Buckinghamshire Council is preparing to move to a more efficient single system for all revenues and benefits functions, which includes council tax, business rates and benefits.
This will complete the merge of the Chiltern and South Bucks systems with the already merged Aylesbury and Wycombe system – creating one new unified system serving the whole of the county.
The new and improved system hopes to include:
- Improved customer self-service functions and real-time notifications of their transactions
- Reduction in administration and an increase efficiency allowing council staff more time to spend on customers with priority and complex needs
- A reduction in printing and postage costs
- Increasing the council’s ability to improve collection rates which can be used to pay for essential services
- New system makes it easier to check claims are correct and to clamp down on fraud
The merging of the systems will require an 11-week closedown of the Chiltern and South Bucks systems and a 5-week closedown (running concurrently) of the Aylesbury and Wycombe system.
During this process, over 20 million items will be migrated, and 1.5 million resident accounts will be converted.
The temporary system shutdown is due to start on Monday 15 August for Chiltern and South Bucks systems, and Thursday 22 September for the Aylesbury and Wycombe system.
The target date to have the new system up and running is Thursday 27 October.
The majority of residents will be unaffected by this closedown period – council tax direct debit and standing order collections, housing benefit payments and all online payments will continue as normal.
For help or assistance, residents can contact the council online:
Or by telephone: 0300 1316000
Residents are encouraged to check Buckinghamshire Council’s website for updates on the status of the service.
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