Issue - meetings

Report of the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) updating regarding the Sopra Steria exit.

(1)   Cabinet noted the update on the service strands for the Sopra Steria Exit.

(2)   Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) in consultation with the Leader and the Executive Member (Resources and Planning) to determine the preferred delivery route of Revenues and Benefits services.

(3)   Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Member (Resources and Planning) to award a contract for Revenues and Benefits using the Crown Commercial Services Framework, if outsourcing is determined to be the preferred delivery route.

(4)   Cabinet agreed to delegate the award of the following contracts to the Executive Member (Governance, IT and Public Health).

• Network Telephony

• Hosting Managed Services

• End User Services

(5)   Cabinet agreed to delegate approval to the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) in consultation with the Executive Member (Planning and Resources) to finalise and approve the Exit Agreement with Sopra Steria.

Report of the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) updating regarding the Sopra Steria exit.

(1)          The Decision Taken

RESOLVED:

(unanimous)

(1)  Cabinet noted the update on the service strands for the Sopra Steria Exit.

(2)  Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) in consultation with the Leader and the Executive Member (Resources and Planning) to determine the preferred delivery route of Revenues and Benefits services.

(3)  Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Member (Resources and Planning) to award a contract for Revenues and Benefits using the Crown Commercial Services Framework, if outsourcing is determined to be the preferred delivery route.

(4)  Cabinet agreed to delegate the award of the following contracts to the Executive Member (Governance, IT and Public Health).

• Network Telephony

• Hosting Managed Services

• End User Services

(5)  Cabinet agreed to delegate approval to the Executive Director (Finance and Transformation) in consultation with the Executive Member (Planning and Resources) to finalise and approve the Exit Agreement with Sopra Steria.

(2)        Reasons for the Decision

Good progress had been made on the customer services insourcing, with services due to come back to the council from 1 December 2022. Staff consultations are continuing and the transfer is on track for the target date.

For ICT, submissions for the three separate tenders have now been returned and officers are working through the evaluations of bids. Once reviewed, the new internal structure can also be finalised. Staff will be consulted from January and the new ICT model will be in place from 1 April 2023.

With the Revenues and Benefits Service, the exploration into the shared partnership proved not to be successful. Whilst there are always risks around the transfer of staff, the partnership felt these risks were too great, and were not open to expanding the partnership at this stage. The original options appraisal suggested the next best approach to delivering the service, would be to continue to outsource. Officers had been preparing documentation for a tender process in case the partnership exploration was not successful, and a tender process was launched on the day the council heard from East Herts that an expanded partnership would not be possible. Officers were also exploring in house options.