To agree that Herefordshire Council continue the current delegation by Rutland County Council of their enterprise system support function (an element of ICT support), originally approved 9 March 2016 for a further 10 years.

The enterprise system support function refers to the Business World IT system that records, processes and documents all relevant information in relation to the general ledger, payroll, debtor and creditor records of Rutland County Council.

During the ten year extension period Herefordshire Council will act as the lead commissioning council for the service, supporting the delivery of a range of benefits from the pooling of resources. 

That:

The Cabinet Member accept the delegation by Rutland County Council of their enterprise system support function (an element of ICT support) under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 to Herefordshire Council, acting as lead commissioning council for the service for a further ten years.

1.    The council could refuse to continue to accept the delegation. However, this approach would mean that the council would not enjoy the economies of scale benefits from the current arrangements (detailed below). These benefits include savings as a result of shared overheads, sharing the cost and risk of system development, increased service resilience, supporting employment in Herefordshire, and supporting the future growth opportunities for Hoople.

2.    Rutland Council and Herefordshire could put in place a joint committee to manage the service. However, this would add an unnecessary level of complexity and cost have been evidenced as a need in the provision of the service to date.