The Cabinet Member Signing meeting on Tuesday 24 March 2026 is scheduled to consider a proposed variation to a contract for a unified digital engagement platform. This variation would increase the contract's value to enhance its capabilities and ensure it meets resident demand.

Variation to Unified Digital Platform Contract

The primary item scheduled for discussion is a proposed variation to the contract with Netcall Technology Ltd for the provision of a unified digital engagement platform. This platform is intended to replace the council's existing Cisco telephony and Granicus systems. The report indicates that the proposed variation seeks to increase the contract value from £1,545,000 by £772,500, bringing the total contract value to £2,317,500. This increase is reportedly necessary to fully unlock the scale of financial and operational benefits and to address an urgent operational requirement to increase the number of concurrent users (licences) and SIP channels ¹ within the platform.

The report suggests that the additional investment will enable the council to maximise the platform's capability, directly supporting the delivery of agreed savings. It is stated that the original contract, which commenced on 21st February 2025, assumed a lower level of capacity. However, demand modelling has demonstrated that higher capacity is essential for the council to meet resident demand effectively. Without this increase, there is a risk of longer call wait times, reduced service levels, and reputational damage due to a poor resident experience. The variation aims to ensure the platform can deliver anticipated savings and provide improved customer service and long-term resilience for the council's digital services.

The report outlines that the additional investment is intended to cover essential increased system capacity, contingency for the deployment of additional modules and integrations, and improved resilience and scalability. It is noted that no viable alternatives were identified, as the council is contractually committed to the platform, and procuring an alternative system or reverting to legacy platforms would incur significant additional expense and cause major disruption.

The proposal is presented as supporting key council priorities, including financial sustainability through savings, improved resident experience by reducing call waiting times and enhancing responsiveness, and the Haringey Deal by improving accessibility and communication. The report also mentions that the platform adheres to WCAG 2.2 accessibility standards and includes translation functionality, which should reduce barriers for speakers of English as another language (EAL).

The report details that the £540,814 of spend on increased system capacity will be met from the Digital Services revenue budget, subject to council approval of the 2026-27 Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy. The remaining £231,686 is designated as contingency for future spend on additional modules and integrations, with any drawdown requiring separate approval.

The report also notes that the variation is compliant with Regulation 72(1)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which permits modifications to contracts under certain conditions, including when additional services become necessary and a change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of cost, provided the variation does not exceed 50% of the original price. The proposed variation of £772,500 is stated to be less than 50% of the original price.