Decision

The Director of
Finance has approved the award of a contract for a 3 month term
with the option to extend for a further 3 months via the Crown
Commercial Services Framework RM1775.14 - G Cloud 14 to Civica UK
Ltd through their ‘On Demand’ services to assist with
Council Tax and Benefits call handling, at a total value of
£130,000.00.
 

Reasons for the decision

The services
operational position is unstable. 
Resources are stretched to capacity. Call handling support is
presently in place until 31/12/2025. Should this not continue
service delivery will further deteriorate. The new Council Tax
Reduction Scheme introduced in April 2025 failed to offer the
efficiencies in process expected, impacting capacity negatively.
The scheme is expected to change again with effect from April 2026
– high volumes of customer contact are expected in the
interim.  The service is not resourced
to absorb this. This ongoing position is further compounded by the
still active move to a fit for purpose operating model.
 
 
 

Alternative options considered

The alternative is not
to procure further support.  This has
been considered and the anticipated detrimental impact evaluated,
as described above.