Gloucester City Council extends partnership with Civica in bid to save £100,000

Council had seven-year agreement in place that had already delivered more than £200,000 per year in savings

Gloucester City Council has extended its revenues and benefits partnership with software, technology and outsourcing services firm Civica.

The council had a seven-year agreement in place with Civica, which started in October 2011, and according to the vendor, this has already delivered more than £200,000 per year in savings to the council, and has also increased the speed of processing benefits claims, and the amount of council tax it has been able to collect.

Now, Gloucester City Council has signed a three year extension with Civica, taking the deal to October 2021, and Civica claims this will enable the council to save a further £100,000.

Councillor David Norman, cabinet member for performance and resources at Gloucester City Council, said that the partnership had been a success.

"It demonstrates how a public-private partnership can help local authorities achieve savings whilst continuing to deliver an excellent service to the residents of Gloucester. I am pleased we will be continuing this partnership arrangement."

Last year the local authority signed a separate, six-year contract with Civica to outsource its IT service in a bid to save £100,000 a year. Responsibilities include the administrative, back office, transactional and corporate support processes.

At the time, Paul James, leader of Gloucester City Council, said that the local authority had set itself high expectations around what it wanted to achieve by partnering with Civica.

"We are delighted to see what has been accomplished so far [with the initial revenues partnership], such as the reduction of our council tax arrears by £1.5 million. We look forward to developing our relationship with Civica further as we continue to drive cost savings, sustain employment and improve services for our citizens," he said.

Civica has also set up a service centre with the council, which is delivering services to almost 50 local authorities across the UK.