EIGHT out of nine local authorities in the area have now backed a York IT company to win a blockbuster nine-figure contract to transform local government communications in York and North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire County Council and Selby District Council are the latest authorities to choose Agilisys as the preferred bidder to bring "high-tech solutions" to council services throughout the region - a project which could generate 2,000 jobs over the next ten years.

Now only Scarborough Council is still to make up its mind about whether Agilisys should be the chosen firm to bring 24-hour, seven-days-a-week services to 750,000 people in York and North Yorkshire. It will make its decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

The project, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, will mean that people will be able to electronically submit or study planning applications, pay their council tax, renew library books, notify the authorities of a change of address or even pay parking fines at any time of the day or night.

If, as seems likely, Agilysis is the preferred bidder, it ends a three-year search by the North Yorkshire ICT partnership and will double Agilisys' workforce to 800 over the next two years.

Agilisys was formed only last April when it broke away as the systems and technology arm of the York-based facilities management giant, Jarvis, to become a separate company.

It still services the £1 billion turnover plc and continues to share its headquarters, occupying an entire floor of Jarvis House, York.

City of York Council became the sixth authority in the region to approve Agilisys last week, joining Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire and Ryedale District Councils.

Updated: 09:39 Friday, March 28, 2003