Purpose

ESRI UK provides the Council’s
geolocation mapping software, a critical system that supports a
wide range of functions across the Council. This software delivers
essential geo-locational data which is used daily by officers to
enable core business activities and by residents to access council
services.
With reference to the published accompanying report the following
benefits will be accrued.
1)A trusted technology support partner. ESRI UK has established a
strong reputation for technical expertise in the market and
continues to maintain excellent relationships with Tendring
District Council and 10 other Essex local authorities.
2)Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) In light of the four
proposals submitted to Central Government, it is worth noting that
both Braintree and Maldon hold contracts with ESRI UK, while
Colchester has chosen an alternative supplier.
3)Cybersecurity and Information Governance. ESRI UK have been
granted FISMA (Federal Agency Production System Security
Accreditation) Low Authority to Operate. FISMA Low controls align
with NIST Special Publication 800-53 which maps to ISO controls and
their cloud infrastructure is compliant with ISO 27001, FedRAMP
and
SSAE16 SOC1 Type 2. In addition ESRI UK hold both Cyber essentials
and Cyber essentials plus certifications. For accessibility the
company conforms to the accessibility standards WCAG 2.1 AA or EN
301 549.
4)Value for Money. The fees and charges as quoted above are
comparable with the IT industry market rates, with the addition of
SLG ELA (Small Local Government Enterprise Licensing Agreement)
being in line with previous year renewals.
5)Partner ethos. Neighbouring authorities also use the same
solution and are willing to work alongside council IT resources to
share knowledge/ information, assisting in the development of new
skills sets, to improve the current system and implement new
processes benefiting the digital services available to the
residents of Tendring.
6)Cost of Change and Business Continuity. Changing the current
solution would cause significant disruption for Tendring residents
during the transition to an alternative system, given the critical
reliance on mapping for planning, elections, and emergency planning
services. It is worth noting that all GIS work for the revised
Local Plan is carried out in-house using the ESRI UK suite of
tools, changing this solution would have a substantial impact on
the delivery of the Local Plan. Implementing and training for a new
system is estimated to take approximately 3–6 months to plan
and deliver. This process would incur considerable costs, including
staff retraining and the additional resources required to complete
the change.
7)Framework agreement procurement on advice form the Essex
Procurement Partnership (EPP) and in accordance with our
procurement rules of procedure.
8)Funded using existing budgets.

Content

To renew the ESRI contract using the SLG ELA
(Small Local Government Enterprise Licensing Agreement) for a
period of three years via the CCS Framework in accordance with the
Essex Procurement Partnership specialist guidance.
The procurement is via the Vertical Application Solutions (VAS)
Catalogue via the Crown Commercial Services framework Lot3 SLG ELA
Tier 3, which is fully compliant with the PCR2015
regulations.

Alternative options considered

In light of the four proposals submitted to
Central Government, it is important to note that both Braintree and
Maldon currently hold contracts with ESRI UK, while Colchester has
opted for an alternative supplier.
The three-year contract enables Tendring District Council’s
GIS system stability and will enable the new unitary council to
decide the future of its GIS system supplier in 2028.