Issue - meetings

Purpose of Report

Approval to enter into a 5-year renewal of the contract with IDOX Software Ltd for planning, building control and land charges software.

Decision

Cabinet approved the award of contract to IDOX Software Ltd for the provision of the Planning, Building Control and Land Charges software for a period of 5 years at a total cost of £306,855.59.

Alternative options considered and rejected

The Council considered replacing the software with an alternative product. However, the existing contract expired on 30 October 2024 and there was insufficient time to source, develop and transfer data to a new system. This option was therefore discounted.

Consideration was also given to entering into a shorter contract. However, this was not possible so this option was discounted.

Reasons for decision

Changing to another software supplier would have increased costs to the Council and could also have caused compatibility problems with our partner authorities for Building Control information to be accessed by their own Idox installations.

The IDOX software had been used by the Council for a number of years and was embedded in the service provision. Switching to another operator would have been complex and taken a considerable amount of time. The Council was legally required to hold databases for Planning and Building Control and if an alternative provider had been sourced it would have taken time to design a new system and to ensure registers were properly transferred. The system was used by both officers and the public who could view planning and building control registers online.

Significant work had been carried out in the last year to use the Public Access function allowing residents and statutory consultees to interact with the system. This included online viewing and commenting on planning applications. This had resulted in a reduction in administration work and greater transparency for officers, Councillors and members of the public.

The Land Charges software (TLC) was linked to Uniform and used planning and building control data in order to provide land charges searches quickly and efficiently for our customers.

Software costs were spread across the duration of the contract so a three- or four-year contract would mean a significantly higher cost per year for the same service. A three-year contract would have a higher annual cost of approximately £67,000.

The procurement of the software had followed a compliant process. There was provision for this purchase in the indicative budget for 2025/2026.

This decision was not subjected to call-in and could be implemented immediately.