Decision details

Date of Decision:

Monday 25 September 2023

Title:

Contract Renewal for Income Recovery System; Mobysoft RentSense.

Decision Maker:

(Including Job Title)

James Clark Assistant Director of Housing.

Details of Specific Cabinet Delegation

or Delegation contained in the relevant Sub-Scheme of Delegation.

A briefing paper alongside the procurement business case was presented to DLT on Tuesday 15 August 2023 who gave approval to proceed with the procurement exercise to renew a contract with the incumbent supplier.

Decision:

A decision has been made by housing services to direct award a contract to Mobysoft RentSense for the Income Recovery predictive software to maximise the recovery of rent arrears of both current and former tenants.

The direct award will be a 3 year plus 1 year agreement. The contract is intended for use up to October 2026, with the option to extend by 1 year up to October 2027, if required.

This will be made via Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework G-Cloud 13.

Reasons for the Decision:

Limitations exist in the marketplace for this type of software, by renewing the current contract with the incumbent supplier it will allow the market to mature before completing a full procurement exercise in 3 years’ time.

Mobysoft RentSense uses algorithmic trigger alerts to allow early intervention from RMBC to collect rent due and maximise the collection of rent arrears.

Mobysoft have been the market leader for this type of software for several years and it has proved an effective tool for RMBC reducing rent arrears for current and former tenants by circa £3M in the last 4 years.

Details of alternative options considered and rejected:

In accordance with the Council’s FPPRs, a procurement business case was completed and reviewed by Senior Stakeholders, including Finance, Legal, HR, and signed-off by the Assistant Director of Housing.

The procurement business case recommended that a direct award be made via the G-Cloud 13 framework on a basis of 3 years + 1 year.

No further evaluation report is necessary in these circumstances.

Conflicts of interest declared by any Cabinet Member consulted by the decision maker which relates to the decision:

There are no known conflicts of interest (personal or financial) with any of the individuals involved in the development of this direct award.

Dispensations Granted:

(If any)

N/A

Reports or parts of reports considered

Procurement Business Case (Exempt)