A group of north west authorities have announced plans for a shared business support framework worth up to £38m.

Cheshire East Borough Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council have published a prior information notice for a new system covering finance, procurement, human resources and payroll.

The contract will include design, build and implementation services, as well as possibly the creation of new modules to improve the system.

The notice said that the councils would take the lead in managing and delivering the business change aspects of any future programme.

Although they have not firmly committed to the framework, Warrington Borough Council and Wirral Borough Council have indicated their interest in using the framework.

Without their participation, the value of the contract would be around £20m.

The councils have decided not to divide the contract into lots, “owing to the size, nature of the services and to help ensure the best service continuity”.

The intention is to award separate call-off contracts, but the councils say they will also explore awarding a single joint call-off contract or separate call-offs.

In October, the two councils decided to take finance and ICT services back in hose from the CoSocius company that they jointly owned.