Purpose

The council processes council
tax payments, benefits payments, and sundry debt administration
through a revenues and benefits system, which customers interact
with on a daily basis, both online, through customer services and
through our revenues and benefits team.
 
In September the council
approved the procurement of the NEC revenues and benefits
back-office system for five years, with the option to extend for a
further two years, on the basis it has been assessed as the most
cost-effective and operationally sound option.
 
It delegated the selection of
the customer front-end system (either enhancing NEC or
transitioning to a comparable front-end solution) to the
responsible director, cabinet member, and s151 officer, subject to
usability testing, procurement processes and costs being within
Approved Budgets.
 
Analysis of available options
has been carried out and it has been determined that remaining with
NEC for the front-end solution is the recommended solution on the
basis that it delivers improved usability and accessibility, avoids
significant disruption and customer confusion, minimises
operational and financial risk, and prevents the need for major
system change during a critical period leading up to LGR and annual
billing. Accordingly, this paper recommends procuring the NEC
system customer front-end system together with the NEC back-office
system, as a single procurement.
 
The procurement will be made
through a procurement compliant direct award on the VAS Framework.
With the advent of local government reorganisation, the VAS
Framework also includes a 90-day termination clause that will
enable the council or any future council to move away from the
contract with minimal financial impact should a change of system be
required by the future unitary council.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Finance and
Commissioning approved the procurement of the NEC revenues and
benefits customer front-end system for five years, with the option
to extend for a further two years, as part of a single procurement
with the NEC back-office system already approved by council, on the
basis that it has been assessed as the most cost-effective and
operationally sound option, and subject to this being within
Approved Budgets.