Uplift of the SIAM ICT Tower Contract

This paper seeks approval to uplift the value of the SIAM Atos Contract by 50% from its original value of £96 million to £143 million for the life of the contract. This is to accommodate current projected additional commitments for digital transformation and improvement projects and act as an enabler to facilitate wider digital transformation by the MPS to improve services, focus resources on operational policing, and deliver improved technological capabilities and support IT services to end users.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

• Note and approve the uplift of the total contract value of the SIAM Tower contract with Atos from the OJEU published contract value of £96 million to £143 million. This decision is required to ensure legal compliance of the contract under the Public Contract Regulations s.72(b)(ii). This is not a request for additional funding or budget growth, nor a commitment to spend up to this revised limit, but solely to provide contract flexibility for the remainder of the SIAM contract life.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. Atos were selected as the Authority’s SIAM (Service Integration and Management) Supplier following a competitive tender process in 2014/15. Atos and MOPAC entered into the Agreement governing the provisions of the SIAM Services on 24th August 2015.

1.2. The Agreement is for an initial term of 5 years commencing on the Effective Date (2nd November 2015).

1.3. It is expected that this will be the last request for an increase in the value of the SIAM contract. Commercial Services will monitor the expenditure under the contract and together with Digital Policing colleagues, will work to control organisational expenditure in so far as possible.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. In October 2015, MOPAC granted approval of the award of a contract with Atos for the provision of Service Integration and Management (SIAM) services for an initial term of 5 years with two one-year extension options (5+1+1). It was expected that the cost of the initial 5-year term contract, plus an estimated £5 million per annum project expenditure, would total £74,852,000. For the avoidance of doubt, the Met’s TTPi programme published a contract award notice in the Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for the SIAM contract anticipating the total expenditure of the contract to be £96,000,000 (inclusive of projects, extensions and variations).

2.2. Atos are a critical feature in MPS digital transformation activity due to their role in supporting and managing a wide range of key IT programmes along with the Other Tower Suppliers. In the last two years this has included: Body Worn Video deployment; Mobility roll-out; old NSY exit and relocation to the new NSY site; Data Centre Exit project; Met Command & Control systems upgrade and controlled shut-downs; software licence management and a Service Desk with increasing services being supported. As most of the Authority’s IT requirements is being driven under the Towers Model, having a flexible contract value would be beneficial to the Authority to allow future transformational work to continue.

2.3. At the time of creating the SIAM & Towers contracts, many ‘digital enablement’ projects were not envisaged or planned or were in early stages of development. These projects have secured additional funding and the resources to enable them across the whole Tower ‘eco-system’ and thus contribute to the increases in contract spend within the SIAM Tower. This decision will ensure that the contractual cap reflects the overall commitments by the MPS to deliver digital enablement that has already started.

2.4. It is expected that due to this greater focus on ‘digital enablement’ and Atos’ 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 total contract value of the SIAM Contract by 50% (as permitted by the Public Contract Regulations), from the original total contract value of £96 million (as published in the OJEU Journal in August 2015), to a revised figure of £143 million (which includes the potential to cover an extension period of up to two years).

3.2. There are no funding implications in this request as there is no request for additional funding being made by Digital Policing. Approval of this request does not guarantee consumption of the 50% increase, but rather provides flexibility to the Authority to spend legally and compliantly on the SIAM contract up to this revised limit should it so require. This will ensure the Authority remains compliant with its contractual obligations of meeting the cost of the contract’s initial term and avoids having to finding alternative routes to market for a service that the Authority has already 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 goods and/or services valued at £181,302 or above must be procured in accordance with the Regulations. The report confirms the value of the SIAM contract and the proposed value uplift exceed this threshold. Accordingly, the Regulations are engaged.

4.2. Regulation 72 sets out the limited grounds for compliantly modifying public contracts during their term without the need for a new procurement exercise. Regulation 72(1)(b) in particular provides a contracting authority may modify a public contract without requiring a fresh procurement:

(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. This report confirms the increase in contract value does not exceed 50% of the original contract value. The report also confirms that the overall SIAM and Towers model and ecosystem means that a change in the MOPAC’s SIAM contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and to do so would cause MOPAC to suffer significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs. Where such technical or economic reasons can be shown to exist which would result in MOPAC suffering either significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs regulations 72(1)(b) will be met.

4.4. Regulation 72(3) requires that contracting authorities which modify a contract under 72(1)(b) must publish a notice to that effect in the Official Journal of the European Union.

4.5. 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 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 this is 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