To receive and consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive (enclosed).

1.    To approve the appointment of Blackpool Council for the provision of a managed payroll service with integrated HR system and all associated implementation, support, and maintenance services

2.    To delegate the finalisation of the agreement with Blackpool Council to the Director of Governance.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the report of the Deputy Chief Executive which seeks approval to enter into a ten-year agreement with Blackpool Council to provide a managed payroll service with integrated HR service and all associated implementation, support and maintenance services.

Chorley has a service contract with Blackpool council to deliver a managed payroll service which has been in place for over 15 years and due to expire 31 March 2021. A number of suppliers were invited to provide system demonstrations and the council’s current payroll providers were also invited to discuss how they could meet the shared requirements of the councils. Continuing to use the current providers was considered the best option going forward.

The initial contract term will be 10 years following successful implementation and roll out (April 2022 for core HR and Payroll) with the potential to extend for a further 5 years (renewal term). The advantages of this model are outlined in the report.

Decision:

1.    To approve the appointment of Blackpool Council for the provision of a managed payroll service with integrated HR system and all associated implementation, support, and maintenance services

2.    To delegate the finalisation of the agreement with Blackpool Council to the Director of Governance.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

The council has determined that a ten-year partnership arrangement with Blackpool Council via a section 101 Local Government Act 1972 agreement provides the most effective and best value way to secure a fully managed payroll service with integrated HR system.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

1.    The current HR and Payroll systems contract expires March 2022 and there is no compliant ability to extend this.

2.    Procurement via either open tender or a framework requires specialist input to specify, document and evaluate tenders which would be resource intensive and potentially expensive. The market has been explored and found that it is very limited in terms of suppliers that would meet our specification and that the prices that could be achieved are unlikely to be more economical than the partnership approach, particularly as direct contract award to a supplier would incur high implementation costs. A partnership arrangement gives additional resilience to the project and ongoing payroll service unlike a direct award.