Gloucester City Council extends Civica IT outsourcing deal

Gloucester City Council has extended its IT outsourcing contract with Civica for a further three years.

The council originally signed a seven-year deal with Civica in 2011, outsourcing its revenues and benefits services. In 2014, it extended the scope of the agreement that saw operations outsourced to Civica, with plans to reform the back office, transactional and corporate support services.

Gloucester hopes the extension to October 2021 will improve services and create jobs in the city.

David Norman, cabinet member for performance and resources at the council, said the partnership has been a success so far.

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

The partnership has saved the council around £200,000 a year, as well as increased the collection of council tax and improved efficiency in processing benefits claims. The council hopes the three-year extension will deliver an additional £100,000 in savings.  

In September 2015, Civica called for a shake-up of public sector IT to deliver the savings needed. In a report, the public sector IT services provider called for an increase in “data IQ” for public sector through better use of data and systems integration.

Civica increased its revenues by 13% to £170.5m in 2014, mainly due to local government sector and business process services.