Content

DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST FOR THIS ITEM:
 
Mone
 
RESOLVED:
 
That the Cabinet Member for Finance and
Corporate Services:
 

1.   
Approved the award of contract for the provision of secure print
and post services for the Revenues and Benefits, Housing, Planning
and Pensions Service Areas to DSI Billing Services Limited as
permitted under Contract Standing Orders 7.02 (access and call off
a framework) and 2.01(c) (approval of awards at £500k or
more) for a period of up to 2 years up to a total contract value of
£1.398 million.

2.   
Agreed that the proposed contract commence on 1st February 2026 for
a period of 2 years until 31st January 2028.
 
Reasons for
decision
 
The current contract expired in January
2026.
Production of the notices laid out in section
1.4 was an essential service, with the Council having a statutory
requirement to issue notices for Revenues and Benefits under the
Local Government Finance Acts 1988 & 1992.
£193 million in Council Tax and
£84 million for NNDR (Business Rates) had been billed that
financial year. All customers who had not opted into e-billing had
to be issued a respective bill by post; otherwise, they did not
have to pay.
DSI Billing Services Limited specialised in
high-volume hybrid mail solutions for Revenues and Benefits,
Housing, Planning, Pensions and related services, providing secure
printing and postal services for Council Tax, NNDR and Housing
Benefit correspondence and recovery notices.
The award of this contract resulted in a fixed
unit cost for production, which spared the Authority index-linked
price increases and maintained economies of scale where volumes of
outbound correspondence fell. The cost of Royal Mail postage,
however, continued to be variable.
 
Alternative Options
Considered
 
Do nothing – This was not an option and
would have placed the Council in breach of its statutory
obligations. It would also have resulted in a significant reduction
in income to the Council, as Council Tax and Business Rates could
not be collected unless the associated statutory notices had been
issued.
Undertake a full procurement – This was
discounted, as procurement through a framework allowed the Council
to take advantage of accumulated pricing based on the
framework.