Decision

The Director of Neighbourhoods has approved
the award of a contract to Oculus Facilities Management, company
number 09287515, for the provision of keyholding, alarm response
and venue security within Wirral. This is for the period of 4 July
2025 to 31 March 2026 (and will be backdated). The total estimated
contract cost is up to £249,000.

This contract provides a security service to assist the Council in
providing a safe and secure environment for council officers and
elected members. Oculus Facilities Management will provide all
aspects of security including resources, vehicles, and staff
required for static security at events and meetings and mobile
response to incidents at council sites outside of normal working
hours.

The decision supports the Council Plan: Wirral Working Together
2023-27, specifically the themes: Efficient, Effective and
Accessible Council and Safe, Resilient and Engaged
Communities.

Reasons for the decision

The commissioning of a suitably qualified and
licenced security provider is necessary to:
a) Provide a prompt response to intruder and fire alarms in Council
buildings out of hours, to reduce the risks of damage to the
Council’s assets and potential disruption to front line and
other critical services.
b) Provide a security presence at Committee and other keys meetings
where intelligence assessment highlights a demonstrable level of
risk of disorder to provide reassurance to members of the public,
elected members and staff, and deal with unruly behaviour.
c) Provide security officers at Birkenhead Market on a daily basis
to provide reassurance to members of the public, traders and staff,
and a deterrence for unruly and/or criminal behaviour.

Oculus Facilities Management previously entered into an agreement
with the Council for the provision of this service from October
2024 until 1 May 2025. This was following the commissioning of
Steelforce Security from September 2023 until the company went into
administration and ceased trading with no notice given to Wirral
Council in October 2024.
A full procurement exercise was carried out via The Chest
procurement portal and a 3-year contract awarded to Chase Services
Group on the 1 May 2025. Following numerous material breaches of
the contract specification and on advice from procurement
colleagues, the contract was terminated by mutual consent with
immediate effect on the 4 July 2025.
More recently, security at Birkenhead Market was previously
delivered under a facilities management contract that also covered
cleaning. Although that contract has ended, the need for on-site
security remains to ensure the safety of staff, customers, and the
premises. Given the market’s uncertain future, continued
security provision is essential and has therefore been included
within the scope of this contract to prevent any disruption.

Alternative options considered

Key Holding & Alarm Response

Option 1: Utilise Existing Council Employees

Members of Council staff based in the respective building or
service area would act as keyholders and would be alerted
out-of-hours and requested to attend in the event of an alarm
activation and/or report from a third party.

Reason for rejection: Out-of-hours keyholding by site/service-based
staff has been tried and tested. Many felt unsafe and many
unwilling to attend in the early hours of the morning. Some calls
have been to vacant buildings where there has been associated
anti-social and threatening behaviour by groups of young people. It
is outside the scope of the officers’ respective job
description and there are inherent risks as lone workers given the
nature of the task, which cannot be sufficiently mitigated.

Option 2: Employ additional Community Safety Officers within the
Council’s Emergency Control Centre (ECC) to provide
keyholding, alarm response.

The Emergency Control Centre (ECC) within the Council’s
Community Safety Service was reconfigured to focus upon key
priorities following corporate efficiency savings taken in 2022/23.
It was anticipated that the implementation of the Corporate
Landlord model would be in place within two years and within the
lifetime of the original contract and therefore the employment of
additional officers within the ECC was noted to be only short-term
and therefore discounted at the time.

Security

Option 1: Facilities Management and Democratic & Member
Services staff would provide a presence at Council meetings to
reassure members and the public.

Reason for rejection: Whilst staff have been providing a physical
presence to help manage the interim period, the staff lack the
Security Industry Authority (SIA) training/licence and risk
assessed Personal Protective Equipment. A dedicated security
presence is required at particular meetings.

Option 2: Employ additional Community Safety Officers within the
Emergency Control Centre (ECC) to provide keyholding, alarm
response.

This would be the preferred option for the provision of security at
Committee and other key meetings where needed. The officers are SIA
Licenced, deployed from the Emergency Control Centre managing
Wirral’s network of over 160 public realm CCTV cameras and
linked directly to Merseyside Police via Airwave radio. This would
also ensure continuity of service and handover, with staff fully
familiar with building layouts and Council policy and
procedures.

Reason for rejection: An immediate solution is required; this
longer-term solution requires further consideration by the
organisation in terms of growth.

Options from 1 April 2026 are currently being reviewed.