Variation of Contract for the provision of Revenues and Benefits Software

A variation to the contract is required to include templating, forms and automation products that complement the existing product and replace the current manual processes. The original contract was to supply revenue and benefits software to the Council. The contract has been in place since April 2022. A variation to the contract is required to include templating, forms and automation products that complement the existing product at an additional cost to replace the existing manual processes. The current software is unable to provide more 'intelligent' forms and automation, and there is no option to devleop these within the current provision. If an alternative provider is appointed to deliver these additional requirements, they would need to purchase the current suppliers MRI APIs to allow integration with their software. This integration exceeds the cost of the software and may incur additional risks associated with compatibility. In varying the curretn contract so that the supplier provides both the forms and automation solution as well as the back office software reduces the risk of compatibility issues when system upgrades are undertaken, as well as reducing the time required to test changes to either system. Using third party forms and automation would require significant additional testing at every upgrade one either side, and any issues would have a lead time for resolution. Furthermore, any issues that caused failure of the forms would create significant disruption for the service. The proposal to modify the existing contract also includes a templating solution. Whilst this is provided by a third party, this is contracted through the current supplier and is the preferred solution for templating. This, as with the forms, reduces the risk of compatibility issues and ensures support from a single provider for all products. The modification is compliant with Regulation 72(1)(b) Public Contracts Regulations 2015 - for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, services or installations procured under the initial procurement, provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract. This modification is therefore permitted under the Public Contract Regulations.