Annual Update on the Patrol Base & Custody Centre Property Programme

Report: 11
Linked to exempt item 15
Date: 17 June 2010
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing and the Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

In November 2007 the Finance Committee approved the appointment of Contractors from the Improvement and Efficiency South East (IESE), formerly South East Centre of Excellence (SECE), Major Works Framework, to carry out the design and construction of Patrol Bases, Borough Based Custody Centres and Combined Custody and Patrol Bases. In July 2009 MPA Finance & Resource Committee approved the management arrangements for the programme together with the overall programme budget at that stage of £126.73m, this figure having been increased to £144m in the most recent revision of the 7 year Capital Programme.

This report seeks to update the Finance and Resources Committee on the progress and performance of this programme to date and to provide an update on all those schemes included in the current seven year capital programme.

A. Recommendations

Members are asked to:

1. Note the contents of this report with regard to the performance to date of the Patrol Base and Custody Centre Property Programme.
2. Note and approve the Programme level change requests that have been processed since July 2009 and the associated budgets, as detailed in Part D (Financial Implications) below. These changes, identified in Section C9, were approved for inclusion by the relevant project board and will be funded from the approved programme budget.
3. Approve the expenditure of approved Programme budget on projects that enable Borough single Patrol sites within the existing MPS Property Estate, subject to the normal MPS and MPA Governance processes as identified in section B5f.

B. Supporting information

1. This report provides the regular annual update on the progress that has been made in developing individual projects in this programme, and demonstrates the significant work that has gone into completing the definition of the required solution for the format of the Borough Based Custody Centres, having commenced as a concept in 2006. The objective of that original concept was to achieve greater efficiencies through flexible spaces serving modern working practices. We are now in a position where we have a much better understanding of how this objective can be married to the operational requirement. Significantly improved early consultation process with both end-users and TPHQ are now in place which will agree the operational needs of each facility prior to budgets being set or monies expended. The first of these new facilities at Leyton will be delivered in September 2010 and occupied and operational before the end of the year.

2. A similar developmental process has been followed for the Patrol Base Programme, and the achievement of a stable design, and the consistency of the out-turn costs and time taken for construction demonstrates that, having now arrived at an acceptable solution, the mechanisms employed by Property Services to control potential changes are effective and efficient.

3. Having established a firm base-line design guide for the required facilities, developed as a combination of MPS and Home Office Standards, we are now in a position to accurately plan and cost future schemes on the basis of known and approved operational requirements. Change Control and Change Management is the key to the success of this approach, and all proposed changes (large or small) are now assessed both at a project and at a programme level prior to being presented to the Project Board for approval.

The prioritisation of both Patrol Bases and Custody Centres is regularly reviewed by the respective programme boards and jointly by the Property for Policing Programme Board to ensure that the plans for delivery meet the needs of policing both now and in the future. This prioritisation informs the sequence of projects but is considered together with other influencing factors such as property availability and consents before detailed schemes are developed.

4. Until the approval of the Programme management regime in July 2009, each project was considered independently, and approval would be requested for a budget at a very early stage of scheme development.

Our arrangements to manage the budget at a Programme Level continue to ensure that only fully developed and costed proposals are presented to the MPA for approval, prior to entering into construction contracts. Having arrived at model solutions for custody facilities, whether as ‘new-build’ or ‘fit-out’ designs, we have a sound basis to work from. The MPA will be informed of progress on individual projects through this regular report and the routine reporting on Property Matters at Finance and Resources Committee and Resources and Productivity Sub Committee.

Following a successful tender process, in November 2007 the Finance Committee approved the appointment of three main contractors from the Improvement and Efficiency South East Major Contractors Framework (IESE), to carry out a number of Patrol Base, Custody Centres and combined Custody and Patrol Base projects, using a two stage tender, design and build process.

The projects delivered successfully to date are helping to determine the optimum model for future delivery. It is the roll out of multiple projects within a programme where a majority of the benefit is realised and this is already becoming apparent in the delivery of Patrol Bases and can now be predicted for the Custody Centres. This is the focus of the medium and long-term horizons of the Property Programme Management function.

Patrol Bases

7

• The Haringey Patrol Base at Quicksilver Place was completed and occupied in September 2008, on programme and within budget.
• The Havering Patrol Base, following partial re-design to include additional accommodation for a regional base for Met. Special Constables (MSC) commenced on site in October 2008 and was completed at the end of March 2009, in line with the programme and budget.
• The Greenwich Patrol Base, following some delays whilst the opportunity to include a Custody Centre was considered and the Estate Review Panel was established; this project commenced on site in January 2009 and the building project was practically completed in August 2009, within the revised budget. Legal issues between the MPS, the landlord and the power supplier, have delayed the provision of a new permanent power supply. This installation was completed in May 2010 and the logistical moves to occupy the building will commence in the first week of June 2010.
• Design Guides were finalised, issued and approved by all stakeholders in December 2008, and these have now set the standard of accommodation that will be produced for all projects in this programme.
• The next budgeted expenditure for the Patrol Base Programme is scheduled for 2011 / 12 and site search and acquisition will commence in 2010, following the TP prioritisation list.
• Some BOCU’s are proposing to co-locate their Patrol function to one of their existing locations and although this will require some investment in the chosen property, this should require much less investment than the new-build property. Authority is requested to provide these facilities from the existing capital budget.

Borough Based Custody Centres (BBCC)

8 Active Projects

• Waltham Forest BOCU - Leyton. Following approval of the revised budget by the MPA Finance & Resources Committee in April 2009, works commenced on site in July 2009 and are due to be completed in September 2010, with the building opening in October or November 2010 depending on logistical moves. Works are currently on time and within budget with no significant changes or delays.
• See additional details in Exempt Appendix 2of the report.

9. Deferred Projects

• Merton: - In March 2009, Territorial Policing (TP) clarified its priorities and Merton was deferred. Works on the design have been halted at a point that could be re-started in the future if required.
• Hillingdon (Hayes):- The approved (May 2007) scheme for Hayes has been re-evaluated and re-considered as a possible combined Patrol Base and Custody Centre. However this project does not feature on the current TP priority list for the next seven year capital programme and hence no further work is currently envisaged.
• Design Guides, that were finalised, issued and approved by all stakeholders in December 2008, have now set the standard of accommodation that will be produced for all projects in this programme. Some revisions have taken place including an update of the technology template and the costs of these revisions; have been included in the financial details provided below.

10. Combined Custody Centres & Patrol Bases

• Barking and Dagenham – (Fresh Wharf)
  • The facility at Fresh Wharf is to be constructed inside a building that was specifically built for the MPA by the developer, and was delivered in October 2009.The fit-out stage began in November 2009 with completion scheduled for September 2010 and occupation scheduled for November or December 2010. Works are currently on Time and within budget although some proposed changes from the BOCU regarding additional functions to be included within the accommodation are currently being reviewed and these may impact on delivery timelines.
  • See additional details in Exempt Appendix 2 of the report.
• Polar Park, Heathrow
  • The development at Polar Park, Heathrow to replace Heathrow Police Station, although not a TP related project, was initially reported through this programme due to the largely similar nature of the accommodation (custody, patrol base and open plan offices).This scheme was developed in conjunction with both SO and TP colleagues to ensure the reflection of corporate standards, especially around custody. The works commenced on site in January 2010 and are on programme to be ready for occupation by April 2011.

11. Performance Review

• Since the commencement of the use of the Improvement and Efficiency South East (IESE) Major Contractors Framework, Property Services have worked with IESE staff to develop the tools to measure the performance of all parties to the project, using a series of Gateway review meetings and key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive and promote improved performance by all parties.
• This approach is being successfully used on a number of projects and programmes including stage 2 of Safer Neighbourhoods Property Programme, delivery of facilities for MIB and the delivery of facilities for CO6.
• IESE have facilitated to lead a number of workshops and training sessions designed to encourage collaborative working and impart best practice to all team members, including MPS staff.
• IESE facilitated a series of workshops to enable the whole programme team (consisting of Emerald, Patrol OCU, TP Property for Policing, all sections of Property Services, DoI, and our Supply Chain to review the performance of the programme to date. The resultant report and action plan have recently been implemented and a series of ‘quick win’ actions have already been implemented. The remaining proposals are split between intermediate actions requiring some resources and longer term improvements and an action plan is currently being developed for their full implementation.

12. Lessons Learned

• Revised Commission for Professional Appointments;- the roles of our professional team have been revised and expanded to clarify responsibilities and provide project management functions as a result of experience on our earliest projects.. These revised appointments are now in use and generating an improved level of service delivery.
• Revised Pre-construction agreement:- the terms of the pre-construction agreement with the design and build contractor were amended to more closely match our requirements and define the deliverables in a staged manner, in line with our Gateway process.
• Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE):- Property Services have enhanced their POE process to incorporate revisions already tabled for improving the Handover Process (Gateway Stage 4), and to incorporate additional elements in a phased approach, to provide a more inclusive all round performance review in line with, but streamlining as far as possible, best external market practices. The process will operate in 2 phases:
• Phase 1 - Accommodation Review (3-6 months after PC): An accommodation review of the recently completed project, covering immediate issues arising from the implementation of the project (the process). Relatively limited first thoughts, focussing more on ensuring that the building end user is supported, and that immediate issues with the delivery of the finished product are identified with a clear course of action for resolution. This will include Building Users, Client, Design and Construction Teams.
• Phase 2 - Project/Performance Review (12-18 months after PC): A more detailed review, covering the performance of the building and the project delivery after a period of time in use, after initial bedding in problems (technical and operational) has settled down. This provides a balanced long term view of the building use and performance, matched to the initial success criteria, in a more detailed and inclusive way for the end user. This will include Building Users, Client, Design and Construction Teams.

13. Benefits Realisation

• The Borough Based Custody Centre (BBCC) Benefits Realisation Plan has four overall benefits; improved operational effectiveness, improved satisfaction, provide fit for purpose facilities to enable 21st century policing, and better use of resources.
• The overall benefits will be measured by the completion of interim benefit objectives as follows:

Improved operational effectiveness:-

• Suitable geographic locations - Current custody stock is sited in geographic locations that reflect other ages of policing. BBCCs will be constructed at locations that have met the requirements of an Operational Suitability Assessment.
• Reduced abstraction time for police officers - Sufficient custody resources such as interview rooms will reduce delays in the custody process and allow officers to return to frontline duties more quickly.
• Sufficient cell capacity - Sufficient cell numbers will mean detainees will no longer be transferred off borough thus reducing arresting officer abstraction time.
• Reduced custody closure - New, modern facilities will reduce the number of custody closures due to upgrades and repair.

Improved satisfaction:-

• Improved Facilities For Detainees, Staff And Stakeholders - Modern, fit for purpose facilities will increase satisfaction for all users.
• Improved Working Practices - BBCCs will enable current improvements in working practices such as the Project Herald model.
• Improved Ability to Separate Victims from Criminals - BBCC’s will be standalone facilities (unless attached to a Patrol Base). There is no reason for victims and witnesses to attend these facilities and will continue to use police station facilities. As a result victims and witnesses will be separated from the perpetrators of crime and station office waiting times will reduce. This will result in improved victim and witness satisfaction levels.

Provide fit for purpose facilities to enable 21st century policing:-

• Safer Detention - Improved fit for purpose facilities will enable safer detention of detainees. In some cases current facilities were built before PACE and other relevant legislation and have been adapted rather than purpose built.
• Better use of resources
• More Efficient Processes/Economies of Scale - The rationalisation of custody stock will generally lead to a reduction in the number of staff required.
• Utilise Improved Building Running Technologies - Modern building running technologies will have greater efficiency with fewer breakdowns.
  • Reduced Running Costs - Modern building running technologies will have greater efficiency and cost less to maintain.
• Reduced Environmental Impact - Modern, efficient building materials and technologies will be less detrimental to the environment.
• Increased Capacity - An overall increase in capacity, both cell space and ancillary functions such as interview rooms will lead to an increase in arrests.
• The majority of the data required to measure these benefits will be collated during the year after each BBCC becomes operational. This data will be compiled in an evaluation report produced by the BBCC Programme Team and submitted to the MPA.

14. Programme Level Management and Change Control

Property Services have adopted a Programme management approach which includes:

• Consistent reporting of progress to the various stakeholder groups, programme boards etc via regular dashboard reports.
• Assessment and management of programme level changes to give clear information about the impact of specific changes (e.g. virtual courts)across the whole programme
• Management of the overall budgets at programme level, in accordance with corporate governance and MPA regulations, to achieve the required investment in the estate in line with the programme.

Details of the most significant Programme changes that have been assessed since the date of the last annual update are outlined below:

15. Patrol Base Changes

• Fitness Suite - Comprises a single room of up to 55msq to accommodate up to 20 users. Ventilation, heating and cooling provision suitable for 20 staff exercising simultaneously on standard fixed and loose gym and training equipment
• Vehicle Wash Bay – Dedicated parking bay with “L” shaped translucent protective screen, drainage, power and mobile industrial jet washer unit.
• DoI Oct 09 Revised Technology Template - Following a detailed review DOI have provided an approved technology template for Patrol Bases.
• Update to the Property Services Patrol Base Design Guide - amendments to space allocation and facilities provided, to generally reduce costs.

The impact of all of the approved changes on a ‘typical’ Patrol Base is an increase in baseline costs of approximately £237k however this excludes the cost of the revised DoI template, which is yet to be determined.

16. Borough Based Custody Centre Changes:

• Revision & Increase to the number of charge desks - The number of charge stations for a 30 cell BBCC was increased from 4 to 6 and each charge station now incorporates a dividing screen to separate the detainees from each other.
• DoI Oct 09 Revised Technology Template - Following a detailed review DOI have provided an approved technology template for BBCC’s which will be used on all future BBCC’s.
• Update to the Property Services BBCC Design Guide - amendments to the space allocation and facilities provided.

The impact of all of the approved changes on a ‘typical’ 40 cell Custody Centre is an increase in baseline cost of approximately £110k, however this excludes the cost of the revised DoI template, which is yet to be determined.

17. Value for Money

The Patrol Base and Custody Centre Programme is delivered by three main contractors from the IESE Framework: Wates Construction; Mace Plus and Mansell Construction Services. Mansell Construction Services is also the selected contractor for the Safer Neighbourhoods programme. These contractors have provided a track record of identifying efficiencies and savings within the project life cycle Savings of £5.5m through best practice and value engineering has been recorded through the use of the IESE process.

Property Services and Procurement Services have been working together with the supply chain to understand and realise the value delivered by the IESE framework for the MPS. This exercise comprised:

• Continually selecting from the IESE framework by presenting opportunities to all ten contractors and selecting through mini-competition. This has recently resulted in the appointment of a separate contract outside the scope of this paper to a fourth contractor Morgan Ashurst.
• Review of value delivery through IESE as compared to other routes.

The specific nature of MPS projects causes difficulties when benchmarking. However, we have established:

• there is opportunity for enhanced transparency and value through utilisation of the IESE Framework processes.
• the review suggests that IESE rates are close to the market average.

Contractors have been asked to review specific elements of the IESE contracts such as fit-out packages to compare IESE rates for the MPS with rates charged to other clients through other sourcing routes. We are also utilising lessons learnt and insight to help develop the forthcoming strategy for construction procurement with the aim of providing more visibility of cost performance. This is due to be presented to MPA in the coming months.

Environmental implications

18 The anticipated environmental implications are tabulated below:

C. Race and equality impact

1. There are no Race and Equality issues relating to this report. The accommodation will be fitted out to meet current regulations including Disability Discrimination Act legislation and will provide operational facilities that are fit for purpose. Equality Impact Assessments will be carried out by the Operational units for each development and PSD will contribute to these assessments.

D. Financial implications

1. The costs associated with the existing and proposed projects are set out in the table below and Exempt Appendix 1, as compared to the funding provisioned within the current Capital Programme as approved within the 2010/13 Business Plan.

Notes

1. F&RC in July 2009 agreed to manage these projects in an overall programme and these figures were approved for the programme in that paper
2. Profile of funding available within the most recently approved Capital programme included in the 2010/13 Business Plan.
3. Latest estimates for all the sites in planning as currently prioritised, and future anticipated requirements.

2. The capital programme funding shown above will be amended to reflect 2009/10 outturn figures and any required budget carry forward as approved by the Authority. The phasing between years will also be adjusted in 2011/14 Business Planning processes to reflect current project estimates and the anticipated timing of construction activity and this will be managed through our over-programming process.

3. Efficiencies referred to above relating to operational benefits will be factored into TP Modernisation initiatives. The benefits set out relating to building efficiency have already been factored into PSD submissions for business planning.

E. Legal implications

The terms of reference of this Committee allow members to consider and determine issues in respect of the MPA estate and other resources.

The procurement of any works and services are required to be carried out in accordance with the Part F of the MPA standing orders and the Public Contract Regulations 2006. The IESE Framework Agreement is compliant with the Public Contract Regulations 2006 and the MPA's standing orders.

E. Background papers

• MPA Finance Committee Papers dated 19 September 2007 – Appointments to the Custody Centre and Patrol Base Programmes utilising the SECE Major Works Framework
• MPA Finance Committee Papers dated 21 September 2006 and 3 May 2007.
• Standing Operating Procedures For Utilising The SECE Major Works Framework for Individual Projects.
• Standing Operating Procedures For Utilising The SECE Major Works Framework for Programmes Of Work.
• Registered Contract File No. SS3/06/200 Patrol Base & Custody Centres Programmes (SECE Framework).
• MPA Finance & Resources Committee Papers 23rd April 2009, Annual Update on the Patrol Base and Custody Centre Property Programme
• MPA Finance & Resources Committee Papers 30th July 2009
• Patrol Base & Custody Centre Programme – Programme Management, Project Controls and Governance

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Peter Ross, Divisional Director, Programme Delivery, MPS

For more information contact:

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

List of Abbreviations

MPA FC

Metropolitan Police Authority – Finance Committee

BOCU

Borough Operational Command Unit

CDM

Construction Design Management

DLS

Department of Legal Services

MIB

Met Intelligence Bureau

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

OGC

Office of Government Commerce

PSD

Property Services Department

SN

Safer Neighbourhoods

TP

Territorial Police

TPHQ

Territorial Police Headquarters

OJEU

Official Journal of European Union

SO

Specialist Operations

CO

Central Operations

DoI

Department of Information

SECE

South East Centre of Excellence

IESE

Improvement and Efficiency South East (New name for SECE)

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