Report of the Director of Customer and Digital attached.

Decision made:

1.    That Cabinet approves to fund the 2019/20 costs from the £20,000 allocated in the Place Promotion budget and the remainder from 2019/20 underspends.

2.    That Cabinet approves an annual increase in the revenue budget from 2020/21 onwards to fund the annual licence and maintenance costs.

3.    That Cabinet agrees to a joint procurement process with Chorley Council in which South Ribble Borough Council will take the lead.

4.    That Cabinet agrees to waive all relevant Contract Procedure Rules (in particular paragraph 11 (High Value Procurement)) to allow Council to award the contract to one of the shortlisted providers rather than go through a procurement exercise through the Chest.

5.    That Cabinet grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer and Digital in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Assets to allow a direct award to the provider offering the most advantageous solution following completion of market engagement.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Assets presented a report of the Director of Customer and Digital that outlined option for a refresh of the South Ribble Borough Council website (www.southribble.gov.uk).

The report outlined the proposal to refresh the South Ribble Borough Council website by way of replacing the current Content Management System (CMS) and to re-design the website with self-service and accessibility as its focus.

Chorley Council are also looking to embark on a similar project and with both scopes being similar, a joint procurement approach seemed viable. The approach will see budgetary and operational efficiencies and the proposal was for South Ribble Borough Council to lead on the project.

Each Council had conducted soft market testing with a number of suppliers individually and as a joint project. The proposal was for Cabinet to approve the joint procurement method and to waive Contract Procedure Rules, in particular paragraph 11 (High Value Procurement), to allow a direct award to the provider offering the most advantageous solution.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Margaret Smith objected to waiving the contract procedure rules, considering that the reasons for the departure were not exceptional circumstances. However, the Leader, supported by the Council’s Monitoring Officer were satisfied that exceptional circumstances could be demonstrated in this case.

Councillors David Howarth and Phil Smith supported the proposals along with a member of the public who commented that he had made a request for an improved website some time ago.

In response to a request made by Councillor Thurlbourn, the Interim Chief Executive agreed to circulate the list of companies to Members when the award had been made.

In response to a query by Councillor Michael Green, the Leader of the Council explained that in his opinion it was appropriate for the funding to be taken from the Place Promotion budget as the new website would promote the Borough.

Decision made (unanimously):

1.    That Cabinet approves to fund the 2019/20 costs from the £20,000 allocated in the Place Promotion budget and the remainder from 2019/20 underspends.

2.    That Cabinet approves an annual increase in the revenue budget from 2020/21 onwards to fund the annual licence and maintenance costs.

3.    That Cabinet agrees to a joint procurement process with Chorley Council in which South Ribble Borough Council will take the lead.

4.    That Cabinet agrees to waive all relevant Contract Procedure Rules (in particular paragraph 11 (High Value Procurement)) to allow Council to award the contract to one of the shortlisted providers rather than go through a procurement exercise through the Chest.

5.    That Cabinet grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer and Digital in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property and Assets to allow a direct award to the provider offering the most advantageous solution following completion of market engagement.

Reason(s) for the decision:

1.     The Digital to Improve Programme sets out the way we will advance our digital capability over the next three years, ultimately enabling us to better serve our borough, while improving the day-to-day experience for those working within the bounds of the organisation.

2.     The Programme identifies that the most significant and needed incentive of all identified within the strategy is concerning the website and self-service. A refreshed website will also act as an enabler for other key projects within the strategy and provide a basis to build on the council’s shift ambitions.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

1.       Do nothing. The option to leave the website as it is was rejected as it offers poor usability and discourages self-service for customers.

2.       Procuring the project as a lone authority. This was considered, however it became clear that the project timeline and scope from both South Ribble and Chorley Councils were similar and that a joint approach could provide significant budgetary savings and operational efficiency gains.