§ Mr. KeenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current position of his Department over the award of the contracts for the processing of historical criminal records to(a) overseas based and (b) United Kingdom based processing companies; and whether members of the project team have visited processing facilities in the Philippines with regard to this contract.
§ Mr. HowardAfter careful consideration of the competing bids, which included a visit by members of the project team to the Philippines, it has been decided to award the contract to PCL Group, which submitted the bid 331W which was judged to represent the best overall value for money to the taxpayer. The work will be carried out, under conditions of the strictest security, in Rickmansworth and Glasgow. The contract provides for the conversion of some 3 million records over 18 months, creating a database which will be of immense value to the police service in the investigation of crime.
§ Mr. KeenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what important factors his Department uses when determining the award of contracts involving computerisation of(a) criminal records and (b) general processing information of a sensitive nature.
§ Mr. HowardThe criteria for evaluation will vary according to the nature of the work to be done; the details are given in the announcement in the Official Journal of the European Communities which launches every substantial procurement. In the case of the current project to computerise the national collection of criminal records, the award criteria, other than price, were stated as
Proven ability to process the required throughput volumes, achieving the required quality and security levels, in the required timescale" (Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities, 25 November and 4 December 1993).