Decision

To authorise a one-year extension of contract for Access People XD – HR & Payroll software.

Value circa £61K

Reasons for the decision

The Council's HR and Payroll system has been in operation since September 2023 and became fully live April 2024. Since implementation, the system has become a critical business application supporting payroll processing, employee record management, workforce reporting and statutory compliance.

The implementation of the system represented a significant investment of both financial and staff resources. As a small authority, the initial implementation and deployment of core HR and Payroll functionality took approximately six months to complete. Subsequently, the development and implementation of additional modules, including Talent Management, Recruitment and Learning & Development, required a further twelve months of configuration, testing, process redesign and user activity.

The Council is currently operating within a period of uncertainty associated with Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Whilst future organisational arrangements may ultimately require consideration of shared systems and service delivery models across authorities, there is currently insufficient certainty regarding the final structural arrangements, timescales and future technology strategies to justify procurement and implementation of an alternative HR and Payroll platform at this time.

Maintaining the existing system provides operational resilience and continuity of service during the transition period. Payroll is a business-critical function and any disruption arising from a system replacement project could present significant risks to employee payment, statutory reporting and pension administration.

An extension (which is allowed within the contract) allows the Council to continue operating a stable platform while protecting flexibility to respond to future decisions arising from LGR. It also avoids committing significant resources to a new implementation project during a time of significant change.

The proposed approach therefore represents the most proportionate and cost-effective option, balancing business continuity, service resilience and future flexibility during a period of organisational change.

Alternative options considered

Complete a full procurement exercise which was dismissed given the information above.