The South Lanarkshire based West Whitlawburn Co-operative went live with a housing solution from IBS OPENSystems. The IT solution will support West Whitlawburn in the management of its housing stock of nearly 550 dwellings, of which 80% are multi-storey flats.
Managing this volume of properties whilst operating within the parameters of the numerous efficiency agendas meant that West Whitlawburn required an effective housing management IT solution. In September 2005, it became apparent that its previous housing system simply couldn't cope with its requirements. West Whitlawburn needed to select a new housing management and maintenance system that would meet its needs and go live within just three months. Following a tender process, IBS OPENSystems was selected based on its ability to deliver the right solution within the necessary timescale.
The implementation, which consisted of IBS' core OPENHousing product suite including repairs, rent accounting, and arrears control functionality, took place between October 2005 and December 2005. Further modules including allocations and waiting lists were implemented from January 2006 and have just gone live.
VT Software Solutions was awarded the contract to provide its housing repair software, Servitor, to Ipswich Borough Council. The Council's in-house contractor, Ipswich Borough Contracts, is responsible for the delivery of a 24/7 high quality, responsive housing repairs and maintenance service to over 8,500 council homes that are managed by Ipswich Borough Homes.
Servitor will provide an integrated housing repairs and maintenance software solution to support service objectives, that include the management of all housing repairs and cyclical maintenance, such as gas appliance servicing. The software will also be used to graphically diagnose repairs and manage appointment scheduling, as well as for mobile working, job costing, stores and purchasing, and programme maintenance. Servitor Mobile will enable 30 of the mobile work operatives to receive and record work details directly from and to the Servitor main database while on site.
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Blackpool Council announced plans to adopt a shared services model for the provision of Revenues and Benefits services. Blackpool will implement Anite's browser-based Pericles system on behalf of the two councils in order to deliver efficiency savings and free-up extra resources for improved frontline services. The integrated system, which supports revenue collection for council tax and non-domestic rates, together with administration for Housing and Bouncil Tax Benefits, will go live later this year.
Through major efficiency advances in the back-office, the joint project will help both councils to become more customer-centric, productive and efficient, allowing staff to focus on the needs of individual citizens.
Northgate Information Solutions was selected by Croydon LBC to provide a new and improved revenues and benefits service. In a contract worth close to £1 million over five years, Northgate will provide Croydon with a range of leading revenues and benefits solutions aimed at streamlining the management and reporting of council tax and business rates and improving the administration of Housing and Council Tax Benefits.
The Council will utilise Northgate's innovative rules-based technology to speed up the benefits assessment process for customers wishing to check eligibility and claim their entitlements.
The new system includes: