Expenditure related to software in Children's Services Department
Case reference FOI2024/00088
Published 31 January 2024
Request
I am writing to submit a Freedom of Access of Information Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to obtain information on the expenditure related to software in your Children's Services Department.
Specifically, I am seeking the following information:
Q1. Does your Local Authority have the following departments:
1. Adult Social Care Commissioning
2. Children's Social Care Commissioning
If so, please can you provide the contact details for the person who would make decisions about subscribing to software.
Q2. Details on the monthly costs associated with different types of software utilised in Children's Services. Please provide information on the following:
1. The names and types of software applications or systems used in Children's Services.
2. The monthly cost for each software application or system.
If possible, please categorise the costs and provide any additional relevant details regarding the functionalities and features covered by each software.
Q3. Please can you also provide information about what would be the preferred charging structure when supplying software to your local authority, specifically around:
1. Is it better to pay annually or monthly?
2. What's the preferred method of payment?
Response
I am writing to submit a Freedom of Access of Information Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to obtain information on the expenditure related to software in your Children's Services Department.
Specifically, I am seeking the following information:
Q1. Does your Local Authority have the following departments:
1. Adult Social Care Commissioning
2. Children's Social Care Commissioning
If so, please can you provide the contact details for the person who would make decisions about subscribing to software.
The Local Authority operate an All Ages Commissioning Department to include Adult Social Care and Children's Social Care.
Hayley Doyle - Service Director All Age Commissioning, Community Wellbeing.
Email: Hayley.Doyle@herefordshire.gov.uk
If you are a company intending to use the name and contact details of council officers provided in this response for direct marketing, you must be registered with the Information Commissioner to process personal data for this purpose. You must also check that the individual (whom you wish to contact for direct marketing purposes) is not registered with one of the preference services to prevent direct marketing. If they are you must adhere to this preference. You must also ensure you comply with the Privacy Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). For more information see www.ico.org.uk
For the avoidance of doubt, the provision of individual names and contact details under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not give consent to receive direct marketing via any media and expressly does not constitute a 'soft opt-in' under PECR.
Q2. Details on the monthly costs associated with different types of software utilised in Children's Services. Please provide information on the following:
1. The names and types of software applications or systems used in Children's Services.
Both Adults and Children's Social Care Directorate use Mosaic.
Other software specifically included in the Access UK contract and used by Social Care (not including generic corporate software) is:
· Abacus Finance
· MeLearning training
2. The monthly cost for each software application or system.
If possible, please categorise the costs and provide any additional relevant details regarding the functionalities and features covered by each software.
The way a contract is paid is purely down to what was the agreed payment method. The costs for these contracts are paid annually and we have therefore provided the figures below based on annual cost.
Mosaic - is shared equally between the Directorates and costs approximately £195,000 per annum.
Abacus Finance - £15,000 per annum.
MeLearning Training - £14,200 per annum.
Q3. Please can you also provide information about what would be the preferred charging structure when supplying software to your local authority, specifically around:
1. Is it better to pay annually or monthly?
It is really dependant on the size, risk and type of contract, as a general rule the council would prefer to pay contracts monthly or quarterly in arrears however we have paid some smaller value contracts on an annual basis as well as monthly. The payment schedule is purely dependant on the nature of the contract and the payment terms associated with each contract. The Council can cover off any type of payment schedule as long as it has been agreed and signed off by both the Council and the supplier/provider.
2. What's the preferred method of payment?
The standard payment method is via BACS.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.