Purpose

A specialist Revenues and Benefits operating system is required to ensure the Council can continue to deliver required statutory services including the collection of Local Taxation and provision of financial support to low-income households.

Changing to a different provider would be a major programme of work including a requirement to undertake a data cleansing exercise of existing records, migration of the data, reconciliation to financial systems, changing work processes for the different operating method of new systems, officer training, changing customer online accounts for self-service along with a number of project functions required to restore operations after closing down the existing system.

The timescale for delivering a programme of this nature is typically 18 – 24 months, to plan, deliver and manage the transition. Other authorities who have migrated to different systems have reported several months of operational downtime, risk of financial loss and major disruption for residents and businesses.

Decision

Cabinet resolved to:

1. 1.  Approve the award of the Contract with NEC Software Solutions UK Ltd for the provision of the Revenues and Benefits software system for a three-year period 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029 on the basis of the figures set out in paragraph 2.6 of the report.
2. 2.  Delegate the decision to extend annually for up to two years and within the Key Decision threshold thereafter to the Deputy Chief Executive and s151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance.