Government primes suppliers for £300m IT framework

IT firms invited to tender for a place on four-year open technology framework

The government has unveiled a multi-million pound framework which aims to overhaul IT systems across the public sector.

The Democratic and Citizen Engagement Systems contract will be worth around £300m plus VAT over four years and is being led by the Government Procurement Service along with the London ICT Programme, the Local Government Association and professional buying group Pro5.

Suppliers are being sought to provide software and services - including design, development, installation and commissioning - as well as ongoing support and maintenance.

The government stressed in a recently published tender document that suppliers must be able to provide open technology systems.

"A key part of the resultant framework agreement will be to further accelerate the development of open systems, data sharing and the interoperability of IT systems in government so that services can be delivered efficiently and respond more flexibly to the needs of citizens and businesses," the tender states.

"The scope of this procurement is not intended for the supply of common or commodity software such as [an] office suite, security software or enterprise back-office software applications that are used across the public sector such as ERP systems or CRM. These systems can or will be procured via other existing or proposed arrangements."

The deal will be split into the following 11 lots:

Lot 1: Revenues and Benefits systems
Lot 2: Payment processing and cash receipting systems
Lot 3: Environment, planning, building control, trading standards and licensing systems
Lot 4: Libraries systems
Lot 5: Housing and property systems
Lot 6: Social care systems
Lot 7: Public health systems
Lot 8: Civil enforcement systems
Lot 9: Open government systems, interoperability and integration services
Lot 10: Democratic and citizen engagement systems
Lot 11: Other local authority business systems