Programme Athena Update by Martin Rayson Divisional Director HR & OD London Borough Barking & Dagenham

1. Programme Athena Update byMartin RaysonDivisional Director HR & ODLondon Borough Barking & Dagenham London Heads of HR 25th November 2011 1

2. Purpose of Session • To update attendees on the progress of Programme Athena • In overall terms  progress made in Finance • On the HR stream  clarify current HR position for each Council • To report back on the progress of the Oracle workstream, as a means to demonstrate what is possible • To draw out the barriers to active participation in the project by the HR Community

3. General Update on Programme Athena There have been changes to the programme management team…but the overall vision for Athena remains the same: “Authorities using the same processes through a shared solution, to deliver support services within London public sector organisations, in order to gain the opportunity and ability to deliver significant efficiencies and service improvements for ICT enabled support service functions, such as Finance and HR. This will fulfil local needs and demands and maximise the opportunities that exist through joint supplier management.” 3

4. The Programme is still committed to.. • Enable better and more efficient integrated working across authority and sector boundaries; • Enable the future proofing of joint working arrangements across the public sector; • Ensure that back office services can be as lean and efficient as possible ensuring that as much of taxpayers money supports front line service provision; and • Provide a strategic value for money solution for London.

5. Update on Athena – Progress made in Finance • One Oracle, One SAP, Tri-borough at procurement stage • One Cedar, and One Agresso developing business cases

6. HR systems in London

7. Update on Athena - Current position on HR • HR Oracle users at Hounslow, Camden, and Greenwich have been incorporated into the existing One Oracle (Finance) group and are exploring opportunities for convergence) • Two other HR groups have also been set up • One Northgate(Hackney, Bexley, Hillingdon,Islington, RBKC, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Lewisham) • Hackney was the One Lead but is now procuring on a neutral basis – new One Lead required • One Midland(Hammersmith &Fulham, City of London, Croydon, Redbridge, Newham, Ealing, Sutton & Merton, Kingston) • Hammersmith & Fulham was the original One Lead but now committed to Tri-borough project. New One Lead is required • Overall • Progress on the exploration of HR convergence has stalled. There is a need for new impetus particularly as the changes planned by the convergence of the financial systems will have significant impact on organisations and people

8. What we need from you.... Your honest feedback and views on engagement with the London HR community; Your ideas for replicating the Financial common processes work; Your experience in supporting similar projects; What do you see as the major issues or barriers from an HR perspective; How can we move forward with the HR workstream? 8

9. Martin Rayson’s Update on Oracle

10. Memorandum of Understanding OUR AIMS - to work collaboratively to create a Joint Service to: Create a common instance of an ERP system in Oracle Release 12 with an initial go live date for wave 1 by April 2013 and wave 2 October 2013 Avoid duplication of costs in the re-implementation to Oracle Release 12 Develop joint back office accounting, finance and procurement transactional processing services Establish combined hosting arrangements Standardise processes, practices, definitions and policies coordinated with best practice to improve the quality and consistency of service provided Create new ICT solutions including reporting, planning and forecasting functionality Work in coordination with Programme Athena Be cognisant of the different delivery models currently in place at the authorities

11. Example Current Issues Oracle configured as an historic, rigid devolved local authority model System customisations inhibiting future upgrades with prohibitive costs Chart of accounts improvements required, undermining performance currently supported by an industry of MS-Excel spreadsheets Unnecessary system complexity Unused capability within the system with insufficient training of staff Reduction in quality of data and information Inconsistent processes and accounting policies Drawn from partner boroughs

12. Example Opportunities Create one legal entity with flexibility for commissioning / provider arrangements Introduce efficiencies to reduce bureaucracy Migrate to standardised vanilla functionality Introduce greater levels of self service for suppliers, debtors and employees ‘One version of the truth’ through interactive reporting suite Automate accounting procedures for example common approach to accruals External systems convergence into Oracle Drawn from partner boroughs

13. Conceptual Architecture (Wave 1 & 2) Our belief, a combined single instance of Oracle has significant benefits

14. Route map Creating a system that is easy to use without customisation, greater levels of standardised functions that support simplified processes and procedures and a system that increases user satisfaction. Joint Service Sharing the delivery of transactional HR, payroll, finance and procurement services via a possible Joint Committee Arrangement • Consolidate • Re-implementing to Oracle Release 12 as a combined system • Migrating some systems • to Oracle • Introducing Business Analytics reporting • Empowering staff to manage budgets and resources Standardise Simplifying the Chart of Accounts, creating common processes and performance reporting with other London Boroughs through Programme Athena Other separate procurements are in progress by other authorities Athena

15. Partners Tier 1 – Wave 1 Barking & Dagenham Brent Lambeth Lewisham Tier 1 – Wave 2 Croydon Havering Tier 1 - Active partner Tier 2 - Option open for the future • Tier 2 – Wave 3 • Bexley • Bromley • City of London • Greenwich • Hounslow • Hillingdon • Kent County Council • Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea • Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames • Newham • Westminster City Council

17. Implications For HR • Single Oracle Instance • Minimal if no customisation • Potential to maximise self-service • Standardisation of procedure & policy • Business change process • Readiness of organisations • Other things going on! • Active participation in project arrangements

18. Next Steps • HR & Change Management Workshops • Agreeing shared values • Determining HR/Payroll system requirements • Understanding implications for policies/procedures • Shared services workstream – thinking about models

19. Key Questions • To what extent does Athena (or the principles of) feature in yourfuture strategy for the HR function in your Council? • What are the barriers to active participation by HR in the Athenaproject? • How the barriers might be overcome? • Would it be valuable to start by thinking about where we might be able to create a shared set of policies and procedures which might be useful irrespective of platform? • In your view is Athena an impossible dream? What is the view of your organisation? • Is the project getting the leadership it needs?

20. Questions?