Council signs deal with Civica in paperless business drive

Civica plc is helping Allerdale Borough Council in Cumbria establish paperless business processes supporting all its main corporate services in a two-year programme worth £860,000.

The work, which is part-funded by the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), features Workflow, Electronic Document Management (EDM) and Records Management systems from Civica's group company, Comino. 

The phased programme will deliver integrated front and back office systems - for a first stage including planning, revenues, benefits and building control services, with HR, payroll, environmental services, contract services, parking, land charges, licensing, democratic services and financial services to follow in later phases.

By integrating processes, the council will deliver modern, interactive and more efficient services for its 93,000 residents.

At a performance level, the new ICT programme will help meet priority service outcomes specified in the government's modernisation agenda as well as the council's own drive for performance improvement.  Work is due for completion in June 2008. 

Steve McMahon, EDRMS manager, Allerdale Borough Council, said: "We are planning to make a step change in service delivery over the next couple of years.

"Being able to set up electronic processes which link up with our existing back office transactional systems - such as revenues and benefits calculations - we are building the foundations for the council to achieve modern, interactive and adaptable services for local people.

"This programme is a focus for us and Comino's expertise in the local authority market, the product suite's functionality and the competitive price were all important factors in our appointment of Comino as preferred supplier for the work."

Benefits of Comino's EDM, Records Management and Workflow systems include conversion of correspondence to electronic documents without re-typing at any stage, effective online storage and fast retrieval of records in line with the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.

The Comino suite also delivers improved overall management of customer contacts relating to individual planning applications and housing benefit claims.

Lindsay Dransfield, local government director, Comino, said: "The Allerdale team has taken a long hard look at how departmental applications can be delivered using a more strategic model.

"The re-engineering of front and back office processes which they are putting in place will lead to improved sharing of data and better scheduling of work.

"This will lead to savings in line with the government efficiency agenda and better services for residents."