Essex county council plans £35m IT deal

Essex council has published a tender for the delivery of ICT and related services for adult and children's services social care. The contract may include joining up service provision with other service providers such as local authorities, NHS GP commissioning and NHS mental health services. According to a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 23 March, the chosen supplier will need to support a "rapidly changing environment of social care", potentially involving far greater use of third parties. The council also wants any software developed under the five year contract to be provided for longer than the original deal on a maintenance-only basis. This article is published by Guardian Professional. For updates on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here. Sign up here to our new weekly email rounding up Guardian.co.uk's coverage of social care.