OFFICER DECISION RECORD For staff restructures, please also complete an RA1 form to update the HR Portal. This is attached at Annex 2. Decision Ref. No: RE17 0102 Box 1 DIRECTORATE: Regeneration & Environment DATE: Contact Name: Mark Benton/Wayne Rigby (Finance) Tel. No.: 01302 734001 Subject Matter: Two Way Radio Contract Arrangements Box 2 DECISION TAKEN: To enter into a contract granting a licence to MRS Communications to install and maintain radio communications infrastructure within the Civic Office roof space. In return allowing access to a radio frequency between the following parties :- MRS Communications CASED Radio Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council This agreement will allow for a single communication network between the Council, South Yorkshire Police and all other town centre partners. Box 3 REASON FOR THE DECISION: An analogue communication system was installed at the Civic Office after being relocated from Council House. The equipment was procured by the Council many years ago, however the management of the system was undertaken by CASED, who co-ordinated all users including the Council, South Yorkshire Police, and the day time and night time economies within Doncaster town centre. Within the Council, Parking Services and the Town Centre Team have utilised the system for many years through an informal arrangement with CASED for the hire of 2 way radios and the ability to use the radio frequency for which they held the OFCOM licence. The use of the 2 way radios also form part of the town centre emergency evacuation plan as officer working in the town centre and most shops have access to radios. When the power surge occurred at the Civic Office in 2014 the transmitter was damaged beyond economical repair, however the system continued to work with limited capabilities due to an additional transmitter at the Frenchgate building. Whilst the Council had insurance in place for the computer equipment at the Civic, other electrical equipment was not commercially insured but some was covered within the Council s internal insurance provision.
Due to the continued failure of the analogue system, a procurement exercise was commenced with assistance from the Council s Strategic Procurement Team, to source a digital radio solution for the Council requirements both from an operational perspective and town centre community safety view. The procurement exercise resulted in estimated total costs being in the region of 46k for the supply of infrastructure and handheld radios, this included radios for the CASED network requirements. Due to the costs associated with CASEDs element of the tender, 30k, they advised they were to look at alternatives. The Council were then provided with details of a solution similar to that utilised by Leeds City Council, CASED where to use MRS Communications who would provide an infrastructure and hire radios to users (CASED members). The Council therefore terminated the procurement exercise as different solutions would not achieve the coordinated approach for a joint partnership. In order to progress the solution, CASED advised that they would require the current damaged equipment at Civic Office to be replaced by the MRS equipment, in return the Council would be able to have access to the radio network to allow a cohesive solution between Council, police and town centre. This provides the best value solution to the Council as the outlay would be the purchase of radios only and this is expected to be in the region of 5k. A contract is therefore being drawn up to grant a licence to MRS to place the equipment at Civic Office, in place of the damaged equipment, purchase compatible radios and allow use of the CASED OFCOM licence for the radio frequency. In addition, a number of free loan radios will be provided to the police and CCTV control room. Box 4 OPTIONS CONSIDERED & REASONS FOR RECOMMENDED OPTION: 1. Do nothing. The current transmitter is redundant technology and causing problems for users. The Council s town centre staff have encountered safety issues as a result of system failure and down time. If the remaining transmitter fails then DMBC will be without a 2 way radio communication system. 2. Use mobile phones only. Doncaster Town Centre has many areas with no coverage, including Colonnades car park. This potentially may put leave staff vulnerable. In addition, mobile phones do not provide the immediate communication facility that is achievable with a 2 way radio system. 3. Procure the infrastructure, radios and OFCOM licence independently. This was thought to be too costly and would not provide a cohesive safer community solution for all town centre partners, including the council and police.
4. The preferred solution is to continue to work in partnership with CASED, this will: a. Remove initial set up costs and any on-going maintenance costs. b. DMBC will own radios purchased c. Have the use of a modern digital two radio system. d. Allow MRS/CASED to locate/maintain the transmitter on Civic Office e. Allow DMBC to use the Ofcom radio frequency that MRS/CASED have the license for. f. Allow DMBC staff to monitor other channels (Town Centre/Parking) Box 5 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 provides the Council with the power to do anything which an individual may generally do. S111 Local Government Act 1972 states that a local authority shall have power to do anything (whether or not involving the expenditure, borrowing or lending of money or the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions. The arrangement between MRS Communications, CASED and the Council must be governed by a contract setting out the parties rights and obligations. In addition MRS Communications will require a licence to occupy the parts of the Civic Building the equipment will be installed in. This will need to include a right to enter in order to install and maintain the equipment. The regulations of civil radio spectrum in the UK is governed by the Communications Act 2003 and Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 and overseen and administered by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Pursuant to the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, in order to establish, install and/or use radio equipment, a licence must be obtained from Ofcom. It is a criminal offence to install or use telegraphy equipment without such a licence therefore the decision maker must ensure that the Council s use of the Radio Network is covered by an appropriate licence. The Council s radios must be procured in accordance with the Council s Contract Procedure Rules. Legal Services have been consulted to assist with the drafting of the contract and licence. Name: Rebecca Brookes and Adam Bottomley_ Signature: By Email Date: 13/07/17 Signature of Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services (or representative)
Box 6 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The purchase of radios will cost the authority approximately 5k, the cost of which will have to be met from current budgets within Parking Development & Enforcement. The service is currently already forecast to overspend on equipment by approx. 28k, so further budget will need to be identified. Previously the service have been renting these Radios at a cost of 2.5k per year which will now cease. For 17/18 the expenditure will be 5k which is greater than the rental charge, however in future years there will be a 2.5k saving which will help reduce the on-going overspend. Name: J Brogan Signature: J Brogan (SFM Regen & Enviro) Date: 18/07/2017 Signature of Assistant Director of Finance & Performance (or representative) Box 7 HUMAN RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS: There are no immediate HR implications arising from the recommendation to grant a licence to install and maintain radio communication infrastructure, however, if a decision is made to not support the recommendation any impact this would have on the workforce will require HR engagement and would require separate approval. Name: David Knapp Signature: Date: 18/07/2017 Signature of Assistant Director of Human Resources and Communications (or representative) Box 8 PROCUREMENT IMPLICATIONS: As detailed within the body of the report the procurement exercise for the provision of radio equipment was cancelled on the grounds of affordability but also the immergence of an alternative solution by way of licence agreement. This offers the council the most cost effective route to solving a long term issue of connectivity across town centre partners, police and Council Officers. The granting of a licence agreement to use roof space on the Civic office enables the Council to access the equipment to broadcast radio signals. Through the procurement of radios, in line with CPRs officers will have enhanced connectivity to all partner agents and the in house CCTV suite which greatly assists with ensuring the Town Centre is a safe place to be but also can react to calls for assistance should the need arise.
All associated procurement activity must be carried out in line with Council Contract Procedure Rules and have appropriate award notices in place to record such transactions. Name: S Duffield Signature: Date: 18/07/17 Signature of Assistant Director of Finance & Performance (or representative) Box 9 ICT IMPLICATIONS: Any contract granting a licence to roof space of Council assets should have an appropriate term of no more than 3-5 years and include clauses to allow the Council to exit the contract if it is no longer meeting the Council s requirements. The contract should clearly identify which party is responsible for intentional or accidental damage to the proposed equipment to be located at the Civic Office to avoid the same situation occurring as the previous CASED radio network. The previous CASED network utilised a Fibre Optic connection from the Civic Office to the Frenchgate Centre to link together the radio transmitters, this link was provided by the Doncaster Private Optical Network (DPON), if this link is to be reinstated then ICT will have to identify a route and capacity to Frenchgate and carryout testing of the link which would need to be funded by an appropriate service area. Any infrastructure deployed in or on the Civic Office building will need to be approved by ICT to ensure that any connection or interface with the Council s Local, Metropolitan or Wide Area Networks do not compromise compliance with PSN and PCI DSS. Name: Dale Coombs Signature: D.Coombs (via email) Date: 27/07/2017 Signature of Assistant Director of Customer Services and ICT (or representative) Box 10 ASSET IMPLICATIONS: A representative from the Council s Assets & Property team has been fully engaged in discussions in respect of this project as work has progressed. The installation and maintenance of radio communications infrastructure within the Civic office roof space represents the replacement of obsolete equipment, not the addition of extra equipment. As such, there are no asset implications arising out of the recommendations of this report beyond those mentioned in the main body of the report. Name: Gillian Fairbrother (Assets Manager, Project Co-ordinator) Signature: By email Date: 18 th July, 2017
Signature of Assistant Director of Trading Services and Assets (or representative) Box 11 RISK IMPLICATIONS: Council would not be able to effectively communicate with other town centre businesses. Be left without a 2 way radio system, resulting in disruption to services and potentially increasing staff vulnerability. (Explain the impact of not taking this decision and in the case of capital schemes, any risks associated with the delivery of the project) Box 12 EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS: To be completed by the report author There are no equality implications. Name: Mark Benton / Wayne Rigby (Finance) Signature: Date: 18 th July 2017 (Report author) Box 13 CONSULTATION Ofcom With regards to your query, Ofcom would not need to be notified and you would just need approval from the licensee to operate on their frequencies or use their equipment. Responsibility remains with the licensee to ensure you will be operating within the terms and technical parameters of the licence, we would advise you review the licence parameters and terms to ensure you will be operating in accordance with the licence. Please be aware however at any point CASED can withdraw any permissions given and if you were to continue operating it would be classed as unlicensed use and would be treated as such if reported, which can result in fines and prosecution. If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact the Spectrum
Licensing Team on 0300 123 1000 or via email at Spectrum.licensing@ofcom.org.uk. Kind Regards :: Thomas Williams Officers Strategic Procurement Team have sought clarification from other areas of the council that may require a 2 way radio solution. In addition, the Head of Service for Community Safety, Bill Hotchkiss, has been involved in the evaluation of radio systems and discussion on the potential MRS/CASED solution Members Cllr McGuiness 2/8/2017 Having looked through and in the knowledge that Legal, IT and Finance has all responded positively, I cannot see any issue with it. Under the Scheme of delegation, officers are responsible for day to day operational matters as well as implementing decisions that have been taken by Council, Cabinet, Committee or individual Cabinet members. Further consultation with Members is not ordinarily required. However, where an ODR relates to a matter which has significant policy, service or operational implications or is known to be politically sensitive, the officer shall first consult with the appropriate Cabinet Member before exercising the delegated powers. In appropriate cases, officers will also need to consult with the Chair of Council, Committee Chairs or the Chair of an Overview and Scrutiny Panel as required. Officers shall also ensure that local Members are kept informed of matters affecting their Wards. Box 14 INFORMATION NOT FOR PUBLICATION: It is in the public s interest to be aware of this decision record under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore this decision will be published in full, redacting only signatures Name: Joan L Amie Signature: Joan L Amie Date: 30 th August 17 Signature of FOI Lead Officer for service area where ODR originates
Box 15 Signed: Gill Gillies Date: 6 September 2017 Gill Gillies, Assistant Director Environment Signed: Date: Additional Signature of Chief Financial Officer or nominated representative for Capital decisions. Signed: Date: Signature of Mayor or relevant Cabinet Member consulted on the above decision (if required). This decision can be implemented immediately unless it relates to a Capital Scheme that requires the approval of Cabinet. All Cabinet decisions are subject to call in. A record of this decision should be kept by the relevant Director s PA for accountability and published on the Council s website. A copy of this decision should be sent to the originating Directorate s FOI Lead Officer to consider information not for publication prior to being published on the Council s website. A PDF copy of the signed decision record should be e-mailed to the LA Democratic Services mailbox