LiveScan procurement

Report: 16
Date: 14 September 2001
By: Commissioner

Summary

This paper seeks approval from the Authority to place a contract to lease equipment and procure LiveScan services from TRW, suppliers of National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS). This provides direct support to front line policing with the additional benefit of an improvement in the overall quality of the National Fingerprint Information System records at Hendon.

A. Recommendations

1. that the Authority enters into a five-year contract with TRW, suppliers of NAFIS (National Automated Fingerprint Identification System) for the lease of equipment and LiveScan services to equip 50 additional locations across the MPS; and
2. that the Authority notes that work is ongoing to determine the number of custody suites required in the MPS. Once this work is complete there may be a requirement for additional LiveScan terminals (up to a total of 60).

B. Supporting information

Introduction and background

1. LiveScan is the official PITO (Police Information Technology Organisation) NAFIS electronic fingerprint facility and is an extension of their NAFIS system. It provides the facility to digitally scan fingerprints in Custody Suites for immediate comparison against the national database.

2. At the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee meeting held on 19th July 2001, Members considered, and supported in principle, the business case for the procurement of up to 60 LiveScan terminals. The business case was based on the outcome of pilot installations at Peckham and Charing Cross. The system was trialled for three months at these locations, following which the LiveScan Project Board considered the Project Manager's evaluation report and endorsed the recommendation that the system should be implemented across the MPS. (Paper FPBV/01/110 refers.)

Proposal

3. It is proposed to place an order for 50 terminals with TRW, the supplier of NAFIS/LiveScan selected by PITO under OJEC rules (Official Journal of the European Commission).

4. There is an average three months lead time from ordering to delivery and installation of each unit. It is anticipated, therefore, that installation would begin in December 2001 and continue at a rate of 8-10 per month.

C. Financial implications

The minimum contract period is five years.

There would be no requirement to capitalise the value of the contract as the MPA effectively would be renting a service and would not acquire any capital assets.

The projected costs for the remainder of the current financial year and for 2002/03 are detailed in Appendix 1.

A summary of the costs and provision in MPS budgets is as follows:

In addition, provision has been made in estimates for 2003/04 of £2,140k to service this contract. Appropriate sums will be included in estimates for 2004/05 and 2005/06.

D. Background papers

• FPBV/01/110, Business Case for Livescan Project

E. Contact details

The author of this report is Michael Aston, Director, Information Programme (020 7230 8484).

For information contact:

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

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback