To agree licences for support and maintenance of the Application Public Protection system (APP) for a further 3 years under the existing contract with Civica. These 3 years will provide adequate time to enable further market testing, produce and agree a strategy going forward, enter and complete any procurement process and implement any required new IT applications.

That:

the council continue to maintain licences and support for the APP application with Civica under the terms of the existing contract, which is rolling with annual renewals, for a further 3 years at a cost of no more than £54k pa, with the ability to terminate at any time by giving 3 month’s notice.

1.            To retender: A soft market test using FOI (freedom of information) data from other local authorities was undertaken in December 2016 in order to compare the viability of similar systems in the market place. The result of this assessment indicates that a number of different systems would have to be acquired to replace Civica in order to meet the operational requirements of business. This would introduce a significant cost of change which would exceed the £1.2 million cost of the initial contract. This option is therefore not recommended.  

2.            Non-renewal of Civica licenses: This is not recommended as the council would have to cease using the software to remain compliant with the licence agreement.  The application is used by a number of council departments including, planning, conservation, environmental health, strategic housing, licensing and waste. The application is used to manage engagement with residents covering a broad range of services.