Issue - meetings

Report FSD21072

In July 2018, officers had recommended to the Executive that the future provider of the Exchequer Service should undertake a health check of several IT systems used to deliver the service.  The Executive noted that due to the complexities of a number of the systems and the need to provide sufficient time to migrate high risk data, these health checks should be carried out within twelve months of the contract start date to confirm the value for money options going forward.

The Exchequer Services Contract commenced on 1^st April 2020; however the review of the Academy Information System and the Aspien Corporate Debt Management System had not been possible due to the impact of the pandemic.

The Academy Information System was the core system for the administration of Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support.  It was also the key system for the collection of Council Tax and Business Rates. The system enabled the Council’s contractors, Liberata, to manage financial transactions in excess of £432 million annually.  The system also supported other functions through the purchase of additional modules as required.  As with other software systems, the Council had a rolling agreement (unless notice was given) for which it paid an annual fee for the cost of licences, support and maintenance for the platform and associated modules. 

The Academy Information system continued to meet the Council’s requirements and it was expected that the system would continue to meet business needs beyond March 2022.

The Aspien Corporate Debt Management System was used by the Council’s contractors, Liberata, in conjunction with the Council’s financial system Oracle R12 to bill and collect in the region of £60 million each year and the agreement was due to expire in January 2022.

The Council would be changing its financial system to Oracle Fusion in April 2022, following which it would be undertaking a full review of the debt recovery module, Advance Collections, to consider if it should be used in place of the Aspien Corporate Debt Management System.

This report sought authorisation to renew the licence agreements for both the Academy System and the Aspien Corporate Debt Management System beyond 2022. The cumulative value of these extensions made this an Executive decision.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 18 November 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) The renewal of the agreement for the Academy Information system until 1 April 2024 at an estimated annual cost of £163.24k be approved.

(2) The renewal of the agreement for Aspien Corporate Debt Management System until January 2024 at an annual cost of £9k be agreed.