AUDIT COMMITTEE                                                                                                Appendix A

ORACLE SUBGROUP

1 May 2025

ATTENDEES:

Councillor Gerard Fox

Councillor Philip Lunn

OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE:

Ros Parker, Chief Operating Officer

Ian Gutsell, Chief Finance Officer

Mark Winton, Audit Manager - Delivery

Sophie Webb, Governance and Democracy Manager

APOLOGIES:

Councillor Colin Swansborough

Councillor Matthew Beaver

John Davidson, Oracle Programme Lead

1. VERBAL UPDATE from Chief Operating Officer

1.1       RP updated the subgroup that since the last meeting, Phase 1 is progressing well with the final module due to follow in May 2025.

1.2       RP highlighted that the most significant update is around Phase 2 which completed final data migration and cutover to go live on 17 April.

1.3       The subgroup viewed the Oracle Welcome Video and noted that in terms of organisational readiness there are various training sessions, communications, guidance, signposting and Oracle Advocates being accessed across the organisation.

1.4       RP informed the subgroup that there were no concerns from the Internal Audit team and that the programme was RAG rated green in terms of technical readiness and organisational readiness.

1.5       RP noted that there has been a high level of staff booking onto training including bitesize training sessions and the Oracle Guided Learning has proved affective.

1.6       RP summarised the helpdesk statistics and noted that the tickets are at a manageable volume.

1.7       RP explained that exiting hypercare is subject to certain criteria being met including Internal Audit undertaking full audits of key areas.

1.8       RP informed the subgroup that the first quarterly update will be released by Oracle in May 2025 and the process is well documented to ensure that this and future updates are managed effectively.

1.9       RP updated the subgroup that the scope for Phase 3 includes payroll, employee self-service, manager self-service and schools. Phase 3 will follow the same stages as Phase 2, with the exception of Parallel Payroll Running (PPR) before cutover with the biggest risk being the quality of the technical build.

1.10     RP highlighted that Phase 3 will affect all employees and work is being undertaken to ensure that those who do not have a Council device, can access the self-service Oracle systems such as expenses.

1.11     RP informed the subgroup that Phase 3 will follow the same ‘adopt not adapt’ approach using lessons learned from Phases 1 and 2.

2. DISCUSSION

2.1       The Subgroup discussed the following points:

· How Phase 3 will affect service to schools

· The challenges around payroll and complexity of the data.

· Additional functionality of Oracle which could be explored after Phase 3 implementation.