Bid number (for
EG use) | |
Lead bidder | The City of Edinburgh Council
Ronnie Hinds: 0131 469 3184
e-mail:
ronnie.hinds@edinburgh.gov.uk |
Brief description of the aims of the
project | The aim of this project is to facilitate the
delivery of a shared Non Domestic Rate income
billing and collection services for a cluster
of local authorities in the South East of
Scotland. |
Clear description of what the
EGF money would be used to
buy | The funding would be used to address the one
off costs necessary to set up the extended
operation of the
NDRI system as a shared
service. This would include all staffing and
IT hardware and software
costs associated with server capacity,
communication /networks/interfaces and data
migration. |
Partners to the project likely to commit
resources | City of Edinburgh Council, East Lothian
Council, Midlothian Council, West Lothian
Council and Scottish Borders Council. |
Names of Other Organisations with whom the
project has been discussed (to assist the
introductions process) | Fife Council are interest in participating
in a national
NDR project. Recent contact
with the Clyde Valley consortium has indicated
that they are also planning to submit a bid for
a shared
NDR service. The above
partners and Fife Council would be happy to
work with the Clyde Valley councils in pursuit
of a national shared
NDR solution. |
Evidence that suggested approach has been
deployed successfully elsewhere | The collection of Non Domestic Rates was
previously operated successfully on a regional
basis prior to local government
re-organisation. Within the partners for this
bid, the City of Edinburgh Council has a track
record of successfully providing this service
to other local authorities. It currently
provides a billing and collection service for
Midlothian Council and provided a similar
service to East Lothian and West Lothian
Councils for an interim period following local
government reorganisation while local systems
were being established. This supports the
consortium's view that this service could, at
the very least, be run on a regional basis. A
full national service is seen as a realistic
option and would be supported by the consortium
should other authorities across Scotland also
favour this approach. |
| However, while this demonstrates that the
expertise is available to provide this service
on an agency basis, the approved proposal is
part of a shared services model that could be
provided in a number of ways. This could
involve the creation of a web based national
solution and/or the selection of a private
sector partner with the capacity and incentive
to deliver an efficient service and expand the
approach to other transactional services, as
has been achieved elsewhere. |
Are there any restrictions to potential for
enlargement of the project (
i.e., technology, number of
partners, etc) | There are no restrictions on the scope for
extending this service to other local
authorities other than to address any
information technology and other one off costs
associated with expansion. As noted above, the
consortium would be supportive of a national
solution for
NDR. |
Benefits projected from the project | The benefits will take the form of
improvements in the efficiency of service
delivery and will allow cash to be released to
frontline services. These will include: - Reduced
IT and other running
costs due to the need to support one
NDRI system instead of
the five systems currently in
operation
- Scope to reduce other costs, such as
banking and local enquiry facilities
- The development of one body of staff,
dedicated to Non- domestic rate income -
allowing management to develop and maintain
consistent standards in working
practices
- Improvements in debt recovery and
collection rates, from sharing of data and
best practice.
|
Estimated financial projections | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 |
£m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Overall Project Costs | 0.271 | 0.271 | | | - |
Estimated Projected Benefits | | 0.122 | 0.244 | 0.244 | 0.244 |
Total Costs and Benefits 2005/-6-
2009/10 | £M |
Total Estimated Costs
Total Projected Benefits
Total Net Benefits | 0.542
0.854
0.312 |
Is a pilot required - see guidance notes | No |
Additionally: why is
EG funding required | To provide up front funding to assist with
the project costs associated with establishing
a centralised
NDR billing and collection
service. |
Is this project complementary in anyway to
other
EG work | Improving efficiencies in the delivery of
transactional services is a priority within the
Efficient Government Initiative. This project
focuses on improving the delivery of a key
transactional processing service and is closely
aligned to the objectives of
EG. |
Is "stage 2 development funding"
requested? | No |