Content

Salford City Council
– Record of Decision
 
I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, accept the
recommendation of the Procurement Board and in exercise of the
powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby
approve:
 

to Award the Contract for
Liquidlogic’s Early Years and
Education System (EYEs) and New Contract with System C for the
current Liquidlogic LCS module, as
detailed in the table below:

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Purchase of
Liquidlogic’s Early Years and
Education System  (EYEs)

Procurement Reference numbers (DN and CR number
supplied by Procurement)

S1177

Name of Successful Contractor

System
C

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

06768718

Proclass Classification No.
(to be completed by procurement)

271430

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private
Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Non-SME

Contract Value (£)

£3,956,161.00 total project
value

Total contract value £ (including
extensions)

£3,956,161.00 total project
value

Contract Duration

72
months

Contract Start Date

01/09/2025

Contract End Date

29/09/2031

Optional Extension Period 1

months

Optional Extension Period 2

months

Who will approve each Extension Period?

Choose an
item

Contact Officer (Name & number)

 

 

 

 

Lead Service Group

Reform & Transformation

How the contract was procured?
(to be supplied by
procurement)

Direct Award/ Call off

Framework Details (where
applicable)
(procurement body, framework reference & title,
start/ end date

YPO Software Application Solutions
Ref 1095
21/02/23 – 20/02/2027

Funding Source

Combination of Above (please detail
below)

Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s Employment
Charter

No
 

EC: Committed to sign The Mayor’s Employment
Charter

No
 
 

EC: Committed to the principles outlined in the
Mayor’s Employment charter

Yes
 

EC: Accredited Living Wage
Employer

Yes
 

EC: Committed to becoming Accredited Living wage
Employer

Yes
?

 
The Reasons
are:

Background

In 2021, Salford City Council successfully
migrated from the Carefirst system to
the Liquidlogic platform, implementing
both the Early Help Module (EHM) and the Children’s Social
Care Module (LCS) within Children’s Services. Building on
this transformation, both Children’s Services and the
Resources and Transformation Directorate now recommend the
procurement of the final Liquidlogic
module, Early Years and Education Services (EYES) to complete the
suite and establish a unified, integrated system for
Children’s Services.
 
At present, the CapitaOne system is used to record information
relating to Education and Early Years. This paper seeks approval to
decommission CapitaOne and replace it
with the Liquidlogic EYES module. This
addition will be fully integrated with the existing EHM and LCS
modules, consolidating all records into a single system. The
outcome will be a unified client record that spans Early Years,
Early Help, and Children’s Social Care.
 
This consolidation will deliver a single,
holistic view of each child, young person, and family,
significantly strengthening the Council’s ability to
safeguard and promote their welfare. Furthermore, it will enhance
data-driven decision-making and service delivery, especially in the
areas of ‘High spend’ such as home to school transport
and SEND provision.
 

Benefits of Implementing the
Liquidlogic Early Years and Education
Services (EYES) Module

The proposed implementation of Liquidlogic’s EYES module represents a
strategic step in Salford City Council’s digital
transformation of Children’s Services. By replacing the
legacy CapitaOne and EMS systems, and
integrating with the existing Early Help (EHM) and Children’s
Social Care (LCS) modules, this programme will enable a unified,
person-centred digital record for every child and young person in
Salford.
 
The benefits extend across service areas and
levels—from frontline practice to system-level data
insights—supporting better outcomes, enhanced accountability,
and improved operational efficiency.
 
Early Years
Service:

Single Child Record: Integrating
Early Years data with Social Care and Early Help will allow
professionals to see the full journey of the child, including
previous referrals, safeguarding concerns, and education history.
This enables earlier identification of developmental delays,
safeguarding risks, or unmet needs.
System Stability and Reliability:
The current CapitaOne platform has
suffered from frequent downtime and data integrity issues.
Transitioning to EYES will ensure a more robust infrastructure with
better user support and audit functionality.
SEND Integration via Provider
Portal: Early Years providers will be able to submit SEND panel
applications directly through the Liquidlogic Provider Portal. This replaces manual
submissions and email-based processes, ensuring completeness of
information and faster decision-making.

 
Virtual School:

Cohesive Data for Looked After
Children: The Virtual School will benefit from seamless access to
education data for children in care, alongside care plans,
placement history, and key statutory milestones. This reduces the
risk of missed interventions and improves educational progress
tracking.
Enhanced PEP Functionality:
Currently, Personal Education Plans (PEPs) are managed through a
fragmented paper-based process. EYES will allow electronic PEPs
with automatic prompts, embedded statutory timescales, and easier
collaboration between professionals and carers.
Case Study: A Virtual School
practitioner would be able to review a child’s attainment
data, social worker notes, and previous exclusions in a single
screen—informing a more tailored education plan within
minutes.

 
Inclusion
Service:
(Admissions, Attendance, Exclusions, Elective
Home Education, Children Missing Education, Alternative
Provision):

Whole-Child View: Most children
known to Inclusion are also known to Social Care or Early Help.
EYES will eliminate the need for multiple system logins and enable
cross-service visibility, improving timeliness and appropriateness
of interventions.
System Replacement: The current EMS
system is outdated, lacks reporting functionality, and does not
support efficient workflows. EYES will introduce structured case
management, better oversight for managers, and built-in compliance
tracking.
Improved Multi-Agency Collaboration:
Practitioners across different services will be able to record and
access key information such as school exclusions, attendance
patterns, and parental engagement—supporting better decisions
around persistent absence or safeguarding escalation.

 
 
 
Special Educational
Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Statutory Compliance and Workflow
Automation: The EYES module will ensure the EHCP (Education, Health
and Care Plan) process follows legal obligations with automated
workflows—from initial request through to assessment, plan
development, and review.
SEN2 Return and Data Quality: Case
data will be structured to align with statutory returns, reducing
the need for manual reconciliation and increasing accuracy in
national reporting.
Timeliness and Quality of
Decision-Making: With real-time access to social care and education
histories, the SEND team can assess risk factors more
holistically—especially where multiple agencies are involved
(e.g. health, education psychologists, social care).

 
Home to School
Transport

Geographic Intelligence Integration:
EYES will integrate GIS mapping tools, allowing for automated route
planning based on eligibility, location, and existing
capacity—improving efficiency and reducing manual
overhead.
Contractor and Route Management: The
system allows real-time updates on route changes, child
allocations, and contractor performance, with clear audit
trails.
Cost and Environmental Benefits:
Smarter route planning can reduce vehicle mileage, lower emissions,
and achieve better utilisation of existing contracts.

 
Client Caseload
Information System (CCIS)

Improved Tracking for NEET and
At-Risk Youth: The system will track participation and flag
individuals at risk of disengagement, enabling earlier support and
coordination with partners (e.g. colleges, training
providers).
Compliance with National Reporting:
Ensures the accuracy and timeliness of submissions for the NCCIS
return and Annual Activity Survey, reducing reputational and
funding risk.
Error Management at Source: Advanced
validation rules reduce rejected returns and improve data quality
through in-system prompts and pre-submission diagnostics.

 

Cross-Cutting Strategic
Benefits

 
Information Sharing
and Safeguarding

Ofsted inspections and Serious Case
Reviews frequently highlight the risks posed by disjointed data. A
single integrated record across services significantly mitigates
this risk by:

Ensuring concerns are flagged early
and consistently.
Making real-time information
available to all authorised professionals.
Reducing missed warning signs due to
fragmented records.

For example, a child frequently
absent from school and known to Social Care would be flagged more
easily, enabling preventative action rather than crisis
response.

 
Operational
Efficiency and Workflow Transformation

Data Reconciliation and Error
Reduction:

Anticipated 80% reduction in time
spent resolving data discrepancies.
A single view of duplicated or
conflicting data, with system-defined rules for resolution.
Once a discrepancy is addressed, it
is not repeatedly flagged—preventing duplication of
effort.

User Productivity:

Practitioners spend less time
navigating multiple systems and more time working directly with
children and families.
Embedded guidance and prompts ensure
consistent data entry and statutory compliance.

 
Business
Intelligence and Predictive Analytics

With a single, high-quality dataset,
the Management Information Team can shift from reactive reporting
to proactive analysis—identifying patterns, forecasting
demand, and informing service design.
Examples include:

Predicting areas of increasing EHCP
demand based on Early Help and Early Years referrals.
Mapping attendance and exclusion
patterns to inform neighbourhood-based outreach.

Unified data sets allowing better
use of Agentic AI and Deep AI learning modules.

 
Financial and
Procurement Benefits

Cost Reduction Opportunities:

Potential annual savings through
rationalisation of software licences, hosting environments, and
support arrangements.

Stronger Contractual Controls:

A unified contract with System C
creates a clearer line of accountability.
Supports strategic supplier
engagement, reducing the risk of fragmented delivery.

 
Options considered
and rejected were:
The purchase of EYEs will mean we have one
case management system for Children, Adults and Families meaning
one record.
 
Assessment of
Risk:
Risk: Fragmented
Child Records and Service Delivery

Continuing with the current
CapitaOne system risks perpetuating
fragmented records across Early Years, Early Help, and Social Care,
which can hinder safeguarding and timely interventions.
The lack of integration impairs the
council’s ability to deliver a “tell it once”
experience for families and undermines multi-agency
collaboration.

Mitigation:

Implementing SystemC EYES will consolidate records into a single
system, enhancing data visibility and enabling holistic case
management.

 
Risk: Incomplete or
Inaccurate Data Sharing

Current systems do not support
real-time, bi-directional data sharing, increasing the risk of
missed safeguarding cues and non-compliance with statutory
timelines (e.g., EHCP processes).

Mitigation:

Liquidlogic EYES supports statutory workflows and
real-time updates, ensuring compliance and improving data quality
and auditability.

 
Risk: Capita Limited
Future Scalability

Choosing a system that lacks
flexibility or future development potential will limit the
council’s ability to adapt to evolving needs.

Mitigation:

SystemC’s roadmap includes ongoing
development and integration capabilities, supporting future
scalability and alignment with the council’s digital
strategy.

 
The source of
funding is:
Capital Programme and Revenue
budget.
 
Legal Advice obtained: Supplied By Tony Hatton 17th
June 2025
 
Financial Advice obtained: Supplied by Paul Guest
23rd June 2025
 
Procurement Advice obtained: Supplied
by Emma Heyes 17th June 2025
 
HR Advice obtained: N/A
 
Climate Change Implications obtained:
N/A
 
Contact Officer: Jennifer Mcilquham
Telephone number: 01617932356
 
 
Signed:    Paul Dennett 
     Dated:    15 July
2025.
           
      City Mayor
 
 
*          
This decision was published on 15 July 2025
*          
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 22 July 2025
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.