DWP Jobcentre Plus Critical Security Infrastructure Programme

Programme overview

The Department for Work and Pensions operates a large national estate of Jobcentre Plus offices, providing essential front-line services to the public. In response to evolving security requirements and operational risk, DWP initiated a nationwide Critical Security Infrastructure (CSI) programme to upgrade front-of-house security across its Jobcentre Plus portfolio.

The core scope focused on public-side and front-of-house areas and included:

  • Enabling works and strip-out in live, occupied buildings
  • Installation of new security hardware, access control and door furniture
  • Replacement and upgrade of fire doors and secure door sets
  • New or upgraded panic alarms, staff safety devices and associated infrastructure
  • Enhancements to CCTV systems and supporting cabling and containment
  • Creation or adaptation of lockdown rooms and associated operational protocols
  • Associated building, electrical and data cabling works


Mitie were appointed by DWP as the main contractor for the initial phases of the programme. Staffordshire Cost Consultants Ltd were engaged by Mitie as Quantity Surveyors to help shape and deliver a commercial and procurement model capable of supporting a high-volume, high-security, multi-site rollout.


Our appointment and brief

Given the scale and sensitivity of the programme, Mitie required a commercial partner with:

  • Experience in multi-site, framework-driven programmes;
  • A strong grasp of Schedule of Rates (SoR)-based procurement and valuation; and
  • The ability to work within stringent security and operational constraints.


Staffordshire Cost Consultants were appointed to:

  1. Support the development of the commercial strategy, including the use of a two-stage selective tender process underpinned by a Schedule of Rates.
  2. Lead or support procurement activities, including design of tender documentation, mini-competitions, and onboarding of specialist subcontractors and suppliers.
  3. Operate and refine the commercial controls necessary to manage circa 300 sites – including cost planning, SoR pricing, change management and forecasting.
  4. Provide day-to-day QS support across live projects, ensuring that each Jobcentre scheme was delivered within the commercial parameters of the national programme.


Our role sat at the intersection of commercial strategy and delivery support, acting as a key part of the programme team with Mitie and DWP stakeholders.


Procurement strategy – two-stage selective tender with Schedule of Rates

To deliver consistent, scalable outcomes across such a large number of sites, the programme adopted a two-stage selective tender approach based on an agreed Schedule of Rates.

Our involvement included:

  • Stage 1 – Selection and early engagement
    • Assisting Mitie in defining selection criteria for tier-2 subcontractors and key suppliers (e.g. security specialists, door manufacturers, data cabling contractors).
    • Preparing procurement documentation and SoR-based pricing schedules aligned with the CSI scope.
    • Supporting evaluation of returns, ensuring that bidders understood the national roll-out model and could price consistently across a range of site conditions.
  • Stage 2 – Call-offs and site-specific pricing
    • Using the agreed Schedule of Rates to derive project-specific prices for each Jobcentre, based on surveys, front-of-house layouts and defined risk allowances.
    • Reviewing and validating subcontractor site-specific proposals to ensure alignment with the SoR and programme-wide benchmarks.
    • Ensuring that mobilisation periods and out-of-hours working requirements were fully reflected in preliminaries and time-related charges.


This approach allowed the programme to maintain control over unit rates and commercial norms, while still accommodating site-by-site variation in scope driven by local layouts, legacy installations and DWP operational requirements.


Working in live, secure and public-facing environments

A defining characteristic of the programme was that all works were undertaken in live, operational Jobcentre environments, with strict constraints around:

  • Out-of-hours working, typically in evenings, overnight or at weekends, to avoid disruption to day-to-day service delivery.
  • Security protocols, including access controls, protection of sensitive areas and careful management of security-related information.
  • Public and staff safety, requiring robust temporary works, segregation, and phasing strategies.


From a QS perspective, these constraints had direct commercial implications, which we helped to quantify and manage:

  • Appropriate allowances for night working and out-of-hours premiums, including travel, supervision and security clearance processes.
  • Detailed treatment of preliminaries, ensuring that site set-up, protection, decanting and reoccupation activities were properly captured.
  • Structured risk allowances for unforeseen conditions behind existing finishes, legacy security installations and ageing building services.


Our role included reviewing and validating contractor and subcontractor proposals against these real-world constraints, guarding against under-pricing that could later lead to claims or programme risk.


Outcomes and benefits – Mitie commission

Within the Mitie commission, our involvement contributed to:

  • Consistent, scalable procurement across circa 300 Jobcentre Plus sites using a two-stage, SoR-based model.
  • Improved predictability of unit costs, enabling DWP and Mitie to understand cost drivers and make informed decisions about scope and phasing.
  • Effective management of out-of-hours and live environment premiums, ensuring these were clearly priced and controlled rather than emerging as unmanaged claims.
  • Robust audit trail, with site-level cost data and standardised documentation supporting both internal audit and external scrutiny.


The programme improved front-of-house security infrastructure across the Jobcentre Plus estate while maintaining service continuity and achieving value for money within a complex operational context.


Re-commissioned by ISS – extending the model

Following a subsequent retender exercise by DWP, the national Critical Security Infrastructure contract was awarded to ISS as the new main contractor. On the strength of our prior involvement and the commercial model established with Mitie, ISS engaged Staffordshire Cost Consultants to provide equivalent commercial support for the next phase of the programme, involving a further circa 300 Jobcentre Plus sites nationwide.

Under this live commission, running through to January 2026, our role includes:

  • Re-applying and refining the two-stage, Schedule of Rates-based procurement approach, tailored to ISS’s delivery structure and supply chain.
  • Supporting ISS with supply chain onboarding, including selective tendering, rate validation and framework setup for security, doors, M&E and data contractors.
  • Operating and enhancing the commercial controls, cost models and reporting frameworks we developed previously, ensuring consistency in how DWP’s requirements are interpreted and priced.
  • Providing ongoing Commercial Management and QS support across the rolling pipeline of sites, maintaining continuity in how risk, change and outturn costs are handled.


This continuity of role between main contractors demonstrates the strength and transferability of the commercial framework we helped to develop, and reflects DWP’s and the supply chain’s confidence in Staffordshire Cost Consultants’ ability to support national, security-critical programmes.


Why Staffordshire Cost Consultants

The Jobcentre Plus CSI programme highlights several key strengths that Staffordshire Cost Consultants bring to complex, national frameworks:

  • Expertise in programme-scale, multi-site delivery, where consistency, data and repeatability are as important as individual project outcomes.
  • Deep familiarity with Schedule of Rates and two-stage procurement models, including their practical operation and governance.
  • A pragmatic understanding of live, secure and public-facing environments, and how these affect cost, risk and programme.
  • Proven ability to transfer and refine commercial models between different main contractors within the same client and programme context.


For DWP’s Jobcentre Plus estate, our contribution has been to provide the commercial backbone that sits behind a highly technical and operationally sensitive security upgrade programme – ensuring that it is deliverable, auditable and value-focused, both under Mitie and now under ISS.