Agenda item

7.1

The Executive Director, Operational Services, Ajman Ali explained that following a review from internal audit in June 2018, there was a recommendation that the Housing Management System was not up to date. Therefore, the report presented to the Audit & Standards Committee outlined the work that had been completed to meet the recommendations. The Executive Director, Operational Services added that this recommendation had been outstanding for too long although this was now coming to close. He was also very pleased to see the work undertaken by officers and the progress made on the new housing system.

7.2

The Head of Neighbourhood Services, Bev Mullooly gave a presentation and the key points to note were: -

• The Open Housing Management System (OHMS) was used across the Housing and Neighbourhoods Service. This needed to be replaced in the medium to long term.
• The Housing and Neighbourhoods service used several systems alongside the OHMS. Some were:

-       Abritas for Choice Based Lettings

-       APEX and Technology Forge for Investment

-       Confirm for grounds maintenance

• Internal audit were informed that the upgrade of the OHMS by Capita, was likely to be a significant cost to the Council.
• OHMS system migrated to Northgate Hosting in December 2020.
• Market test carried out to determine potential replacement options for OHMS in January 2021.
• OHMS system upgraded to latest version with all new features and capabilities available in April 2021.
• The OHMS system was now fully supported by the supplier in April 2021.
• Full tender issued for OHMS replacement in December 2021.

In conclusion, the service felt they had adequately complied with the audits recommendations as the OHMS system was running on its latest version and the services disaster recovery plan and business continuity plan were updated. Moving forward, timescales for actions were as follows:

• Preferred supplier to be informed and contract for new housing management system to be signed in June 2022. This was currently pending approval from Legal Services.
• The implementation of the new system should be initiated in June 2022.
• Phase 1 of the implementation will be completed by September 2023.
• Phase 2 of implementation will be completed by March 2024.

7.3

Members of the Committee asked questions and the following responses were provided: -

7.4

The Head of Neighbourhood Services confirmed she was unable to discuss details that related to potential suppliers of the new system as this was commercially sensitive information.

7.5

The Head of Neighbourhood Services mentioned the Housing Service had a communication plan and risk register in place to identify and mitigate potential risks throughout the implementation phases. They had also contacted other authorities that had been through similar changes of systems.

7.6

The Head of Neighbourhood Services confirmed the budget had been allocated for this project. It was mentioned that both staff and customers had been consulted, therefore their requirements were checked and scored against potential supplier’s solutions.

7.7

The Head of Neighbourhood Services stated there will be multiple accessibility streams for customers to use the new system from various devices. In addition, customers would still have the option to call the Council if they would prefer to use that method over the new online system.

7.8

The Business Applications Systems and Data Service Manager, Jessica Kavanagh raised the importance of having a new system that after implemented was instantly functional, but also able to be adjusted if necessary. It was mentioned that there will be parts of the system that can be configured by the service. Therefore, if a change was needed that the service had control over, that can be carried out.  Alternatively, there would be elements of the system that can not be configured along with some potential areas that if requested back to the supplier, can be amended. The Business Applications Systems and Data Service Manager added that various factors including these one, had been considered throughout the procurement process so that the system was in the best possible position for the customers once implemented.

7.9

A Member of the Committee asked if a further update could be provided to Members of the Committee around the implementation plan and key dates.

The Director of Legal and Governance stated that the Housing Policy Committee may be better suited to oversee the implementation of the new system rather than the Audit & Standards Committee. 

7.10

RESOLVED: That (1) Members of the Audit and Standards Committee are recommended to note this report and close the outstanding audit action as it is complete also note the progress to replace the Open Housing Management System and associated systems; and (2) that regular updates on the implementation of the new system is passed to the Housing Policy Committee, and that this Committee is involved as and if necessary.