DWP consolidates eight Oracle support contracts into existing £50m engagement

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DWP consolidates eight Oracle support contracts into existing £50m engagement

They have all been brought under the umbrella of the DWP's biggest support contract for Oracle – at no additional expense to the exchequer.

Published on 1st March 2024

The Department for Work and Pensions has consolidated eight separate Oracle support contracts into an existing £50m arrangement – and at no extra cost to the taxpayer.

The DWP’s primary commercial vehicle for Oracle support – signed directly with the software vendor – was put in place in April 2022 for an initial term of two years, with spending of about £24m during this time. This deal has been extended for a further year and, as of the start of the additional term, will also encompass the services currently delivered via seven other discrete contracts.

Despite this expansion, the consolidated agreement will still cost the department £12m a year – the same price as the single biggest deal into which the others are all being folded, according to a commercial notice newly published by the department.

"DWP is bringing [seven] additional Oracle software support contracts into the main Oracle technical support contract… which are due to expire on 5 April 2024, as per Regulation 72(1)(b) of PCR2015 (Public Contracts Regulations). This has no impact to the total contract value previously published.”

Another one-year extension is available to the department, which would take the overall value of the deal to £49.5m.

The upcoming need to renew its Oracle support arrangements beyond 2024 has featured on the DWP’s commercial pipeline for the past year. As part of this process, the department has noted that the “renewal of main support contracts” brings with it the “opportunity to co-term other Oracle contracts” with the core engagement.

The extension of its main agreement with the DWP is one of a number of major deals Oracle has with public bodies. Its recent contract wins include engagements with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, NHS Business Services Authority, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.