C25923 Sustained Support for Access Pass Holder Information Distribution System (APHIDS) for the Home Office Homeland Security Group

Tender description

About adding context and requirements test Pre-market engagement Not applicable. Work done so far This is the continuation of a service provided under a previous contract C21879 which is *expanding for the new transport modes being introduced. *(Air Cargo, International Rail and Maritime) Which phase the project is in Not applicable Existing team The supplier will need to interface with internal Home Office Enterprise Services team and Borders and Aviation Security Unit. Wider stakeholders; DfT, ACRO Criminal Records Office, PNC-Hendon, and CAA. Plus, data providers and LEA consuming organisations. APHIDS is hosted on the Home Office AWS Application Container Platform (ACP). The supplier will need to engage regularly, and work closely, with the Home Office ACP team, for all deployments and updates to both the non-production and production environments. Address where the work will be done The Homeland Security Group teams operate from Marsham Street in Central London. Travel, where necessary shall be to other service user agencies' locations in the UK. Working arrangements Details of working arrangements including location can be finalised on appointment, however typically a 5 day a week is expected. Provide more information about your security requirements: Security Check (SC) Provide more information about your security requirements (optional): All supplier 2nd/3rd line support staff must be SC-UK Security Vetted, as minimum or must be willing to meet the requirements to obtain the relevant Home Office SC status. Home will sponsor clearance applications where necessary. Latest start date 2024-04-01 Enter the expected contract length: 2 years Extension period: 1 year Special terms and conditions Standard DOS6 terms and conditions however any IP generated because of projects commissioned by the Authority, shall vest with the Authority. Special terms and conditions Travel expenses are payable for journeys outside the M25 (Greater London) or journeys greater than 10 miles from other base locations, where approved in advance and in line with Home Office Travel policy (subsistence not payable). Special terms and conditions The DDaT Professions rate caps will be applied to all roles at all SFIA levels. Caps will be provided to shortlisted suppliers at RFP stage. Special terms and conditions Potential Providers participating in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage will need to complete, sign and return a non-disclosure and ethical walls agreement (NDA) prior to receiving the RFP. Special terms and conditions The Home Office requires the successful provide to sign a “Declaration of Employment Status for Tax” letter confirming that all workers deployed in the delivery of the services are On Payroll employees of the supplier or in the case of independent contractors operate via a FCSA accredited Umbrella Company or PAYE provider. Special terms and conditions The Home Office has a succession planning strategy in place which will mean that certain roles over the period of the contract will be filled and / or replaced by Civil Servants or other in-house Subject Matter Experts (SME) from other contracts. This strategy will be applied as appropriate from the start of service commencement and throughout the life of the contract. The APHIDS project is involved in supporting these wider Home Office initiatives and is engaging with both SAS and Optimus at present. (The supplier will be expected to be able to increase or decrease resources as required). The Home Office will give reasonable notice to the supplier ahead of such an eventuality and any requested changes will be Implemented with reasonable notice and via the contractual change control / variation procedure. Whilst the APHIDS project is in the development phase any changes to contractual support arrangements will be agreed through the appropriate project steering board governance. Write the term or acronym: DDaT Write the term or acronym: HSG Write the term or acronym: APHIDS Explain the term or acronym: Digital, Data and Technology Explain the term or acronym: Homeland Security Group Explain the term or acronym: Access Pass Holder Information Distribution System Are you prepared to show your budget details?: No Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work The supplier is required to provide 2nd and 3rd line support for the APHIDS solution, to maintain a sustained service. The supplier will need to interface with internal Home Office Enterprise Services team and Borders & Aviation Security Unit. Wider stakeholders including: - DfT, ACRO Criminal Records Office, PNC-Hendon, and CAA. Plus data providers and LEA consuming organisations. Support is required for a major system upgrade at airports in 2024, due to withdrawal of support in summer 2024 for legacy UK Airport Access Control System ["CEM v7”] which originates from BAA (British Airports Authority) before privatisation. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who the organisation using the products or services is The Contracting Authority is the Home Office; the specific unit is the Homeland Security Group. Why the work is being done • The “APHIDS” Service is a critical component of the overall Homeland Security portfolio. The solution assists in maintaining the security of the UK by delivering a step-change in the ability of the Security Service, the NCA and Police to have an accurate, up-to-date picture of who has access to security restricted areas at all major airports (approximately 50 nationwide), with ongoing efforts to expand to include International Rail, Air Cargo, and Maritime Ports. • APHIDS enhancements will address two areas: o INSIDER THREAT: The lack of consolidated secure area access data presents a potential security vulnerability for exploitation by a constantly evolving insider threat. It means HMG and Law Enforcement agencies cannot uniquely identify all staff with such access at UK airports, International Rail, Air Cargo, and Maritime Ports and identify potential threats. o LEGISLATION: According to proposed European legislation, all individuals with AIC’s or CIC’s will require a government enhanced background check & continuous vetting. There are several additional roles (i.e., instructors) that also require these checks. Yet, HO had no consolidated way of identifying who holds these passes and roles to enable this continuous vetting. APHIDS facilitates compliance to this new legislation and therefore needs to be actively maintained. The anticipated commencement date for the contract is 1st April 2024 to be preceded by a minimum 8 weeks mobilisation period. This period may not be sufficient in which case the start date for service provision will be delayed. The business problem you need to solve The supplier is required to provide on-going 2nd and 3rd line support for the APHIDS solution, to maintain a sustained service The supplier will need to interface with internal Home Office Enterprise Services team and Borders and Aviation Security Unit. Wider stakeholders; DfT, ACRO Criminal Records Office, PNC-Hendon, and CAA. Plus, data providers and LEA consuming organisations The APHIDS support service will need to be scalable and provide capacity for expansion, supporting up to 2000 unique users. The supplier is required to on-board to the authorities ITSM tooling and work within the defined ITIL processes to provide the required support service and manage incidents, have processes in place for secure development, continuous integration/deployment and DevSecOps, software maintenance, configuration and change management, incident and problem management, data sanitisation and continuous improvement. The supplier will be responsible for ensuring Business as Usual (BAU) is maintained for the APHIDS service. For example: • Defects • Uplift of third-party software versions • Essential uplifts required due to modernisations to dependencies. First user type: The Security Service, the NCA and Police Enter more details about this user type: The Homeland Security function within the Home Office is building, modernising, and transforming the capabilities at UK airports and other transport modes including Air Cargo, International Rail and Maritime using the APHIDS application.