Approval sought to award the vehicle removal and storage contract(s)

Report: 12
Linked to exempt item 21
Date: 24 January 2008
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report seeks the approval of Members to award contracts for vehicle recovery and storage as well as the provision of two forensic suites to support this activity. The contractual criteria are based upon the MPS operational historical requirement, without guarantee of future workload and will continue to complement the existing in-house provision.

A. Recommendations

Members are invited to:

1. Approve the awarding of the recovery contracts (lots 1,2,4 to 9) to the suppliers set out in exempt Appendix 1.

2. Approve the awarding of forensic / mechanical suites (lots 10 and 11) to the suppliers set out in exempt Appendix 1.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. On 19 July 2007 the Finance Committee gave authority for the MPS Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service (VRES) to commence the OJEU tendering process. The process and Terms and Conditions were set in accordance with the MPA Scheme of Delegation.
2. To provide full operational capability and resilience, the Tender was split into 9 separate lots for recovery activity (bidders being limited to a maximum of 3 lots. A further two lots were offered separately for the provision of forensic and mechanical suites in the NE and SW of London. Splitting the contract into lots enabled small and medium enterprises to bid independently or as a consortium.

Pre Qualification Questionnaire

3. Aware of the market potential, it was decided to release the tender under the restricted process. The Pre Qualification Questionnaire was published in the European Journal on 18 September 2007. A total of 75 packages were distributed to interested parties. 42 responses were received within the OJEU timeframe. Submissions were short listed against the following selection criteria:

• Non compliance of the mandatory qualifications
• A minimum competency based pass mark

Invitation to Tender

4. A total of 26 organisations (including two small business consortiums) were accepted into this stage of the process. Of that number, 19 responses were received within the allotted time frame.

5. The pre-set marking criteria (which was released to the bidder with the ITT package) was set as follows:

Table 1: Pre-set marking criteria

6. The evaluation team included the principal users (SCD and Traffic OCU), Risk and Safety Management representation and Procurement Services. The evaluation included the marking of the ITT responses against a pre-determined (weighted) criteria. This was subsequently moderated to reflect the findings of site inspections and contractor interviews

Proposal

7. Summary of the proposal to award 3 year contracts to 7 suppliers (11 lots) are shown at Exempt Appendix 1. There are no guarantees of volume, nor penalties or risks to the MPS for the reduction in volume. With the exception of Lot 2, where the second place bidder had the greater technical and resource capability but tendered at a higher price, the recommendation is to award the contracts to the contractor who scored highest (and lowest price) in the evaluation process. Lot 3 has not been awarded, there being only two bidders one of which was eliminated, whilst the second failed to reach an acceptable score when bench marked against the score of other lots. It is recommended this be re-tendered.

8. The selection process of the contractors for the forensic/mechanical examination lots 10 and 11 followed the same process. It is recommended to offer lot 10 to two contractors on the basis of that their geographical locations.

9. All have proposed contractors have additional storage capabilities to undertake the storage of uninsured vehicles, should subsequent operational imperatives dictate.

10. In the case of Lot 11, the incumbent supplier of forensic facilities in that area was the only bidder and it is therefore recommended that they continue.

Abbreviations and acronyms:

ITT

Invitation To Tender

OCU

Operational Command Unit

OJEU

Official Journal of the European Union

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

TUPE

Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employees

VRES

Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service

C. Race and equality impact

1. The MPS has made every effort possible to ensure fairness, having invited SME businesses, as well as those operators who have previously expressed an in interest regardless of size and capacity. In this respect small businesses were also given to opportunity to form consortiums, five companies taking up this option.

2. The awarding of these contracts will however result in the reduction of suppliers from the current 29 to 7. There are no TUPE implications for the MPS.

D. Financial implications

1. The financial benefits of awarding this contract are set out in the exempt Appendix 1 and show the variation (by percentage) of the current light vehicle rates of £100 recovery and £6 per night storage. Exempt Appendix 2 provides information on the scoring of all tenders submitted.

2. Awarding the recovery contracts provides savings where the MPS has a legal obligation to meet the cost. The estimated saving is £900k over 3 years compared to the 2007/8 budget allocation of £2.8 million.

3. The contracts will also provide a cost recovery income opportunity in cases where the owner/agent has the legal obligation to meet the fee at the statutory rate of £105 (recovery) and £12 per day storage.

E LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

1. It is confirmed that the proposal to award the contracts complies with procurement regulations and all relevant EU and UK Government procurement directives.

2. It is confirmed the proposal is within the powers of the MPA and within the Scheme of Delegation.

E. Background papers

• MPA Finance Committee 19th July 2007: Approval Sought to Proceed with OJEU Tender Process for vehicle removal and storage contracts

F. Contact details

Report author: Stephen Ditchburn Head of Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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