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BLC0329 - Police Ai Lead Delivery Partner - Market Engagement

BLUELIGHT COMMERCIAL LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Planning

17 Apr 2026 at 15:39

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

17 Apr 2026 at 12:51

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

BlueLight Commercial Limited is initiating the procurement process for the Police AI Lead Delivery Partner, aimed at advancing AI adoption across policing in England and Wales. The current stage of this process is planning, with a remote market engagement session scheduled for 7th May 2026. Interested parties should register by 5th May 2026. The session seeks input on market capacity and delivery models pertaining to AI in policing, focusing on services such as technical assurance and delivery models in AI applications. Although the procurement route is still to be determined, the anticipated start date for any contracts resulting from this process is 1st September 2026, within the IT services category in the UK.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in IT services, including consulting, software development, and Internet support. Ideal candidates will demonstrate capabilities in AI solutions, especially those applicable in policing contexts. The procurement encourages participation from SMEs and micros, making it an attractive prospect for smaller enterprises. Companies that can provide technical, assurance, and implementation capabilities in partnership or consortium arrangements are well-suited to contribute effectively to this initiative, particularly by supporting the establishment of scalable, ethical AI practices within the public sector.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

BLC0329 - Police Ai Lead Delivery Partner - Market Engagement

Notice Description

Further to the UK1 Pipeline Notice published on 17th April 2026 by BlueLight Commercial Limited (ref: 2026/S 000-035176) in relation to a Police Ai Lead Delivery Partner, this UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is issued to inform the market of a potential business opportunity. Important Information Please note the procurement route, anticipated publication date, and contract term for this opportunity are yet to be determined. These elements will be confirmed following completion of the market engagement process and development of the Authority's commercial strategy. This Pre-Market Engagement Notice is issued solely for the purposes of information gathering and engagement with the market. It does not constitute a call for competition and create any obligation on the Authority to proceed with a procurement exercise, award a contract, or enter into any commercial arrangement. Any future procurement will be subject to separate formal notice and the publication of full procurement documentation via the Find a Tender Service (FTS). This notice does not form part of any pre qualification, selection, or tender process. Suppliers are advised that, should a procurement proceed, participation will only be possible once a contract notice has been formally published on FTS, at which point interested parties must express their interest in accordance with the published instructions. This engagement activity is intended solely to raise market awareness, facilitate communication, and inform the Authority's approach to a potential future procurement. Whilst BlueLight Commercial Ltd will be conducting any future potential procurement activities, the Contracting Authority is not yet defined. Background The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), working in partnership with the Home Office, has announced the establishment of a new national centre to accelerate the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence across policing in England and Wales. This was announced as part of the Government's White Paper, From local to national: a new model for policing, which sets out a programme of reform to modernise policing, improve productivity and public service, and ensure forces are better equipped to respond to changing crime demands. Within that wider reform programme the Policing AI facility is intended to provide policing with national capability to identify, test, assure and help scale AI tools and services in a way that is effective, lawful, ethical and capable of maintaining public consent. The Policing AI facility is being incubated within the College of Policing and Thames Valley Police ahead of its longer-term transition into the future National Police Service. Subject to final approvals, governance and commercial decisions, the AI facility is expected to support all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, alongside Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs), by reducing duplication, creating reusable national capability, and providing practical support, technical assurance and delivery capacity to accelerate responsible AI adoption across policing. As part of this, the Authority expects to undertake market engagement in advance of a potential future procurement for a lead delivery partner to support the mobilisation and early delivery. Strategic Context Police.AI sits within the Government's wider programme of police reform and is intended to help policing make more consistent, safe and productive use of data and AI-enabled technologies. The White Paper makes clear that Police.AI is intended to provide forces with the resources and expertise needed to deploy AI in an ethical, robust and responsible way, supported by strong oversight and accountability. It also establishes the expectation that Police.AI will help create a public-facing registry of AI being used across policing and the steps forces have taken to test and evaluate those tools before operational use. The ambition is not simply to identify promising technologies, but to help policing translate them into deployable, scalable and properly evaluated operational capability. This includes building the conditions for responsible adoption across governance, data, commerciality, workforce readiness, testing, implementation and continuous improvement. Indicative Scope of Police.AI Consistent with the White Paper, Police.AI is anticipated to deliver across three broad functional areas. 1. AI Lab This function is expected to provide technical and delivery capability to help policing assess, test, adapt and evaluate AI-enabled tools and services. Indicative activities may include: * pre-deployment testing and assurance of AI models and tools, including consideration of accuracy, robustness, explainability, bias and operational suitability; * development and operation of safe testing environments, including sandbox capabilities using synthetic and, where appropriate and lawful, real data; * rapid prototyping and, by exception, targeted capability development to address priority policing needs; * model adjustment, configuration or tuning to better meet policing requirements; * post-deployment evaluation, including process, performance and impact assessment; and * horizon scanning and evidence development to support future capability choices. 2. AI Enablement This function is expected to help forces and wider policing bodies move from interest to implementation. Indicative activities may include: * practical support for forces adopting AI, including implementation planning, business change, user adoption and operational embedding; * development of reusable guidance, tooling and delivery assets to support scaling across policing; * support to national commercial approaches, including alignment with relevant procurement and framework activity; * support to seed-funded or proof-of-concept activity for priority policing use cases; and * engagement with industry, academia and other partners to stimulate innovation, encourage competition and strengthen the supply ecosystem. 3. Strategy, Oversight and Coordination This function is expected to provide the national coherence, transparency and cross-system coordination required for responsible AI adoption. Indicative activities may include: * publication and maintenance of a national AI registry for policing; * public-facing communications and transparency activity to support legitimacy and trust; * coordination with public sector partners, regulators, assurance bodies and international counterparts; * support to the development of national policy, standards, governance and assurance approaches; and * acting as a signal receiver for policing in relation to the criminal misuse of AI and associated emerging risks. Early Delivery Priorities The White Paper states that, in its first year, Police.AI is expected to focus on some of the most significant administrative burdens facing policing, including: * disclosure; * analysis of CCTV footage; * production of case files; * crime recording and classification; and * translation and transcription of documents. Objectives The overarching objectives of Police.AI are expected to include: * maximising the potential of AI to improve public safety, operational effectiveness and public service outcomes; * embedding responsible adoption principles across policing; * reducing duplication and delivering better value for money through national coordination and reuse; * improving the ability of forces to adopt and scale AI tools safely and effectively; and * preparing the policing workforce to operate confidently in an increasingly AI-enabled environment. Potential Role of a Lead Delivery Partner The lead delivery partner will be capable of supporting the stand-up, mobilisation and delivery of Police.AI. While the final scope and commercial structure remain subject to further development, the lead delivery partner role may include a combination of the following: * provision of multidisciplinary delivery resource across programme delivery, product, technical, data, architecture, assurance and implementation functions; * support to the operation of the AI Lab and associated delivery processes; * support to the development of reusable delivery methods, operating models and governance arrangements; * support to the delivery of priority policing AI use cases and early implementation activity; * integration of delivery across technical assurance, business change and operational adoption; * support to supplier and ecosystem engagement, including management of specialist partners where required; and * transfer of knowledge and capability into the enduring policing-led operating model. The expectation will be that any delivery partner will demonstrate their ability to operate in a consortium with a diverse range of UK based SMEs, micros and startups. The Authority is particularly interested in understanding how suppliers may combine delivery, technical, assurance and implementation capabilities in a way that supports pace, public-sector accountability, and long-term capability building within policing.

Planning Information

At this stage, the Authority is seeking to better understand market capacity, delivery models, teaming approaches and the maturity of relevant capabilities and services. Areas of interest for engagement may include: • technical assurance, testing and evaluation services for AI models and AI-enabled products; • sandbox environments, synthetic data capability and secure test infrastructure; • product and function delivery resource across multidisciplinary teams; • AI-enabled solutions relevant to policing use cases, including but not limited to disclosure, multimedia analysis, crime classification, transcription, summarisation and language services; • business change, implementation and adoption support; • training, skills and capability-building approaches for an AI-enabled policing workforce; • operating model options for a lead delivery partner and wider delivery ecosystem; • approaches to responsible innovation, governance, transparency and public trust in operational policing contexts. BlueLight Commercial are issuing this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice, and invite interested suppliers to attend a market engagement session on 7th May 2026, 1100 hours to 1200 hours. The session will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams and limited to 2 people from each organisation. During the engagement a short presentation will be provided, however, we would like to make the session as interactive as possible and encourage suppliers to ask questions relevant to the information provided. The engagement is intended as a Question & Answer session, which may lead to additional engagement events in the future, in order to shape the commercial strategy. For the avoidance of doubt, a route to market has not yet been identified. If you would like to register your interest to attend the session, please do so by completing this survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/86BJ8N by 1300 hours on 5th May 2026.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-068544
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/035322-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£12,500,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
17 Apr 20264 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
8 Jun 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BLUELIGHT COMMERCIAL LIMITED
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 3JS
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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