Councillors to consider £311,000 finance system
ASEVEN-YEAR contract to update and maintain Rossendale Borough Council’s financial management information system, costing £311,000 over the time period, is being recommended to councillors.
The full council is due to meet at The Business Centre, Futures Park, Bacup, on Wednesday at 6.30pm, with access for ‘essential attendees only’.
Other observers, including the public, will be able to watch via an online Zoom meeting, according to the agenda.
Also on the agenda is a government- backed funding programme designed to stimulate local businesses in Rossendale, Burnley and Pendle after the Covid pandemic and Brexit, along with a new five-year council plan aiming to boost local town centres, jobs and skills, new homes, health and environmental improvements.
The Community Renewal Fund was unveiled by the Westminster government in spring of this year, but only runs until March 2022.
The scheme is offering a quick boost of £220 million across the UK, ahead of further government plans to support local businesses in areas with ‘fragile’ economies.
Support is designed to improve local business access to finance, increasing confidence and ecourage private sector investment.
In east Lancashire, the Rossendale, Pendle and Burnley boroughs were identified as priority areas by the government. It set a deadline of March 2022 for any bids, and Lancashire County Council then drew up a plan with the three boroughs.
This joint bid has proposed £995,000 from the government be matched with around £600,000 from the local private sector in the three Lancashire boroughs.
A government decision was expected in the late summer and an update is now due.
The funding can be used for business research and development, new products, technology improvements, feasibility studies and for manufacturers who want to develop low carbon technology through new machinery.
Young businesses needing professional services, small equipment or help with property rents may also gain support.
Also on the agenda is its new corporate plan for the next five years.
Called Our Place, Our Plan, the document highlights priorities for areas including Rawtenstall, Bacup, Haslingden and Whitworth.
Proposals include: new homes, employment opportunities and physical improvements to Bacup; new public space and a redeveloped Deardengate in Haslingden; retail and leisure time improvements to Rawtenstall town centre; help for the business environment in Waterfoot; development of the M66 corridor with Lancashire County Council; gaining government support for a rail link between Rawtenstall and Greater Manchester; and promotion of Futures Park’s Employment Village.
Councillors are being asked to consider a report about the borough council’s financial management information system, which is currently provided by Civica UK Ltd.
Its software - called Civica Financials - produces and monitors the borough council accounts, the raising of orders for supplies and services, payments, invoices and other financial management information.
The council is being recommended to buy an updated version of the Civica Financials system because the current software is approaching the end of its life and will not be supported from September 2021 onwards.
In March this year, the council re-contracted with Civica for another software package, called Civica Pay, for cash receipting.
Civica Pay can be coordinated with the Civica Financial software, the agenda explains.
It also states: “Aligning both contracts will enable the council to re-tender for both solutions at the end of the term, to let as one lot, avoiding any potential multi-vendor issues.”
Civica has bases in the UK and globally.
Its UK sites include Atrincham in Greater Manchester.
Other topics for discussion by the council include questions about the right of communities to object to individual planning applications, and the apparent difficulty in booking GP appointments in Rossendale.