The Leicestershire ICT Partnership already includes four borough councils in the county, with more expected to join.

A tender released today by the partnership said that the contract will last for five  years, with an option to extend for a further two years.

The tender document said: “Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council will be the delegated  lead authority and the sole contracting party on the procurement of outsourced  information and communication technology contract and the other councils stated herein will be designated users.”

The other founding partners are Melton Borough Council, Blaby District Council and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.

The contract will include the delivery of services including service desk, end user, infrastructure, networks, disaster recovery, business applications, projects, application systems management and software management. Optional services will include web development and hardware support and management.

The tender said the contract will be worth an initial £4m but could grow to £20m if other partners come on board.

The closing date for tender bids is 7 May, and  SME suppliers are being encouraged to apply.