DD2706 Procurement of Parliamentary Monitoring Service Contract

1.1.    Monitoring the activities of government and parliament forms central element of the work carried out by the GLA Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships team; the London Assembly scrutiny team; and corresponding teams within the consortia. As part of this, the teams must ensure that staff across their organisations are kept updated on announcements and developments related to their areas of responsibility. 
1.2.    The effectiveness of this work greatly depends on the timeliness and comprehensiveness of the information received regarding the activities of parliament. For this we rely on the information sent to us by a parliamentary monitoring company, which is a cost-effective way of aggregating information on a wide range of topics. 
1.3.    The services provided by monitoring companies include:
•    comprehensive and timely monitoring of:
o    legislation
o    debates and parliamentary questions, committee inquiries
o    government, party political and other relevant and specified organisations’ press notices
o    government consultations
o    elections
o    budget/spending reviews
o    the King’s Speech
•    forward-planning information, including ministerial diaries; forthcoming business; and All-Party Parliamentary Group schedules
•    consultation updates
•    a dedicated, accessible and searchable website for clients
•    general and tailored email alerts on key information
•    accessible background information and contact information for:
o    ministers
o    MPs
o    GLA members
o    key civil servants
•    a single contact point for teams to request specific monitoring or readouts of House business 
•    keyword monitoring of parliament (both houses) for debates and mentions
•    keyword monitoring of social media and news releases for mentions.
1.4.    The new contract will be overseen by the Head of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, and the lead contract manager for the consortia.
1.5.    This DD requests approval of the competitive procurement and contracting of the GLA’s parliamentary monitoring services for 2024-25 to 2027-28. The procurement process for the service arrangement would commence in July 2024; and services would commence in November 2024 for four years (with an option to extend for a further two years).
 

2.1.    The monitoring service underpins the work of the GLA Group Public Affairs and Strategic partnerships team; the London Assembly scrutiny function; and the respective teams of the contributing organisations. These teams provide support to their respective organisations in the delivery of a public affairs function; and engagement with partners, local government, the national civil service and parliament. 
2.2.    A key element of a parliamentary monitoring service is the provision of accurate, timely, as-it-happens information tailored to each organisation’s interest area. This allows public affairs teams to effectively act on, and react to, up-to-date information. 
2.3.    This work includes but is not limited to: influencing legislative change in line with organisational priorities; contacting MPs regarding constituency matters; responding to government consultations; submitting budgetary proposals; and arranging parliamentary events.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to: 
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2.    The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage/civil partnership status. The duty involves having appropriate regard to these matters as they apply in the circumstances, including having regard to the need to: remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or are connected to a protected characteristic; take steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one.
3.3.    At this stage, no equality issues have been identified with this decision, but this will be kept under review. We will work with Transport for London (TfL) to ensure a comprehensive and fair procurement exercise is undertaken. 
3.4.    The GLA information service supports awareness of the latest government thinking and decision-making on equalities to inform decision-making by the GLA and consortia.
 

Key risks and issues
4.1.    Without a parliamentary monitoring contract, the GLA and the associated consortia will lack the ability to follow key information flowing from the Houses of Parliament. This will significantly hamper our ability to influence and/or understand government decisions that affect London. 
4.2.    Without a monitoring contract, GLA officers (and officers in each organisation) would need to spend their time monitoring parliament and updating information as it changes, with no time left to act on that information. This would lead to duplication across the consortia, and significant expense for all organisations; and make each public affairs team more inefficient. 
Conflicts of interest
4.3.    There are no known conflicts of interest to declare for those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision.
 

5.1.    Approval is sought for spend of £40,000 per annum over four years. The total cost to the GLA group for this period is £160,000, with an option to extend for up to two years (to 2028-29 financial year) the exercise of which is subject to further approval.
5.2.    This DD is for the total cost to the GLA group, with each of the seven functional bodies contributing in equal parts to the overall cost. This long-standing costs agreement has been factored into existing budgets.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:
•    the decisions requested of the Executive Director of Strategy and Communications concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers and duties, exercisable by the Executive Director of Strategy and Communications, to do anything facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the improvement of the environment in Greater London
•    in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
o    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
o    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
o    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested, the Executive Director of Strategy and Communications must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Executive Director of Strategy and Communications should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3.    Any services required for the delivery of the programme must be procured by TfL Procurement, who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Appropriate contract documentation is to be put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before such services begin.
6.4.    Officers must ensure that appropriate, binding arrangements are put in place with TfL, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the London Legacy Development Corporation, the Metropolitan Police Service, the London Fire Commissioner and the London Ambulance Service for their provision of funding before placing reliance upon the same.
6.5.    If the Executive Director of Strategy and Communications makes the decision sought, officers must ensure that no reliance is placed upon, nor commitment made to, expenditure stated, subject to the 2027-28 budget-setting process, until that process has been completed and the corresponding budgetary provision has been approved. 
 

7.1.    The project will be delivered according to the following timetable:

ADD2675 Government and Parliamentary Monitoring Service | London City Hall