Compass Point Business Services, the shared services company established in August 2010 by East Lindsey District Council and South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire, has selected Capita Software Services to support the first step of its merged revenues and benefits operation. The software will create savings for the department of 20% annually. The five-year contract is worth over £700,000.

In addition, Capita Software Services has secured a five year contract worth £370,000 to provide an electronic document management solution to Compass Point Business Services. This will be delivered in partnership with information and workflow management solutions provider, IDOX.

The revenues and benefits application will enable the efficient processing of transactions to support the councils' drive to improve services to residents and businesses. The revenues and benefits information for each council will be stored in separate databases, but appears as a single set of information which can be accessed and updated. As a result, reporting and analysis can be provided for each local authority, while still allowing the councils to gain the efficiencies associated with a single solution. The software will also support self service, which will allow citizens and businesses to make payments for services, such as business rates or council tax, online.

Capita Software Services is also implementing its enterprise mobile working platform to support the councils' mobile working initiative. Initially this will enable revenues and benefits teams to conduct home or site visits, but it has the flexibility to support any business processes that need to be carried out in the field.

The electronic document management solution will be deployed across the revenues and benefits, HR, payroll and finance departments. It will store documents electronically on a central repository, which will increase Compass Point's speed of access to files, reduce the time spent retrieving documents and increase office floor space by reducing the reliance on paper.

"We are confident that our bold approach will allow us to continue to deliver excellent value for money to our residents," said Councillor Paul Przyszlak, chairman of the board, Compass Point. "Making the most out of Capita's software will go a long way towards helping to improve access to services for the local community."

"We expect to see more shared services arrangements forming as councils consider ways to improve efficiency, and software will play an important role in enabling their success," said Paul Millard, operations director, Capita Software Services. "The contracts with Compass Point demonstrate that, through our range of software and our strong partner network, we have the solutions in place to meet the needs of our customers."

The councils' decision to launch Compass Point Business Services is a testament to their commitment to meet the challenge of reducing costs, without impacting the quality of service to citizens. We are delighted to be supporting them in their initiative."