Purpose

The purpose of this decision is to approve the
award of contract for the provision of a comprehensive Electoral
Management System (EMS) to Democracy Counts, following the
completion of a procurement exercise. The new EMS will support the
Electoral Registration Officer in delivering all statutory
electoral registration functions and the full range of electoral
events, including day-to-day registration activity, the annual
canvass, and the administration of scheduled and unscheduled
electoral processes.
This decision enables the Council to secure a system that meets the
specified operational, statutory, and data-protection requirements;
ensures business continuity in the delivery of a critical statutory
service; and provides a cost-effective and robust solution aligned
with the timelines necessary continue to support electoral delivery
from September 2026 onwards. The initial contract value is
£33,750 in year one and £32,750 in year two, with an
option to extend. Funding for this will come from the existing
Electoral Registration budget allocated for a system, a
reallocation of IT funding to reflect the move to a supplier hosted
cloud service under the new contract, and an adjustment for
inflation since the previous procurement exercise. All of these
elements have been reviewed and agreed through internal
consultation prior to awarding the contract.
Legal services have been consulted to oversee changes to the
standard contract where required and these changes have been
discussed and approved by the supplier.
The Council’s role in respect of Electoral Registration and
Election matters tends to be limited to the provision of resources,
either by statute or by agreement. As such, there is no Executive
function for which responsibility would be allocated to a
particular Cabinet Member.

Content

To award Democracy Counts with a contract to
provide its hosted Electoral Management Software to the Council in
order to be a resource for the Electoral Registration
Officer/Returning Officer to utilise.

To authorise the signing and sealing of the service contract with
that Company on the agreed terms.

Alternative options considered

Due to the timelines associated with Local
Government Reorganisation, it has been necessary to structure the
contract with an initial two-year term, followed by the option to
extend for a further two years in one-year increments. This
approach provides the flexibility required to accommodate the
merging of electoral services teams that would take place on
reorganisation and the adaptation of processes, and systems across
the current Council. In addition, we have proactively explored the
potential for the contract to be extended to incorporate additional
authorities as part of this wider reorganisation. The supplier has
confirmed they are willing to support such expansions, subject to
the contractual revisions outlined within the agreement.