Issue - meetings

Portfolio Holder – Councillor Bryony Rudkin

Executive is asked to consider the outcome of an open market procurement for a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and to consider awarding a five-year contract, with an option for two one-year extensions to the successful bidder.

78.1.     Councillor Rudkin introduced the report highlighting that the contract for the current Human Resources Information System (HRIS) was due to expire in September 2026. The open procurement had resulted in just one compliant bid for a system that would provide a variety of uses, e.g. recruitment, payroll, data storage, and would support the Council to be able to work more effectively in the future. The report was seeking authority to enter into a 5-year contract with the option for further extensions.

78.2.     Councillor Fisher highlighted the increased cost of the system and questioned whether it was appropriate to enter into a contract of this length given the potential changes to council structures arising from the Local Government Reorganisation.
The Chief Executive, Helen Pluck, clarified that the increase in the cost of the system was due to the natural increase in costs over time, plus the procurement of additional modules to improve management information, onboarding and modernising of current manual HR processes. The added investment should generate productivity benefits and headcount reduction over time. In terms of the initial length of the contract, the procurement had commenced before the White Paper announcement on future local government structures; it was anticipated that the earliest that any new councils would be established would be mid-2028 and it was likely that existing payroll systems would need to run in parallel until new employment structures could be harmonised, so the minimum contract term would probably be required.  As the proposed supplier was also used by some of the other local authorities in Suffolk, there could be the opportunity to extend the contract for a new council in the future.

It was RESOLVED:

a)             That Executive authorises the Head of Human Resources, in consultation with the Chief Executive, Head of Legal Services, Head of Procurement and Portfolio Holder for Strategy and Transformation, to enter into a contract of five years plus two one-year extensions with the successful bidder, identified in exempt Appendix 1 to the report, for the Human Resources Information System provided that it is within the budget set out in paragraph 10 of the report.

Reason: The Council requires a Human Resources Information System, and this represents good value for money following an open marked procurement.

b)             That Executive authorises the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, to amend the budget and Medium Term Financial Plan for the financial implications identified in the exempt Appendix 1 to the report.

Reason: To ensure the financial accuracy of the budget and ensure sufficient resources are available.