To receive a presentation on the implementation of the Business World System

Contact:  James Walton, Director of Finance Governance and Assurance. Tel 01743 258915

The Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance gave an overview of the Implementation of the Business World financial system. 

Members raised concerns regarding schools’ ability to raise and pay invoices using the new system.  The Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance agreed that some school administrators were experiencing difficulties but there had been a disappointing attendance rate at the training provided, with not all staff booking a place on the training and only 55% of those booked onto training actually attending. He continued that training had not been made mandatory and with hindsight this may have been an error.  The implementation team had also over estimated the IT literacy of staff using the system.

The Director of Finance Governance and Assurance confirmed a specialist training company had been employed to deliver training and it was their recommendation that training was not started until mid-February.  Earlier training would have left too long a gap between the training and access to the new system. 

In response to a Member’s query about the length of time that the system was inaccessible during the transition between systems, the Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance confirmed that this had been for only 5 days which was not unusual at year end.  Schools final balances were calculated before the SAMIS system had been cut off as happened every year, there would have been a number of invoices not recorded.  He continued that this should not have had a huge impact on schools’ final balances but he agreed to discuss the issue with the School’s Team.  He agreed that not all service areas fully understood the implications of closing the SAMIS system and a number of invoices had payment delayed.  He continued that the issue of communication had been identified as a learning point.

The Director of Finance Governance and Assurance advised that data migration had been undertaken for all companies who had been financially active during the previous two years, and that the number of additional suppliers that schools required to be added to the system had been underestimated. 

The Director of Transformation and Workforce confirmed that e-learning and demonstration films were available for all staff to supplement classroom training that had been undertaken.  The e-learning modules had received positive feedback from users.  In response to a Members question, he confirmed that some areas had particularly effective and knowledgeable members of staff who were able to assist colleagues experiencing difficulties. 

Head of Finance and Deputy S151 Officer explained that the Business World System required a purchase order to be raised for each invoice.  Of the 11,400 invoices processed since the implementation of the new system only 2,800 had purchase orders raised with the remainder having to be manually processed.  She continued that the better scrutinization of invoices had resulted in a higher number being rejected for not containing the correct information required by law, or simply not adding up.  Rejected invoices were returned to the suppliers for amendment. 

In response to a Member’s question the Head of Finance and Deputy S151 Officer

explained that an additional eleven FTE temporary staff had been recruited to deal with the backlog caused by the need to manually process invoices, and permanent staff from different departments, had taken on additional work or had worked additional hours without pay to assist in clearing the backlog as a gesture of good will.  The Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance commented that the amount of good will from staff had been underestimated and this had been recorded as a learning point. 

Head of Finance and Deputy S151 Officer confirmed that some departments were not able to use the new system in the way it was designed.  Passenger Transport and Shire Service both had issues and work was being undertaken to address these.  In response to a Member’s question, the Head of Finance and Deputy S151 Officer confirmed that the number of invoices that required manual handling was decreasing as the Business World system was bedding in, but it would never be possible to reduce the number to zero due to exceptions in the system.

Members noted that the implementation date for Business World had been pushed back from April 2018 to April 2019, the Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance clarified the timing of the savings and commented that although the savings were delayed this had been provided for in the contingency plan.  The Head of Workforce and Transformation confirmed that staff could not be removed from the establishment until the system was fully implemented and bedded in.  She continued that savings would be achieved through improved efficiencies and the purpose of the Transformation Programme had not been to reduce the establishment but had been necessary as the previous systems were no longer fit for purpose.  The Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance confirmed that £9m projected savings from the implementation of the Digital Transformation Programme would be in perpetuity, £1.7m had been delivered 12 months early and if delivered in full the new systems would have repaid the capital cost within three years. 

The Director of Workforce and Transformation advised that the payroll runs on 20^th and 31^st of the Month had been achieved successfully and all 13,000 staff had received payslips.  She continued that an interface between Business World and the Pension System had been put in place.  She added that data migration had affected some sickness leave payments and there had been some difficulties with timesheets in the expenses system. 

The Chairman extended the Committee’s thanks and appreciation to staff for their hard work and for their commitment and engagement in implementing the Business World system, especially to those who had worked extra hours to ensure that payments were made to suppliers.

RESOLVED:

i)     That the Committee’s thanks be conveyed to staff for the dedication shown in the implementation of the Business world system;

ii)    That learning regarding improved communication be noted and acted upon for future system implementations; and

iii)   That the Portfolio Holder be requested to update Cabinet of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee findings regarding the implementation of Business World system, and that the issues raised be recognised and resources allocated where required.