Airwave coverage Westfield Shopping Centre (Stratford)

Report: 12
Date: 18 March 2010
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

The Airwave radio system is used by the MPS to respond to all incidents in London. The new Westfield Shopping Centre is due to open in Stratford (Newham BOCU) in early 2011 and currently it has no Airwave coverage. The original Airwave Programme provided for installations in key public access locations existing at that time but not for future construction. Note that this agreement would vary for this specific case the MPS commitment to the MPA at the full Authority meeting on 26 November 2009 that it would make every effort not to spend on Airwave installations in commercial premises.

Failure to ensure that Airwave is installed will adversely impact on effective policing at the centre and that of the 2012 Olympics. This issue is now time critical as the provision of Airwave can take about nine months to develop and work would need to start before the end of March to be ready for the opening of the centre in 2011.

A. Recommendations

That members

1. Approve the installation of an Airwave radio solution for the Westfield Shopping Centre (Stratford) and support the proposal to fund the cost of works through the Safer Neighbourhood budget.
2. Note that this agreement would vary for this specific case the MPS commitment to the MPA that it would make every effort not to spend on Airwave installations on commercial premises. This commitment was made at the MPA Full Authority meeting on 26 November 2009.
3. Note that separate provision has been made to enhance Airwave coverage at Westfield Stratford for the Olympics, but this is predicated on an existing ‘basic’ installation being in place.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The Westfield Shopping Centre complex is due to open in Stratford (Newham BOCU) in early 2011. It is a large complex, similar in size to other major shopping sites, and will provide the main pedestrian access from Stratford International Rail Station to the Olympic Park. It will be an obvious attraction to visitors to the Olympics and will be a major, long term, legacy benefit to both the local and wider community after the Games. The Airwave Radio System is integral to Policing in London. There is no provision, at present, for Airwave radio to function in the Westfield Shopping Centre.

2. The MPS (both in terms of crime related matters and on behalf of the MPA in terms of real estate matters) strongly pursue planning conditions/consents in support of policing when major schemes or local borough or regional planning proposals are made, making reference to policing needs and where known, specific requirements. This includes responses to strategic consultations - including the London Plan, Sub-Regional Development Frameworks, and local Development Plans. This is covered in the MPA/MPS strategy - Planning for the Future Police Estate published in 2005 (currently being updated). However, ultimate decisions are taken by the Local Planning Authority teams, who do not have to make provision for policing.

3. Town planning consent for the Westfield Shopping Centre at Stratford was granted a number of years ago, when the MPS's tracking of planning applications was in its infancy. No initial bids were made by the MPS. Outline consent was renegotiated in 2006, and at that time the MPS endeavoured to capture operational policing needs. Airwave coverage was not highlighted specifically, but the potential need for a Borough facility was (along with potential needs for CO in support of Olympics), and planning consent was granted on the basis that Westfield provide accommodation for policing needs, to be paid for by MPA/MPS (or perhaps BTP) on commercial terms. Whilst physical accommodation has been allocated for policing use, provision for Airwave has not.

4. Avenues to acquire funding for these works have been explored. The London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service use Airwave but operate differently and these services would not therefore join the MPS in providing a solution. Protracted negotiations have been on going to acquire additional financial support for Airwave, outside of town planning requirements (please see below). It is too late to make Airwave coverage a planning requirement as planning permission has been granted and construction work is well under way.

5. The operational police requirements that Airwave would support this location include routine patrolling by Safer Neighbourhoods teams, responding to calls from the public or centre staff to crime or anti-social behaviour, responding to more serious/ critical incidents and commanding and co-coordinating the response with other emergency service colleagues to major incidents. It is therefore proposed to fund the installation of Airwave through Safer Neighbourhood funding, the details of which are set out in the financial implication section below

6. In relation to the additional functionality required to support the Olympics, the Olympic Security Directorate has commissioned enhancements to the Airwave service to cater for the additional requirements of policing the Olympics. This will include the provision of temporary additional capacity in the Westfield centre, to cater in particular for the large numbers of visitors passing through the centre from Stratford International station into the Olympic Park and also for potential incidents within the centre. The OSD will not provide for ‘business as usual’ or legacy requirements, so the additional capacity will be removed at the conclusion of the Games. However, in order to provide additional capacity, it is necessary for the radio infrastructure to be present in the first place.

7. The decision on whether the MPS/MPA can provide the funding for this is time critical. The provision of Airwave involves finding a suitable location for the equipment which the developer needs to reserve, system design, build and test. The developer has agreed that subject to funding being available they will support our request and provide the necessary facilities. The latest date therefore that the order can be given to Airwave Solutions Ltd is the end of March. MPA support is therefore sought to proceed on this basis. The solution will be procured as a call-off from the existing Airwave services contract that the MPA has with Airwave Solutions Ltd and NPIA. Procurement committal approval will be sought from Procurement Services once a firm proposal has been received and evaluated.

8. Moving forward, the MPS will continue to work closely to ensure opportunities are taken to address policing needs through the Town Planning process, whether these are for borough specific matters or for pan-London initiatives. Recently, the MPS has responded to the GLA as part of the earlier consultation in regard to the London plan. Further representations will be made through the public consultation process in regard to policing requirements focusing on technology needs.

9. The primary mechanism to deliver Airwave functionality at this scale is through s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended). s. 106's are a form of planning condition that Local Authorities place on landowners or developers when considering planning applications. They are used in different ways and for differing needs. Airwave coverage/security infrastructure can be argued as a policing requirement to which s.106/planning conditions could apply, if suitable representations were made at the time of a planning application. Historically, policing has not been given the highest priority when local authorities consider their community needs. To date there has been only one specific instance of the MPS succeeding in using s.106 for the installation of Airwave, which is being progressed at this time. In this case the local authority at the MPS’s request inserted a clause in the s. 106 requirements for their new Town Hall building requiring that the police radio system operates in the building.

Environmental impact

10. The table below shows the expected effect of the proposed installation on:

2. Further guidance can be sought from MPS Environment & Sustainability Team: Neil Grange or Lucy Poole.

3. The project will result in higher levels of impact for the key categories shown in the above table with the exception of water and travel/transport.

4. Property Services will, as far as practicable, adhere to the Mayor’s five Environmental Strategies concerning air quality, noise, biodiversity, climate and energy.

5. The key environmental issues for the installation at Airwave at Westfield Shopping Centre are likely to be associated with procurement of resource efficient products and materials, construction / construction waste, energy use in operation and possibly elements of decommissioning, particularly with regard to, for example, electrical and electronic waste materials.

6. Environmental specifications will be defined in response to the MPS Environmental Design Standards which set out minimum performance criteria for energy and waste management. Environmental and sustainability issues will be also considered within the procurement process.

7. Governance processes will be established to ensure that the environmental and sustainability measures identified and agreed are in fact implemented and that there is accountability and an evidence base for the issues that are addressed.

C. Race and equality impact

Airwave has no direct impact on race and equality. However it is a key enabler for effective policing as a consequence delivery of Airwave radio is essential to provide an effective policing service. If Airwave radio is not available in the shopping centre, police will not be able to operate as effectively as desired compared to those areas with Airwave coverage. The area around the shopping centre has significant pockets of deprivation; those areas are often with a higher proportion of residents from ethnic backgrounds.

D. Financial implications

1. The specific of requirements and costs are as follows:

• Infrastructure i.e. cabling which will also serve other purposes such as mobile phone operator requirements. The infrastructure will be provided at no cost to the MPS.
• DAS (Distributed Antenna System), ie the internal small antennas that distribute the signal to all areas required. This cost around £400k at other similar sites. In this instance a possibility is to share the cost appropriately amongst the other parties who require it, however the position of the other parties has yet to be finalised. It is anticipated that any additional cost to the MPS can be met from within the DOI Safer Neighbourhood budget.
• EBTS – Airwave Solutions Ltd’s base station and connection to Airwave network. The exact funding requirement is currently not known but is likely to be about the same as for other similar locations, which would be in the region of £170k installation costs and up to £40k pa for the life of the Airwave contract covering the next 10 years.

2. It is the cost for base station and annual running costs that is the subject of this report. The Safer Neighbourhood budget has the capacity to cover the installation costs and two years of the running costs without impacting on other SN activity. The remaining eight years of the running costs will be built into TP’s budget.

E. Legal implications

1. Section 6 of the Police Act 1996 places a duty upon the MPA to secure the maintenance of an efficient and effective police force for its area under the direction and control of the Commissioner. Section 17 of the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 provides further relevant guidance. This requires the relevant Local Authority, Police Authority and other agencies to consider crime and disorder reductions and community safety in the exercise of all the duties and activities.

2. It is clear that a wide variety of development schemes place additional demands on police resources, from additional capital investment in new police facilities to additional funding for police officers or police staff. Having regard to the legislation referred to in paragraph 1 above, it is reasonable for the police authority to seek to negotiate planning obligations towards policing requirements via s106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, for example, in relation to land or capital costs of police buildings or extension of existing communication infrastructure, such as in the present case.

3. The solution will be undertaken as a call off from the Airwave Services contract that the MPA has with Airwave Solutions Ltd and NPIA. This is a compliant contract that complies with the Public Contract Regulations 2006 and the MPA’s standing orders.

F. Background papers

None

G. Contact details

Report author(s): Detective Superintendent David Miveld, TP Patrol, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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