Provision of Revenue & Benefits System

In 2024 a tender process was undertaken with an aim of moving from the current on premises revenues and benefits system (provided by MRI), which offered limited functionality for digital access and tools, to a cloud system which provided greater digital access and functionality.

The successful tenderer at the time was Civica, and since that point the council has sought to progress the migration to that system.

Following a number of unsuccessful attempt/s to complete that migration (mainly linked to the complexity involved in extracting and converting significant quantities of data from the current system to a different system provided by Civica), and given the position in relation to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) meaning that the council was unlikely to be able to have time to complete that project, the council decided in June 2026 to cease the migration and instead progress a new contract with MRI to secure the continuation of the current system for the period leading into and through the LGR process.

This would ensure continuity of service and provide the new unitary authority with sufficient time to review revenues and benefits system provision and make any decisions regarding future delivery, noting that this is very much a service that needs to continue to be delivered in the run up to and following LGR and as such entering in to this new contract is an essential requirement.