Agenda item

To receive a report from the Corporate Director, Resources, and Deputy Chief Executive.

Cllr Nick Botterill Cabinet member for Finance, Development Management, and Strategic Planning presented a report setting out the reasons and requirements for securing a reputable company capable of providing a printing and mailing service to deliver the requirements of the Revenues and Benefits Service.

Cllr Botterill explained that the Revenues and Benefits Service is nearing the end of the current contract with their printing provider and need to retender for this service. The cost of production and postage has risen significantly since the original arrangements were put in place and expenditure over the next 5-year period is anticipated to be in the region of £1.75m requiring approval from Cabinet.

Cabinet were informed that since 2012 the Revenues and Benefits Service has used external contractors for the production of council tax bills, business rate bills and notification letters regarding welfare benefits. Whilst significant effort has been made to provide electronic communication, the number of documents produced each year has increased in line with the growth in news, homes and businesses. The service is reliant on external providers who offer the agility, precision, economies of scale and postage discounts that cannot be achieved in-house.

Cllr Graham Wright, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, reported that the last Select Committee meeting was cancelled so a briefing was arranged at short notice for the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Management Committee on 13 March 2024. The proposal were supported.

Resolved:

To approve to delegate authority to enter into the contract with the winning provider and any other relevant documentation and decisions required to the Director of Finance and Procurement.

Reasons for decision:

The report explains the reasons for the council to conduct a tender process for the provision of a printing and mailing contract for the Revenues and Benefits Service and to delegate the final decision at the end of the tender process to enter into the contract to the Director of Finance and Procurement.

The Revenues and Benefits Service in Wiltshire manages the administration of council tax for 230,000 households across Wiltshire and is one of the biggest billing authorities in the UK in terms of the number of households who are sent a bill. The service also manages the collection of business rates, income from Business Improvement Districts, the administration of Housing Benefit and assessment of Council Tax Reduction. Each of these services requires the sending of information to the liable household or business or to the individual who qualifies for a welfare benefit.

The quantity of information documents produced at annual billing is in excess of 250,000 items which require printing and dispatch within a three-week window. Each month the service issues bills and adjustment notices, reminders, and summonses in pursuit of payment and the maintenance of records and accounts, equating to a further 200,000 items per annum. The service relies on being able to produce print files and send these securely to an offsite print and mailing company to produce these documents and ensure that they are packaged and dispatched precisely, promptly and in an order (walk-sort) that achieves the greatest discount on postage costs. That the council tax bill has been used to convey information about government schemes, energy rebates for example has meant the inclusion of additional information on or together with council tax bills at short notice, which demonstrates the responsive and supportive relationship that the service is seeking along with the efficient, effective and reliable systems and processes of a specialist provider.