Agenda item

This report requested that Cllr Carlin approve the variation of contract for Icon Managed Service including the Mid Call solution as allowed under CSO 10.02.1a to Civica UK Ltd. The contract was procured through the Crown Commercial Data Applications (DAS) Framework and approved at Cabinet in October 2020 for the value of £1,501,036 for a term of 5+2 years. The variation would exceed the value approved by Cabinet and a request to approve the additional cost is being sought. The revised cost of the contract over the full term of 7 years is expected to be £1,590,770.67.

This variation is required to cater for the change from ISDN to digital due to take place by the end of 2025 and the closure of the Enfield Exchange: to integrate some current ISDN numbers into the system.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1. That the Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment approves the variation of the Contract as set out in this section 2. The estimated spend by the end of the initial term 31/10/25 is £1,089,421.88 which is £5738.12 under the original value agreed and will fund all of the mid call additional costs up to that date.

2. To vary the contract at an additional cost of £89,735.00 inc 3% fixed RPI from the 30/10/24 to 29/10/27. The additional cost was can be broken down into 3 elements:

·         Mid call additional licence cost shortfall of £21,810.00;

·         Upgrade for agnostic browser and other functionality of £30,425 and an annual uplift to the managed service of £7,500.00 to the end of the contracted term

·         an additional £30,000 for any future upgrade that may or may not take place between 2025 and 2027.

3. To extend the contract until  29/10/2027 as allowed for in the initial contract as an extension.

Reasons for decision

This contract includes the Mid call solution used by Customer Services to take payments securely over the phone. This was implemented under a temporary solution as the project to implement SIP onto our telephone system was delayed by another supplier. The Council is now in a position to proceed with the full implementation, but the licensing model has to change and the cost would increase by a further £25,345p/a plus 3% fixed inflation. The overall cost of the contract has been reduced over the past 4 years, due to the removal of items that have not been utilised sufficiently or because they are being replaced by newer technology. In addition, the ISDN lines which are currently used by Customer Services are being phased out and the exchange in Enfield is due to close in March 2024, necessitating an adaption of new technology.

An upgrade was also required in Icon to move us to an agnostic browser as the Council were currently using a backwards compatible version. This will make it easier in the future when browser versions change or cease. The upgrade also includes additional  functionality such as ‘customer retry’ when the payment fails, plus an updated look and feel making it easier for customers to negotiate. It will include self-serve password reset functionality, address lookup, Default email address for Receipts, Transaction Rebuilds, Smart Suspense Enhancements, Tracker Drill-down Return, Consistent Amount Field, New Prep Rec Function. The decision allows for an additional sum to allow for any future enhancements to the system which are currently unknown.

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing – not an option as the Customer Service numbers need to move across to SIP. The Enfield exchange is closing and these numbers will be obsolete if we do not transfer them over.

Go out to tender – not required as the Council had already awarded the contract via a compliant route and are not exceeding the limit allowed for variation under the framework.