Issue - meetings

A verbal update will be given at the meeting

A verbal update was given about progress towards meeting the go-live date for the Northgate contract. This confirmed that the Northgate processing service commenced during the week commencing 21st June and was now helping to clear the backlog of existing benefits work. The contract was being monitored via weekly performance meetings and two temporary members of staff had been recruited to assist with phone cover and minor administrative tasks. This resource had freed capacity for additional training and user acceptance testing. In addition, overtime had been approved for revenues & benefits specialists to enable them to prioritise the project over business as usual tasks. Subject to a minor three-day slippage regarding data conversion, all elements of the project were on track. John Ellis (Account Manager at Northgate Public Services) joined the meeting for this item to comment on the update and to respond to questions.

Arising from the debate, it was confirmed that the original capital budget for the project was £162,000 and that the above-mentioned overtime will be funded from the ‘Covid outbreak management fund’.

Members reflected that not all residents would be able to engage with the self-service features of the new revenues & benefits Citizens’ Access Portaland that the less ‘IT aware’ citizens would need to be catered for. John Ellis confirmed that other non-digital access channels would still be available and that the self-service route was an additional option. However, the view was expressed that statistics were needed to monitor take up of the various means of utilising the service.

The need for robust user testing was also discussed, including the possibility of residents assisting as volunteers for this purpose.

The Chair welcomed the fact that the delivery of the project was still on schedule.