Issue - meetings

Appendix 1 of this report contains exempt information under Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. The press and public may be excluded from the meeting during consideration of this Appendix, on the grounds that if they were to be present, exempt information could be disclosed to them as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Purpose of report

The report provided Cabinet the opportunity to approve the award of a contract to meet the Council’s ambition for an Integrated Housing Management System that met its current and future business requirements.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Notes the content of the report and appendix, detailing the procurement process followed in respect of the Integrated Housing Management System, as part of the housing improvement plan.

2. Approves the award for a period five years with an option to extend by a further two years to Aareon UK Limited for £776,981 in order to procure its housing management system and associated modules.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.

Reason for decision

The Council had a clear commitment in its Corporate Plan 2020-2023 to provide “Housing that meets the needs of all residents” and to be able to effectively administer its social landlord function. In order to fulfil this commitment, the award of a new Integrated Housing Management System (IHMS) was required.

A good IHMS system would deliver accurate and up to date information to both staff and customers of the Council. Accurate data to a landlord was of the upmost importance, the Council must understand its customers, properties and compliance responsibilities in real time. This had been reinforced further to the Council through the ongoing interactions with the Regulator of Social Housing. Utilising a single consistent and ever evolving set of data within one database enabled a consistent approach to service delivery. An up to date and current IHMS would provide the team with this and should enable them to continuously improve.

Upon discussion, Cabinet Members raised some comments:

·       Whether the implementation stage time frame was achievable.

·       That the new system would be cost effective and would not cost any more than the current system.

·       Whether any dual running of the two systems would take place.