The Appeals Service Northern Ireland chooses Civica to transform digital services

Civica extends public services presence in Northern Ireland with five-year, £3.4m contract to increase digital customer engagement and efficient case management 

Civica, a global leader in software for public services, has agreed a new five-year, £3.4m contract with The Appeals Service Northern Ireland (TAS). The company will provide an automated digital platform to manage intelligent workflow, scheduling, case management and document management for the service. 

TAS is Northern Ireland’s centralised appeals service, the body responsible for providing support to independent tribunals created by legislation to determine appeals against decisions made by the Department for Communities in relation to Personal Independence Payments and Child Maintenance Service; HM Revenues and Customs; Northern Ireland Housing Executive; and Land & Property Services. 

Employing around 130 people in Belfast and Omagh, the service receives a high volume of enquiries, with 12,000 Tribunal Session Records and 10,000 live appeal records at any one time. 

To meet its digital transformation agenda, TAS required a new automated system to support the case management of differing levels appeals. Following a competitive tender exercise and via this new partnership, Civica will build a fully automated, digital platform to meet multi-channel requirements and remove a high level of existing manual transactions. 

The new system will enhance efficiency in a number of ways. Online document management supports the TAS paperless agenda as all appeals packs will be available online for download, rather than having to be printed and posted. Civica’s platform will also allow improved data analytics, helping users to connect data across systems, showing an individual’s full appeals history and meeting the service’s increasingly sophisticated reporting requirements. 

Mark Owens, Managing Director at Civica Northern Ireland added: We’re delighted to have won this new contract with The Appeals Service and look forward to delivering an improved digital platform for all service users. As a major software and technology provider in Northern Ireland, we are fully committed to transforming the way public services operate via increasing cloud, data and digital innovation. This latest partnership showcases our commitment and expertise to work at the heart of Northern Ireland’s public services.

Civica is a leading partner for Northern Ireland's organisations across government departments, policing, health & care, housing and public safety, together with commercial organisations. Its major public services customers include NI Direct, the Department of Education, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Services and Belfast, Southern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts.

Civica's 2019 Changing Landscape report focuses on the digital future for Northern Ireland - 'Strengthening Northern Ireland's digital identity’. For more information please visit www.civica.com/digitisingni