Purpose

Civica UK Limited is the current provider of the Council’s Revenues and Benefits system. It is used for the administration of Council Tax, Business Rates, Housing Benefit and Discretionary Awards.

The existing software contract ends on 2nd August 2025; therefore, the procurement of a new contract is necessary to ensure continuity of service. 

It is not currently feasible for the Council to procure a Revenues & Benefits system from a new provider due contract time constraints, significant set up costs, and the resources needed to undertake a full system implementation which would take in excess of 12 months. This would also lead to a period of system downtime which would impact on the council’s finances and council tax/business rates collection rates, along with vulnerable residents waiting on Housing Benefit assessments.

It is therefore considered appropriate to reprocure a new Revenues & Benefits system contract with Civica UK Ltd.

Decision

The Executive Director for Corporate and Support Services has considered a report detailing a proposal for the procurement and subsequent award of a contract to provide the Council’s Revenues and Benefits system with an estimated value of £2.7 million net, in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and Financial Regulations.

Civica UK Limited is the current provider of the Council’s Revenues and Benefits system. It is used for the administration of Council Tax, Business Rates, Housing Benefit and Discretionary Awards.

The existing software contract ends on 2 August 2025; therefore, the procurement of a new contract is necessary to ensure continuity of service.

It is not currently feasible for the Council to procure a Revenues & Benefits system from a new provider due contract time constraints, significant set up costs, and the resources needed to undertake a full system implementation which would take in excess of 12 months. This would also lead to a period of system downtime which would impact on the council’s finances and council tax/business rates collection rates, along with vulnerable residents waiting on Housing Benefit assessments.

It is therefore considered appropriate to reprocure a new Revenues & Benefits system contract with Civica UK Ltd

The Executive Director for Corporate and Support Services has then, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources:-

(1) Given approval to the contract procurement process for the Revenues and Benefits system with Civica, that will include a planned transition to a cloud-based solution within the five-year term.

(2) Delegated authority to award the contract to the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) subject to a compliant procurement process.

(NOTE: The report contains a ‘not for publication’ appendix that was circulated to the decision-maker only).

Alternative options considered

None.