Decision details

To authorise the procurement of a contract for Revenues and Benefits resilience support with a value range between £5m to £8m over 5 years.

Having noted the confidential report, it was

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the procurement of a resilience contract for Third Party Support for the Revenues and Housing Benefits Service for an initial term of five years with options to extend for a further three years and then a further one year, and an estimated procurement total value of £9.2m, including £2.25m of extra headroom to cater for potential additional work deriving from DWP initiatives, be authorised;

(2)            the draft tender documents be approved;

(3)            the Section 151 Officer be authorised, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Human Resources, to make any necessary changes to the tender documents following approval; and

(4)            the Section 151 Officer be authorised following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Human Resources, to award the new contract to the successful bidder.

Reason for Decision:  The Revenues and Benefits Service was responsible for the annual collection of £210m Council Tax, £50m Business Rates, £13m Housing Benefit Overpayments, the payment of £90m Housing Benefit and £19m in Council Tax Support.

The Services concerned were of significant importance to the financing and delivery of London Borough of Harrow services and impact upon most households and businesses within the Borough.  Customer perception of the Authority may often be influenced by customer experiences of those Services.  Consequently, the processing timescale and accuracy of work performed for the services in scope, was likely to shape customer perception of the organisation and the extent to which the core value of “Putting Residents First” was achieved.

Activities for the Services in scope were currently performed by the London Borough of Harrow and Capita Business Services Ltd under a contractual agreement that would expire on 31 March 2025.  Consequently, there was a need to determine and agree how the services concerned should be delivered beyond that time, to facilitate effective planning and resourcing of them.

Not procuring an external partner would potentially leave the London Borough of Harrow with limited capability to process work in relation to these services and which in turn would affect collections and payments and impact adversely on the Council’s budget, ability to pay and provide services and its residents and business rate payers.

Cabinet authorisation of the proposed procurement was required to comply with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.