Decision details

RESOLVED: That Cabinet.

a)    Completed the procurement and award of contract of the Income Management Solution - contract value of over £500k therefore requires a key decision from the Cabinet; and

b)    Delegated authority to Executive Director Corporate in consultation with Cabinet Member for HR & Corporate Services to award the contract to the identified best fit supplier.

REASONS RESOLVED:

1.    Expiry of the incumbent contracts – all contracts expire in 2023 without the ability to extend any further. A competitive process needed to be followed to ensure continuity of the functionality required of income management systems, whilst creating an opportunity to harmonise and modernise the income management systems inherited by West Northamptonshire Council.

2.    Economies of scale – by choosing to implement the Income Management Solution with partners, implementation and support costs would be shared, providing better value for money for the taxpayer. Furthermore, expertise and experience gained from partner organisations can be used to benefit citizens of West Northamptonshire Council.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

Option 1 – Shared Income Management Solution

·         This option would have seen West Northamptonshire Council pool their resources with partner organisations with whom they currently share Accounting System and back-office support teams to procure, develop and implement an Income Management Solution benefitting from economies of scale and scope, and accumulated expertise and knowledge across all partner organisations.

·         This option was recommended having scored the highest in the Options Appraisal.

Option 2 – Individual Income Management Solution

·         This option would have seen West Northamptonshire Council independently procure, develop, and implement an Income Management Solution for sole use of the council. Technically, this is equally as viable as Option 1, however, it does not offer the opportunity for additional efficiencies and the benefits of economies of scale and therefore would result in reduced long term cost savings. West Northamptonshire Council would be fully responsible for the procurement, development, implementation and ongoing support of the solution and therefore incur the whole burden of the cost.

Option 3 – Extend Existing Contracts

·         West Northamptonshire Council to extend the contracts with the incumbent suppliers.

·         This option was deemed not viable as West Northamptonshire Council will be in breach of Public Contract Regulation 2015 opening them to challenge from prospective suppliers denied the opportunity to bid for the business.

Option 4 – Do Nothing

·         This option was deemed not viable as after the current contracts expire in 2023, West Northamptonshire Council would lose the ability to effectively receive, manage and allocate monies from their service users.