The Capita Group Plc announces that it has been selected by South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils as preferred partner to administer and collect the Councils’ revenues and benefits through a shared services offering. The contract, which is worth more than £20 million over a minimum of 7 years, will begin on 1 August 2006.

Under the contract, Capita will also implement and manage a number of IT systems for the Councils, including financial services and payroll. Both Councils will be replacing their existing systems with Capita Software Services’ Academy Council Tax & Housing Benefits applications. A number of Council staff will transfer under TUPE to work alongside Capita employees. Capita was awarded the contract following a rigorous procurement process.

Rod Aldridge, Chairman of The Capita Group Plc, said: “We are delighted that South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have selected Capita to deliver a range of shared services. Shared services will play a crucial role in delivering new efficiencies to local government and we believe that this ground-breaking contract is a great example of this approach in action. Capita is committed to developing new models of partnership that deliver widespread cost savings and substantial performance improvements to local authorities. We expect that our shared services offering will increasingly be adopted by Councils as a key solution to helping them meet Government efficiency and quality targets.”