Minutes of the previous meeting were
AGREED as a true and accurate record.
3/25
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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All Members present are
required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as
possible thereafter
(i)Any disclosable pecuniary interests and /
or
(ii)Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in
respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this
meeting
NOTES:
·Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary
interest
·As well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)
·Members with a significant personal interest may
participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that
interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Cllr Denise Turner-Stewart, Cabinet Member for
Customer and Communities
Andy Brown, Executive Director - Resources
Sarah Hardman, Programme Director - Customer
Experience Journey
Eleanor Brown, Assistant Director - Customer
Experience
Adrian Stockbridge, Assistant Director -
Transformation
Key points raised
during the discussion:
The Cabinet Member for Customer and
Communities introduced the report.
The Chairman asked if the level of
investment required for the programme was prudent given the
potential upcoming local government reorganisation (LGR), and if
there was an argument for pausing at least part of the programme
and potentially redeploying the funds. The Programme Director -
Customer Experience Journey explained that the stage-gate process
now has two stages, though clarity regarding the changes due to LGR
is awaited. The current process involves reviewing options across
the planned activity, assessing the value of continuing the
programme as planned or continuing with a different timescale, and
identifying areas in the council where the programme was enabling
efficiencies to understand the implications of any changes.
The Executive Director for Resources
added that the planned investment would need to be reviewed in
light of any decision from government, as would many other areas,
and that the council has to continue delivering efficiencies
realised through the programme to ensure a balanced 2025/26 budget.
LGR and any related decision, he added, could significantly change
the programme’s landscape and the investment spend required,
so the programme had to be agile and flexible to adapt to potential
changes.
The Chairman asked
for examples of things that would be progressed at the current
stage, assuming LGR went ahead. The Programme Director - Customer
Experience Journey explained that this assessment process is being
worked through, giving the example of considering whether it would
be prudent to invest in a new system, where this might be suggested
in the programme, or if maximising the use of existing systems
would be better. The programme’s plan included elements that
incorporate flexibility, given the need to adequately respond to
changes in demand, volume and types of function. Readiness for LGR
is being reviewed in the context of this work and work is occurring
to ensure data remains robust and able to provide insights to
respond to customer need. They also noted that culture change
warrants revisiting to best understand the highest priority areas
of focus, while ensuring that officers maintain a customer-centric
outlook.
A member asked if
different unitary authority structures are being considered. The
Programme Director - Customer Experience Journey explained that
several scenarios are being examined. Any future unitary
authorities could choose to operate through different combinations
of in-house delivery and a range of different models, and in a
single or multiple unitary authorities. Multiple options are being
looked for the different possibilities, she added.
The member asked how
potential changes to the council’s footprint would be dealt
with by officers planning work at the present stage given the
current lack of knowledge. The Programme Director - Customer
Experience Journey explained this is being considered as much as
possible given ...
view the full minutes text for item 6/25
Cllr David Lewis, Cabinet Member for Finance
and Resources
Andy Brown, Executive Director of
Resources
Karen Telfer, Portfolio Lead for
Communities
Key points made
during the discussion:
The Cabinet Member for Finance and
Resources introduced the report.
In reference to paragraph two in the
report, a member asked for more detail on the three tickets that
had been open for over a year and the key findings of the audit
reports that gave ‘Minimal’ or
‘Partial’ assurances. The Portfolio Lead for
Communities explained that the three tickets were scheduled to be
delivered for Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2025. March 2025 was the date for
delivery in the test environment, and May 2025 for the
‘live’ environment. There were target completion dated
for all action in the audit reports, she added, before noting that
all actions with a target completion before the date of this
meeting have been completed. It was also noted that the
integrations audit had improved from a ‘Partial’
to a ‘Reasonable’ assurance rating, and accounts
receivable improved from a ‘Reasonable’ to a
‘Substantial’ assurance rating. An accounts
payable issue, purchase orders reflecting incorrect amounts, was
one of the three tickets part of the Q1 release upgrade.
The member asked if there were any
outstanding issues of concern or if everything was on track. The
Portfolio Lead for Communities explained that the team meet with
Unit4 twice a week, prioritised and categorised any new tickets and
marked progress made. The Executive Director for Resources
clarified that the changes would be added to the test environment
in March 2025 and that the team had requested
‘hotfixes’ on some issues, i.e. resolutions to system
problems that can be implemented quickly and upon request, before
any planned upgrade. The planned upgrade in Q1, i.e. March 2025,
would apply a lot of the fixes, but Unit4these had to work well in
the test environment, and until the proposed fix was tested and in
the live environment, they would still be considered as
outstanding.
The Vice-Chairman asked what the
three tickets the council wanted Unit4 to fix were. The Portfolio
Lead for Communities explained that the three tickets were all in
the finance area: incorrect values between different screens (with
a manual workaround in place),a missing ‘Accept’
button in a goods receipt (with a manual workaround in place), and
a ticket in the ‘Financial Planning and Analysis’
module.
In reply to a comment raised by the
Vice-Chairman, the Portfolio Lead for Communities clarified that no
additional money had been paid to secure resolution of the
tickets.
The Vice-Chairman suggested that the
committee might choose to meet with Unit4 directly, unless it would
complicate any contractual discussions already underway. The
Executive Director for Resources supported leveraging the
committee’s support though currently, the council is working
well in a collaborative relationship with Unit4, and he envisioned
there may be a time when the committee should re-engage with the
supplier.
For the Select Committee to review the
attached Forward Work Programme and Recommendation Tracker, making
suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate.
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