Support services group, Capita, has secured a five-year extension to its partnership with Birmingham City Council.

Under the new agreement, the Service Birmingham joint venture, which provides ICT support and contact centres, will now run until 2021.

The joint venture will also improve council tax collection rates from 96.3% to 98% by 2017, which will boost the local authority’s income by £4.8m.

‘It’s a vote of confidence in the work our staff have put in to improve the council’s ICT function since 2006, and to turn the contact centre into one of the very best in local government,’ said Service Birmingham chief executive, Stewart Wren.

Around 132 revenue service staff will transfer from the council to the partnership, under TUPE regulations, as part of the new agreement.

‘Our relationship with Capita through Service Birmingham has been a very successful one, as we have begun to modernise services, despite this being a huge challenge for an organisation which had previously conducted its affairs in traditional ways for a very long time,’ said cabinet member for finance, Cllr Randal Brew.

The support services group has also announced that it is keeping 250 staff in its regional business centre in Cumbria after its 10-year contract with the county council finished last month.

‘Although we were disappointed with the council’s decision not re-bid the strategic partnership, we remain committed to having a business presence in Cumbria, and look forward to continued success in the region,’ said Capita’s local government strategic partnerships director, Richard Marchant.

Cumbria CC has also announced that it will not be extending its highways contract with Amey, which comes to an end in March 2012, and will be bringing the service in-house.