Decision details

The Shared Revenues Partnership have a perpetual licence to use the Victoria Forms Software which performs the service of providing all Benefit electronic forms and a Benefit Calculator. These services together allow customers to determine their likely entitlement to benefit, make an informed claim, undergo a localised verification process, receive a documented list of evidence required and upload that evidence to support their claim. This provides significant efficiencies to the Shared Revenues Partnership.

This comprehensive process is externally hosted, has been developed and refined over a period of years and the support and maintenance is not available through any other supplier.

The provision of support and maintenance of the server and Benefit Calculator as well as the XML export for the three partner authorities is undertaken for an annual support and maintenance fee of £12,785+VAT.

There is significant risk to performance in not continuing with this service. The products development over time has allowed for service area efficiencies in post opening, scanning and indexing, claim handling and information gathering.

This has been exempted from Contract Standing Orders for the financial year 2023/24 because this bespoke form is available “only as proprietary or patented articles from one Contractor or supplier, and for which there is no reasonable satisfactory alternative”.

To exempt the appointment of Victoria Forms for the maintenance of all Benefit electronic forms and Benefit calculator.

Reason:

To continue the support and maintenance of the forms and calculator. The maintenance is not available through any other supplier.