Lessons from unitaries on how they’ve navigated reorganisation

Transitioning from a collection of separate local and district councils to a single unitary authority is no walk in the park, especially for those tasked with delivering seamless payment and income management services.

At PaySuite, we currently support 60% of the UK’s unitary authorities, many of which have now reached the ‘other side’ in terms of making a successful transition to a new, unified system. 

Here we explore the journeys taken by three of our unitary clients to highlight the main lessons, tips and pitfalls to avoid when merging systems and moving to a new structure.  

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council – Taking a staged approach based on priorities 

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) emphasised the need to scope out and prioritise different aspects of the project at various stages. The BCP team decided that the day one launch of the new unitary council on 1st April 2019 needed to ensure continuity of services while reflecting key changes in branding.  
 
From there, the team planned to conduct a comprehensive audit of all inherited systems and move to a single, unified payment platform by the start of the following tax year. This gave necessary time to review and assess providers, evaluate costs, navigate compliance challenges and deliver a clear proof of concept for stage two of the project. 
 
The BCP team also underlined the importance of avoiding the risk of ‘scope creep’ in order to progress with plans and deliver key stages on time.   

Buckinghamshire Council – Seizing the opportunity to enhance payment services 

Moving to a unitary authority is a period of great change for internal teams – but it’s also the perfect time to evaluate and enhance the payment experience offered to local communities and residents.  

When Buckinghamshire Council, along with Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe District Councils, joined forces to form a unitary council, the team took the opportunity to implement a best-in-class system that would provide a seamless payment experience for services like council tax, business rates and planning fees. 

The unitary worked with PaySuite to create a tailored solution that offers a wide range of payment channels to meet varying demographic needs, while also meeting compliance and PCI DSS requirements. The new solution also provides comprehensive reporting and offers data reformatting for easy integration with back-office systems.  

Babergh and Mid-Suffolk Councils – Reducing costs by streamlining systems 

Keeping costs down and achieving more with less is a key challenge facing many unitaries and local authorities in today’s economic climate – and Babergh & Mid-Suffolk District Councils is a prime example of how switching providers can deliver significant savings. 
 
The councils had been using a different payment system for several years, though escalating costs had become a significant burden on their internal budgets. That’s when they made a strategic decision to transition to Access PaySuite in order to streamline their payment systems, reduce associated costs and deliver greater operational efficiency. 

While it can be easy to stick with the same provider you’ve had for years out of sheer convenience, it really pays to evaluate your options and compare pricing structures, especially when facing the challenge of merging entities into a single, unified system.