Forensics Science Service Transition (Operation Slingshot) Update

Transcription

1 ITEM NO 15 DATE 29 th June 2011 COMMITTEE/PANEL Police Authority Meeting REPORT AUTHOR DCC Eyre TEL NO ext PURPOSE 1.1 The purpose of this report is to update members regarding the ongoing work of Operation Slingshot, the national programme of work to manage and transition all forensic services from the Forensic Science Service (FSS). This will enable members to: Understand the current position, risks and issues of Operation Slingshot. Secure the Police Authority s continued support for the National Forensics Framework Agreement (NFFA) Operation Slingshot Competition. Due to time constraints, inform police authorities of the urgent nature of this business. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that, due to the urgent nature of the business, the Police Authority agrees to delegate authority to the Chair and Chief Executive to sign the necessary contracts for services tendered through the NFFA Operation Slingshot Competition, between 1 st 12 th July REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Given the challenging schedule of the NFFA Operation Slingshot ITT, particularly the 12 day window in which Police Authorities will have to prepare, issue, and sign contracts with forensic service providers (FSPs), there is a need for Police Authority members to delegate authority to the Chair and Chief Executive to sign the necessary contracts for services tendered through the NFFA Operation Slingshot Competition between July Contracts are between an individual Police Force Authority and an individual FSP. Contracts are awarded on a per force, per lot, per supplier basis. It should, however, be noted that FSPs have tendered for work on a regional basis. Page 1 of 5 Item No. 15

2 Appendix A contains a table detailing the lots that each force is tendering for through the NFFA Operation Slingshot ITT. 3.3 Any delays in the contract award will impact on the transition of services and risk compromising continuity of forensic supply to police forces. 4. SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS 4.1 Following the announcement by the Home Office (HO) in December 2010 to implement a solvent wind down of the FSS, due for completion in March 2012, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has established a national programme of work, known as Operation Slingshot, to manage and transition all forensics services from the FSS. This programme of work will ensure sustainable operational capability within the forensic marketplace, whilst minimising the effect on police forces and the Criminal Justice System (CJS). The key objectives of Operation Slingshot are to: Maintain continuity of forensic supply to police forces, thus ensuring and retaining public confidence in overall CJS. Ensure value for money for the tax payer. Ensure the outcome delivers a sustainable competitive market for forensics moving forward. 4.2 ACPO/NPIA has developed an overarching Procurement Transition Strategy that was submitted and agreed by the HO Forensic Transition Board on 15 April The key points of the strategy are: Contracts awarded to the FSS under the West Coast Consortium (WCC) will be reallocated to the alternative suppliers that are contracted to provide services under the West Coast Agreement. This work is currently underway and due for completion by end of August 2011 at the latest. Existing tendered contracts with non-fss FSPs are to be extended; wherever contractually possible this has been done. Non-contracted FSS services will be procured through a national tender using the NFFA. The transition of services will be phased in order to ensure that high risk services, such as casework, are given the longest possible transition period. Niche, low volume, and low value services currently provided by the FSS will be evaluated to establish if there is a continued requirement across the police service. A separate work-stream has been set up to manage the transition of the FSS legacy data, records and samples. The first project board meeting for the legacy work took place on 5 th May DCC David Shaw, of West Mercia Police, is leading on this area of work.

3 4.3 Table 1: Proposed timetable for the Operation Slingshot ITT Procurement Work-stream Timescale Issue ITT 20/04/11 Confirmation of Tender Schedule 04/05/11 Bidders Conference/Clarification Meeting 10/05/11 ITT Response final date for submission of clarification questions via Bravo Solutions esourcing Portal 17/05/11 (12:00 HRS BST) Closing date for ITT responses 31/05/11 (14:00 HRS BST) ITT Response Evaluations 01/06/11-30/06/11 Site Visits 16/06/11-22/06/11 Notification of Intention to Award 01/07/11 Contracts Awarded 12/07/11 Casework / High Risk Services Phased Transition 12/07/11-01/10/11 Commodity / Low Risk Services Phased Transition 12/07/11-31/12/11 To date, all work-stream milestones have been achieved to the timescales set. The FSS will take no new submissions from 3 October Additional submissions to existing cases will be considered on a case-by-case basis in order to complete all current work-in-progress. The FSS will cease trading on 31 March Following award of contracts the National Operation Slingshot Team will continue to work in collaboration with regions to ensure both the smooth transition of work and continuity of service to forces. Activities may include: Written debriefs and assistance to regions in dealing with challenges by unsuccessful bidders. Initial engagement by Regions/Forces with successful FSPs to agree timescales and ramp up plans for service delivery. Consultation with successful bidders that have been awarded Overflow Work, to agree commencement of work and timescales for service delivery, thus allowing the other successful bidders of Lots to ramp up. NFFA User Group Meetings will continue to allow progress of the transition of work to be monitored and to deal with any matters and issues arising. 4.5 Accelerated Mergers and Acquisitions (AMAs) - An Accelerated Merger and Acquisition (AMA) involves the taking over of relevant elements of the FSS. This involves either FSS Limited (which is wholly owned by the Government) being retained as a legal entity, but sold through a share sale to another company; or a sale by the Government of the FSS individual assets (for instance laboratories) to another party. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has expressed an interest in exploring AMA for FSS Lambeth and some of its services. The MPS is also undertaking a procurement exercise, under the auspices of the NFFA but as a separate competition to Operation Slingshot ITT.

4 The North East (NE) Region is interested in AMA for its forensic services, which involves the FSS Wetherby site. AMA is subject to any such solution being legally and operationally feasible, being transactable within the available timescales and to appropriate business continuity contingencies continuing to be made available. This is in order to cater for circumstances where such an initiative was not to be successful. The NFFA Operation Slingshot ITT protects and ensures continuity of supply of forensic service for the NE Region. Further details of what may or may not be included in an AMA will be communicated should AMA be progressed. It is correct to assume that no other regions in the NFFA Operation Slingshot ITT are currently being considered for AMA. 4.6 AMA decision making is being undertaken by the Home Office with support from PricewaterhouseCoopers, who are providing support and advice to the Home Office. The NFFA Operation Slingshot ITT is being managed and co-ordinated by the NPIA s Forensics21, working closely with the NPIA Commercial and Procurement Unit, and evaluated by the NPIA and force regional representatives. The ITT and AMA teams are mutually exclusive. In order to help police forces and Police Authorities to prepare for notification of award and contracting, document templates are available for download from the Operation Slingshot POLKA community for reference. As not all Police Authorities have access to POLKA - the Police Online Knowledge Area - all police force Heads of Procurement have been contacted to ensure that they make the necessary documents available to their Police Authority as required. These include: Notification of Award letter template National Forensic Framework Agreement contract templates West Midlands Regions contract templates These documents are designed to assist Contracting Authorities in their contract preparation. Please ensure that all contract documentation is prepared in accordance with Contracting Authority guidelines and/or policies. 5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS AND BUDGET PROVISION 5.1 Financial implications will be dealt with under the national forensics submissions budget and cannot be specified at this time due to the fact that contracts have not yet been awarded. It should be noted that failure to sign the necessary contracts for services would jeopardise the overall delivery of the Operation Slingshot Programme. 6. POLICY IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There are no policy implications for Nottinghamshire.

5 7. DETAILS OF CONSULTATION th April 2011 Operation Slingshot progress update letter circulated to police forces. 7.2 Operation Slingshot National half day briefing took place on Thursday 12 th May Overview presentation given by DCC Eyre at the Association of Police Authority Chief Executives Wednesday 8 th June BACKGROUND PAPERS 8.1 Background papers for this report include: Operation Slingshot Authority Info. Pack Operation Slingshot Authority info. Pack covering letter Operation Slingshot Project Update May 2011 Notification of Award Letter Template Operation Slingshot APACE power point presentation 8 th June 2011 FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: DCC Chris Eyre ALSO: Laura Gibbens ext Page 1 of 5 Item No. 15