Engagement Exercise for Shared Services
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on behalf of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) are engaging the market regarding the way in which services to support front line policing are delivered. The engagement exercise is being carried out so that the MPS can ensure that support services are being provided in the most efficient and effective way and to understand more about current best practice from other organisations, other police forces and external suppliers. The transactional elements of the following service areas are in scope:
- Training (Leadership and Learning Services)
- Finance Services
- Property Services
- Customer and Commercial Services
- Human Resources (People Services)
- Procurement Services
- Legal Services
- Media and Communication
- Information Technology
No police officers are in scope for this market engagement.
The Prior Information Notice (PIN) starts an engagement process to gather best practice information and establish alternative delivery options for these services that may be available to the MPS. Any suggestions will be reviewed alongside the development of an internal shared service where transactional services will be brought together to ensure that processes and technologies are streamlined to provide quality customer service at less cost to the MPS.
The MPS will be engaging directly with organisations through a conference, questionnaires, one to ones and clarification meetings. The process is expected to last until 8 March 2013. No decisions have been made a future strategy for delivering support services until after information from this process has been analysed.
Further detail and information for organisations who may be interested in responding is detailed on the Bluelight procurement portal
Metropolitan Police Procurement Processes
The MPS’s procurement processes are designed to ensure suppliers are financially, commercially and technically capable to meet the MPS requirements to delivering value in the contract. We also look for clear demonstration of commitment to equal opportunities, the environment and safe ways of working
To obtain best value for money the majority of procurement is carried out through corporate negotiated contracts which have been subject to competition. In some cases we collaborate with other police forces, the GLA group or other parts of the public sector and where appropriate will make use of collaborative contracts.
When responding to MPS tenders you may find the following information helpful
Competition Thresholds
The MPS seeks to encourage fair and appropriate levels of competition regardless of the value of our contracts. Our Contract Regulations specify the minimum levels of competition which must be followed for different contract values:
Value of Contract |
Required Level of Competition |
Where Will It Be Advertised? |
Below £5,000 |
Value for money demonstrated with a written quote from at least one supplier |
|
£5,000 to £49,999 |
Three written quotations |
|
£50,000 to OJEU threshold |
Four written quotations |
|
Over the OJEU threshold |
Full tender process |
Depending on the contract value the MPS procurement staff must work within a strict framework of legislation and processes, which includes:
- European Union Public Procurement Directives and associated case law
- National legislation, such as the Public Contracts Regulations, UK Local Government Acts 1999 and 2000
- The Authority's Contract Regulations
Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)
According to EU legislation, certain contracts (commodities and so called ‘Part A’ services) from the public sector, which are valued above a certain threshold, must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). The current OJEU thresholds can be found on the following website OJEU
How businesses can find out about procurement opportunities
Under European legislation, public sector organisations must advertise tendering opportunities for certain high value contracts in OJEU. The MPS uses a web-based Electronic Tendering (e-Tendering) System for all procurement. You can find more information about this system on the Electronic Procurement Systems page.
Sub-Contracting Opportunities
Due to the scale of the MPS’s operations and procurement activity it enters into a number of large contracts for services such as facilities management, IT support and construction. In areas of spend such as this the opportunity for some small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to sell directly to the MPS - that is, to become 1st tier suppliers – may be limited.
In these areas SMEs are more likely to fit into the supply chain as 2nd or 3rd tier suppliers. It is important, therefore, for a potential supplier to consider how they might fit into the MPS’s supply chain. It may be that you should be researching and pitching your services to prime contractors.
Most prime contractors are private sector organisations. EU Procurement Directives do not, therefore, apply to them, and supply chains are managed as they are elsewhere in the private sector .