Met police cancel IT tender

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) has cancelled its tender for a new custody system and instead will use a framework run by the Government Procurement Service (previously Buying Solutions) to fulfil its requirements.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) explained that the procurement would still go ahead, but in a way that is compliant with regulations.

"The MPS has chosen a different route to market for the provision of support and hosting services for our existing and well-established custody and case preparation system.

"The procurement itself has not been cancelled as the MPS will continue to seek a new contract for these services through an alternative route that complies with the Public Contracts Regulations."

As part of the tendering process, the MPA asked interested suppliers to complete a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).

It was the responses it received via this form that caused the MPA to revise its purchasing strategy.

"Our evaluation of the PQQ responses identified that the chosen route to market would present a high risk to service continuity of a business-critical system," admitted the spokesman.

He added that the existing government procurement framework was identified as a better option.

"We felt the risk could be significantly reduced by cancelling the original process and commencing a new procurement through an existing framework, namely the Sprint ii framework [used by the Government Procurement Service]. It is also expected that the new approach will deliver a better value-for-money solution for the MPA."

The MPS states that no money has been wasted due to this cancellation.

"The MPS has not lost money through this change of procurement strategy, as many of the products and activities can be used in the new procurement route. "