiency of London’s roads and plays an important and increasing role in fighting crime. This project helps to secure the medium to long term continuity of this service.

3. Financial Comments

3.1 As the potential value of the VRES Vehicle Recovery contract exceeds the OJEU threshold, the tender opportunity will be published through OJEU as a two-stage restricted process;

• Stage One : a Supplier Questionnaire (SQ) in which bidders are required to provide details of their capability, capacity and experience in providing the required services. Including the operation of a recovery fleet which complies with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), the Memorandum of Understanding between the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and Transport for London, and the vehicle safety elements of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.

• Stage Two : an Invitation to Tender (ITT) in which bidders who have been down-selected at SQ stage are invited to provide detailed costed proposals to deliver the services. Commercial Services have carried out market intelligence and confirmed that there is a sufficient appetite in the market to run a competitive procurement exercise of this nature. The value of the OJEU will be set at £100M.

3.2 The contract will be procured in three lots, with each lot covering a discrete geographical region in London. This approach provides the best VfM for the MPS while also creating a greater level of service resilience in the event of significant underperformance by one supplier.

3.3 The procurement will also put in place reserve suppliers for each lot. In the event that a single supplier wins all three lots, Commercial Services will engage with that supplier through the contract negotiation phase to agree a commercial and operating model which minimises any associated complexity, reduces risk and maximises VfM.

4. Legal Comments

4.1 Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 or above.

4.2 The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime 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 £181,302 or above will be procured in accordance with the Regulations.

4.3 Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the DMPC has delegated authority to approve all requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above.

4.4 Legal advice has been provided and will be sought for any significant legal implications arising from this report, due to its recommendations or decisions being novel in nature or contentious.

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.

6. Equality Comments

6.1 There are no equality and diversity impacts identified or foreseen arising from these proposals.

7. Background/supporting papers

None