Agenda item

To review the contract arrangements in relation to the HR and Payroll system (iTrent).

The Cabinet received a report of the Assistant Chief Executive that presented ar review of the contract arrangements in relation to the HR and Payroll system (iTrent).

The Cabinet was informed that the current provision of Transactional HR and Payroll Services to Oldham Council, MioCare, Oldham schools and academies was delivered by MHR via the iTrent system. The current contract was procured via the G Cloud Framework and awarded in April 2019 for an initial two years with two further extensions each of one year (2 + 1 + 1) being approved thereafter. The original contract was due to expire on 18^th April 2023 with an initial three months’ contract extension being approved via Delegated Cabinet Member Decision Report, from 19th April 2023 to 18th July 2023. Oldham Council was satisfied with the iTrent system and the preferred option was to continue using it on a longer-term basis.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) had entered into a single supplier framework agreement with MHR, which was accessible to all GMCA authorities and associate partners, for the procurement of a platform to enable employees and customers to utilise a first-class HR and Payroll solution that is at the forefront of digital transformation that will be able to offer both on premise and cloud-based services. The GMCA framework agreement would enable Oldham Council to continue with the current product and transfer seamlessly to a new longer-term contract.

It was, therefore, proposed that Oldham Council enter into a call-off contract with MHR under the GMCA framework agreement for the provision of the iTrent system for a minimum of 5 years (inclusive of the initial three months’ period) until April 2028, with the option to extend this for a further 5 years.

Across Greater Manchester, all HR/Workforce leads were working collaboratively to address common workforce challenges, using their combined buying power to procure contracts that were beneficial to all participants and which ensured maximum value for combined public spend. There was a dedicated resource (hosted by Oldham) to manage and drive contract performance on our collective behalf, ensuring no Council is trying to negotiate from an individual perspective, supporting stronger market influence.  Aside from payroll, Oldham Council also had contracts, in place, to support Occupational Health; Employee Assistance Programme; Agency staffing; MeLearning (online learning system) and electronic Disclosure Barring Service. The benefits of working in this way were considerable and enabled those Council’s with less resource or expertise in certain high-risk areas to be supported by the wider group. 

Many of the Greater Manchester Councils used MHR/iTrent, and some have considerable experience of over 10 years, so Oldham benefits from this significant expertise via the GM iTrent working groups. Being part of these working groups allows for innovation and pilot testing of the system in ways that are unlikely to be achieved by individual Council’s on their own.

From an Oldham Council perspective, iTrent had been in place now for just over 2 years and was now beginning to use the full capabilities of the system to improve manager and employee self-serve, as well as informing better workforce data for more strategic organisational use.

Resolved:

That Cabinet approves the direct award of a call-off contract to MHR via the GMCA HR and Payroll system framework agreement to enable the continuance of the provision of the current Transactional HR and Payroll system, iTrent, for a five-year period until April 2028, with the option to extend for a further five years.