Delay in fixing council's troubled IT system
BBCWork to fix Birmingham City Council's troubled finance IT system has been delayed.
The Oracle program is designed to streamline payments and HR processes, but has been plagued with issues since going live in 2022. Originally expected to cost £19m, it has cost the local authority more than £170m.
A deadline was set for April for the reimplementation of the system - rebranded as Brindley in summer 2024 - but this has been pushed back until later in the year as tests continue, the council said.
The opposition Conservative group described the delay as "unthinkable" and said the project had been "catastrophically mismanaged", but commissioners said it was important to take time and "get it right".
Labour councillor Saima Suleman, Cabinet Member for Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said: "This decision reflects the council's focus on ensuring that the reimplementation goes smoothly and the programme is successful - prioritising readiness and stability over fixed dates.
"There is no impact on the running of the current system and services will continue to function as they are now, with colleagues and suppliers still being paid.
"The Brindley programme's budget included a contingency to accommodate for eventualities such as this. Therefore, this is not adding further cost into the existing budget."
The city council is under significant financial pressure after effectively declaring itself bankrupt in September 2023, citing the cost of the project alongside a huge equal pay claims issue.
In February, a report found the troubled IT system would cost the taxpayer more than £90m.
There were 8,000 issues reported just months after the system went live, external auditors said. Among the problems were serious flaws which enabled staff to access and potentially alter data outside their areas of responsibility.
Commissioner Myron Hrycyk, who is supporting the council to rectify its Oracle issues, has said "good progress" has been made and commissioners support the approach to "get this right rather than rush it".
The council's Conservative group criticised the local authority for failing to meet its own target, adding that it was tax payers footing the bill.
Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the opposition, said: "We now know the Council will go into next May's local elections without a functioning finance system, without resolving Equal Pay, without delivering the transformation needed to balance the books sustainably, and increasingly likely to still be facing industrial action."
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