A £2m-plus Microsoft computer software licensing contract to allow Pembrokeshire County Council to continue to function as an organisation has been backed by senior councillors.

The licensing will cost some £2,100,000 – £2,200,000 based on benchmarked pricing from Crown Commercial Services; the current arrangement is due to expire on December 13.

A report for members at the November 4 meeting of the council’s Cabinet said it was a requirement to conduct the Council’s day-to-day business, in addition to safeguarding ICT activities.

One such exercise being run by CCS is the aggregation for a Microsoft licence solutions partner covering all Microsoft licensing products.

Presenting the recommendation to fellow Cabinet members, Cabinet Member for Communities, Corporate Improvement and the Well-being of Future Generations Cllr Neil Prior said: “We wouldn’t be able to run this organisation without Microsoft software,” adding the cost of changing to a different system would be “enormous”.

Council Leader Cllr Jon Harvey questioned the large sum of money, and was told it boiled down to £18.83 per month per service user.

Members agreed to delegate the decision to award a contract to a Microsoft licence solutions partner following the CCS aggregated tender exercise.