The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services submits a report to Cabinet which seeks project approval and delegated authority for the Executive Director (Corporate Resources) to procure a new IT system to replace the Council’s Planning and Regulatory Services database and document management system.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.    Grant project approval for the procurement of a new IT system to replace the current Uniform and IDOX DMS system used by Planning Services and other departments, as well as the linked Document Management System (the full budget envelope is attached in confidential Appendix 2); and

2.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Corporate Resources) in consultation with the Head of Financial Services / Section 151 Officer; the Head of Law and Governance; the Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies; and the Cabinet Member for Planning to award and enter into a contract following a procurement process as outlined in the report.

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services submitted a report to Cabinet which sought project approval and delegated authority for the Executive Director (Corporate Resources) to procure a new IT system to replace the Council’s Planning and Regulatory Services database and document management system.

Councillor Upton presented the report and stated that the Council has a need to procure a replacement for the systems they currently use. The contract for the current systems used by most departments in the Council expires in early 2026. The Council needs to get a new system before then and there is a chance to implement a new system which makes managing information easier and more efficient. Councillor Upton said they have had workshops with users, and they have employed a consultant to analyse the specifications that they will need from the new system. So that the Council can keep up to date as legislation evolves, the new system will need to have a degree of flexibility.

David Butler, Head of Planning Services, thanked Lan Nguyen, Planning Digital Transformation Officer, for their and their team’s work on this project. He said that he looks forward to hopefully being able to take this proposal out to the market.

Councillor Hollingsworth asked to what degree the digitization of the paper archives will be covered by the budget of the proposed project, or if the digitization efforts would require a new budget. He also asked about the length of the contract and if seven years was the maximum contract length that they could seek to acquire. Additionally, Councillor Hollingsworth stated that the last time the Council undertook a major acquisition project, they learnt several lessons. From this, he asked if they had, as part of the steering group, people who were involved in the last project and if the current work was taking on board the lessons learnt from the last acquisition project.

 Councillor Upton responded that they are working to take these lessons on board. The Head of Planning Services agreed that they are taking the lessons from the previous project on board and that they are conscious about the quality of the data they have. He added that they are working through different plans, to ensure they keep their feet to the fire to deliver a new system.

The Head of Planning Services said that the proposed seven-year contract would begin in 2026. In choosing a seven year contract, they considered that a longer contract does offer some security, but that they also would not want to be with a uniform system for too long. They believe that seven years hits a sweet spot with those two issues. However, he added that they will be able to reflect on this at the end of the seven-year period. The Head of Planning Services said that as a part of a separate project, they should be able to bring forward a cabinet report on archive digitization in the near future.

Councillor Munkonge thanked the team for the report. He asked if there were any councils currently using the proposed system and what their plans are for the changeover period.

Councillor Upton clarified that they do not yet know who they are going to appoint. When they are evaluating possible systems, they will look to see which systems have been successful elsewhere. She added that they will ensure there is support during the changeover period.

The Planning Digital Transformation Officer responded that as a part of the procurement process, they will be assessing what the migration process will look like with each possible provider. They will be looking at what possible appointments will do to support the Council as they migrate. They stated that this will be part of their scoring in the procurement process.

Councillor Brown asked if it would be part of the scoring system to see how many councils are using a given system. The Head of Planning Services said that they will be taking references from people who have used a system. Although the system they choose will be somewhat bespoke to the Council, they will be looking for high quality references for each system as a part of the procurement process.

Cabinet agreed to:

1.    Grant project approval for the procurement of a new IT system to replace the current Uniform and IDOX DMS system used by Planning Services and other departments, as well as the linked Document Management System (the full budget envelope is attached in confidential Appendix 2); and

2.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Corporate Resources) in consultation with the Head of Financial Services / Section 151 Officer; the Head of Law and Governance; the Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services and Council Companies; and the Cabinet Member for Planning to award and enter into a contract following a procurement process as outlined in the report.