Meeting documents

Councillor Mrs J Blake

Cabinet Member for Business Transformation

To consider the attached report

Contact Officer:  Maryvonne Hassall (01296) 585663

(a)          Decision(s)

(1)  That the investment specified in section 1.0 of Appendix B attached to the confidential part of the Cabinet agenda, be approved and funded so that work can continue on delivering a leading edge, forward thinking platform to enable AVDC to develop customer first processes, a streamlined internal operation and a framework for increased opportunities for external commercial sales.

(2)  That the indicative costs and benefits of implementing the full five year strategy outlined in section 2.0 of Appendix B (attached to the confidential part of the Cabinet agenda), be noted, it being appreciated that at this stage both costs and benefits are expected to change as work continues on developing plans for future years.

(b)          Reason(s) for Decision(s)

To progress the strategy in accordance with the approval given by Council.

(c)        Alternative Options Considered

Not to progress the strategy, but this would be contrary to the Council’s previously stated objectives.

(d)       Relevant Scrutiny Committee

Finance and Services.  That Committee received a similar report at its meeting on 4 April, 2017.  The Chairman attended the Cabinet meeting and elaborated upon the Committee’s deliberations.  The Committee had supported the funding of phase one.

(e)        Conflicts of Interest / Dispensation(s)

None.

Cabinet recalled that the IT Strategy for 2017 – 2022 (under the banner of "Connected Knowledge") had been approved by full Council on 22 February, 2017.  It had at that time been noted that the Strategy would be implemented in phases.  A report was submitted setting out the funding requirements for, and the expected benefits from, the first phase and an indication of the costs of subsequent phases.  A similar report had been considered by the Finance and Services Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 4 April.  The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee attended to elaborate upon the Committee’s deliberations.

Delivery of the Connected Knowledge Strategy would enable AVDC to continue to be at the vanguard of innovative thinking, delivering excellent customer service, making savings in service delivery and generating income by both supporting general commercial opportunities, and providing consultancy services to other councils.

The Strategy would be delivered over a five year period.  Phase one covered the period up to the end of 2017.  The learning from phase one would be factored into the proposals for subsequent phases.  A further update would be submitted in December, 2017, at which time proposals for the implementation, funding and expected benefits of future phases would be presented.

AVDC had a good track record of delivering large scale, strategic projects of this type, e.g. the Waterside Theatre, and the "Right Here Right Now" programme.  These were high profile transformational programmes delivered successfully.  Phase one of the Connected Knowledge Strategy would require investment in three key areas:-

·         The introduction of process automation and customer self service.

·         The removal of legacy technology and the introduction of more flexible systems that would further support integration of data to enable customer needs to be anticipated.

·         The introduction of innovative new solutions such as voice recognition.

Experience gained in connection with earlier major change programmes was that strong governance processes were required both to ensure that the programme was delivered on time and on budget and that any variations in scope or costs were closely scrutinised.  This also ensured that the predicted benefits were achieved and banked. Membership of any governance board would include Councillors.  Accordingly, the release of funds during the course of implementing the programme would be closely monitored.  As with any major change programme of this type there would inevitably be changes in circumstances.  Phase one covered the foundational projects required to deliver future strategic and visionary elements.

A programme of this scale and complexity required dedicated support to ensure that focus on delivery was maintained throughout the life cycle of the project:-

·         A programme manager (1) to manage and control the overall programme and ensure that it focussed on the anticipated outcomes.

·         Project managers (5) to deliver individual projects and outputs.  It was envisaged that one of these individuals would be a senior project manager.

·         Business analysts (5) to complete detailed analysis into current processes, technology solutions and costs.

AVDC staff would wherever possible be used to fill programme roles and would be supplemented by external resources where there was insufficient internal resource or there was a requirement for a specific skills set which was not available internally within AVDC.  Additional non-dedicated resources would also be required from other internal teams such as Communications and Marketing, Sales and Finance and Legal.  Member involvement was essential to assist with the direction and benefits realisation of the programme.

Details of the costings were included in the confidential part of the agenda.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the investment specified in section 1.0 of Appendix B attached to the confidential part of the Cabinet agenda, be approved and funded so that work can continue on delivering a leading edge, forward thinking platform to enable AVDC to develop customer first processes, a streamlined internal operation and a framework for increased opportunities for external commercial sales.

(2)  That the indicative costs and benefits of implementing the full five year Strategy outlined in section 2.0 of Appendix B be noted, it being appreciated that at this stage both costs and benefits are expected to change as work continued on developing plans for future years.