Decision details

To request approval from Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Resources to enter into a call-off contract under a procurement compliant framework agreement in accordance with Contract Procedure Rules to procure Digital Process Automation services for the Revenues and Benefits service.

RESOLVED - That:Approval for the procurement of the GovTech Digital Process Automation service via the G-Cloud 13 Framework Agreement.

Option 1 - Do nothing. Allow the Revenues & Benefits team to continue in their current approach. This option could result in increased staffing pressures but is unlikely to result in improved customer service levels which are a key Service and Corporate priority.
Option 2 - Provide additional staff resources to manage the increased demand. Providing more staff resources would potentially help resolve the symptoms but would not address the underlying cause of high-volume, manual processing that would be addressed with the GovTech solution. In addition, the cost of recruitment and training of additional staff would not provide any cashable or non-cashable benefits. Furthermore, the current vacancies within the team have proven challenging to fill so there is no guarantee this would alleviate the issues.
Option 3 - Utilise the G-Cloud 13 Framework Agreement to procure GovTech Solution Limited’s Digital Process Automation service. This solution would enable the Revenues and Benefits team to improve performance and the customer experience by automating the activity. Thus, allowing the team to concentrate efforts on more complex cases resulting in a swifter response time for the residents.
This solution has proved to be very successful in other Local Authorities such as Salford City Council. The automation also helps to improve the quality and accuracy of processing, meaning manual monitoring and error correction is significantly reduced. The additional capacity produced will allow the current team to focus on proactive debt collection in line with the current Income Maximization agenda.

Options 1 and 2

N/a