NE Derbyshire
Client: North East Derbyshire District Council
Contract Type: Revenue and Benefits Outsourcing
                        

The project

To replace legacy Anite VME-based revenues and benefits applications withAcademy Revenues and Benefits modules running on Windows platforms.

Meeting tight deadlines is always a daunting prospect. For North East DerbyshireDistrict Council, an urgent project to migrate from legacy mainframe applications became essential. But thanks to Capita Software Services, the council implementednew Academy Revenues and Benefits software in just six months. It has improved working efficiency, enhanced customer service, andprovides the right platform for extending shared services and e-government.


The background

North East Derbyshire District Council is based in Chesterfield and covers an area of 100 square miles. With a population of 97,000, it has a £50 million budget, collects council tax from 50,700 domestic properties and business rates from 2,365 properties.


The challenge

Before implementing Academy Revenues and Benefits, the council used legacy Anite applications on a Fujitsu VME mainframe. When Anite announced that support would be withdrawn in March 2007, the council faced major change.

“We needed replacement systems that were fit for purpose. We wanted to improve our performance and put customers at the heart of our service delivery,” said Mike Goodwin, Deputy Chief Executive - Resources. Customers were already helped through a state of- the-art contact centre

  • Connect North East
  • alongside an increasing range of online services.

Shared with Chesterfield Borough Council, the centre used Northgate Information Solutions’ Front Office customer relationship management software.

Apart from integrating with this, any new revenues and benefits software would have to support e-government too. The elimination of duplicate keying, better information sharing and data migration were also important.


The solution

Having reviewed possible solutions, Academy Revenues and Benefits came top-of-the-list. Consultations with existing users - like Chesterfield Borough Council and Bolsover District Council - as well as other councils which had migrated from Anite confirmed the choice. A decision was then taken to bring in expert help. “Best Practice Group PLC mapped the whole of our business processes in revenues and benefits. They put together a detailed objectives document to enable them to ask Capita Software Services the question: This is what North East Derbyshire District Council desires - will your system achieve it?,” said Goodwin.

The document eventually became contractual with Goodwin taking much reassurance from Capita’s responses, other councils’ experiences, and extensive hands-on evaluations. The software promised to simplify revenues collection and benefits administration.

“Capita Software Services’ software was leading-edge and provided us with exactly the solution required,” says Goodwin. “We then resourced the project properly with our staff and also appointed an internal project manager, as did Best Practice Group PLC and Capita Software Services. Best Practice Group then worked closely with Capita Software Services to implement the system within our very tight timescales.”


The conversion

Between May and November 2006, Capita Software Services undertook data conversion, interface development, training, project management, installation, and technical support. The new revenues and benefits software was integrated to the Northgate customer relationship management system through the Academy Business Connect web services module, allowing call centre staff to view information stored in the Academy database.

“The data conversion ran really smoothly, something that we put down to the detailed knowledge that Capita had gained from previous Anite conversions,” said Goodwin. “Capita was very professional and it was a dream implementation.”

Reasons for the project’s success and a rapid clearance of post-conversion backlogs aren’t hard to find - time spent defining the work properly and agreeing the deliverables were key. Goodwin also highlights three other things: the authority provided the right level of resources from the outset; Best Practice Group PLC gave independent advice; and the Academy software was well proven elsewhere.


The results

The council’s revenues and benefits service has now been transformed by intuitive systems that are easy-to use, feature-rich, and practitioner-driven. Staff have slashed the time taken for benefits claims to under 20 days while change of circumstances has fallen below nine. The software has proved very flexible and provides staff with timely management information to help achieve the council’s business objectives.

Call centre personnel are seeing a big difference too. The government’s  modernising agenda is all about improving services for citizens - linking front and back office always helps. Through the Academy Business Connect module, staff can instantly answer any revenues and benefits queries And information only needs to be keyed once.

As a model implementation for an Anite to Academy migration, the council’s experiences have set the framework for similar projects at Derbyshire Dales District Council and South Derbyshire District Council. Meanwhile, North East Derbyshire District Council is consolidating its achievements.

“Academy Revenues and Benefits offers a platform for the council to push ahead and provide excellent customer service. We now have the right software to help deliver our ambitious business objectives,” said Goodwin. “Capita Software Services are a very professional organisation that’s entirely focussed on customer needs. Their staff were extremely knowledgeable and eager to have a successful implementation.”


The future

Any future developments with shared services will become much easier too. Senior staff are reviewing the Anglia Revenues Partnership (Breckland District Council and Forest Heath District Council) as an example of revenues and benefits shared services. Thanks to the success of a challenging project, North East Derbyshire District Council can now provide the best possible customer service.

Solutions delivered

  • Academy Benefits
  • Academy Council Tax
  • Academy NDR
  • Data conversion
  • Interface development training
  • Project management
  • Installation
  • Technical support 

Benefits

  • Improved working efficiency
  • Increased customer service
  • Platform for shared services and e-government

"Capita Software Services are a very professional
organisation that’s entirely focussed on customer needs."
 
Mike Goodwin, Deputy Chief Executive - Resources, North East Derbyshire District Council