Legal Case Management System with Court Bundling Capability

This notice is to advise of a proposed contract modification.

The Council has made the decision to extend the contract for a period of one (1) additional year, with an option to extend for an additional one (1) year again, up to a maximum of two (2) years. The contract will be varied increasing the value of the contract by £74,076.28 (original contract value £369,000).

The increase to the value of the contract will rely upon:

• Regulation 72(1) (b) for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement, where a change of contractor-

1. cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, services or installations procured under the initial procurement, and

2. would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority,

provided that any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.

The grounds relied upon to use Regulation 72(1)(b) are set out below:

(a) A change of contractor within the required timeframe would create material technical, operational and local government re-organisation implementation risks due to the complex and integrated nature of the contract.

(b) The technical capability to reconfigure the council's current systems and processes is another reason an extension is required to provide additional time to procure a replacement contract. The current system is fully integrated into the Council's ICT system to ensure that legal documents held within it are stored subject to robust security measures.

(c) A change of contractor is not possible as a short-term measure and would result, in a potential failure to meet court and quasi-judicial deadlines thereby affecting the council's ability to deliver some of its statutory services, which extends beyond the statutory test of simple "inconvenience".

(d) The proposed modification is necessary, proportionate, and compliant with Regulation 72(1)(b). It ensures continuity, avoids unnecessary cost and disruption, and maintains the integrity of the original procurement.

(e) The increase in contract value arising from the proposed modification will not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.

(f) The modification will not alter the overall nature of the contract.