Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: October 14, 2024

Purpose:

Content: Salford City Council – Record of Decision   I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby:   ·      approve an exception to Contractual Standing Orders as permitted within the City Council Constitution for the reason(s) highlighted in the table below and the award of the Contract for a new HR, Payroll and Organisational Development software, as detailed in the table below:   Detail required Answers Title/Description of Contracted Service/Supply/Project Project Genesis: the procurement of a new HR, Payroll and Organisational Development software to MHR International UK’s iTrent HR and Payroll software. Name of Successful Contractor MHR International UK Limited Supplier Registration Number (to be supplied by Corporate Procurement) Type of organisation (to be supplied by Corporate Procurement) Choose an item. Status of Organisation (to be supplied by Corporate Procurement) Choose an item. Contract Value (£) £1,598,913 full project Contract Duration months Contract Start Date 28/10/2024 Contract End Date 14/01/2023 Optional Extension Period 1 63 months Optional Extension Period 2 60 months Who will approve each Extension Period? Procurement Board (extension > £150k) Contact Officer (Name & number) Steve Fry Samantha Betts Lead Service Group Resources and Transformation Reason for CSO Exception: The goods / services / works are only obtainable from one provider and there is no other provider available to allow genuine competition Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: The execution of works or the supply of goods or services is controlled by a statutory body Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: Delivers Best Value to the Council Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: Special education, health or social care contracts, if it is considered in the Council’s best interests and to meet the Council’s obligations under relevant legislation Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: The execution of works or the supply of goods and services is required so urgently as not to permit compliance with the requirements of competition Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: Security works where the publication of documents or details in the tendering process could prejudice the security of SCC and Salford residents Tick if it applies Reason for CSO Exception: Procurements made through, or on behalf of, any consortium, local authority, statutory or similar body, provided that tenders or quotations are invited and contracts placed in accordance with national or EU legislation. Tick if it applies Funding Source Revenue Budget Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s Employment Charter   EC: Committed to sign up to the Charter EC: Accredited Living Wage Employer     The reasons are: The Council must replace its legacy SAP HR, payroll, and finance system (also referred to as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system), which was implemented in 2000. The technology platform which it operates on will no longer be supported after 2027 and it is therefore reaching ‘end of life’ when it will no longer be supported by SAP. The system itself has been heavily customised since 2000, to fit the way the Council has operated since implementation, which has resulted in upgrades and developments, provided by SAP, being technically difficult and resource intensive to apply. Considering this, we must move from the current SAP system to a replacement before that time and it has therefore been decided to procure new, more modern and fit for purpose systems prior to the 2027 backstop date.    This report focuses on the HR and Payroll request, the finance system will go through a separate process.   Options considered and rejected were: In January 2024, an open advert was placed on the Chest inviting interested and suitably qualified companies to express an interest in a Soft Market Testing exercise.   Sixty-four expressions of interest were received, and thirty on-time responses were submitted. This included a range of companies which offered either a full ERP or a best of breed solution.   The project evaluation team consisting of officers from the Procurement, HR, OD, Payroll, Finance, Accounts Payable/Receivable & DDaT (Digital, Data and Technology) teams, who evaluated the responses.   Due to the high number of responses received the decision was made to focus on demonstrations from the software vendors, either individually or as part of a partnership led delivery model. This was to ensure no repetition or duplication of demonstrations, and that the evaluation team were able to focus on the core systems.   Eight companies were invited to attend half-day demonstration sessions. Several officers from across the wider HR and Organisational Development, Payroll, Finance, Procurement and DDaT teams attended the sessions.   Feedback was captured from each of the sessions from all attendees. Five companies were then invited to attend individual deep dive full day workshops to further explore their systems and capabilities.   It was evident from the demonstrations and the feedback from the attendees, that for HR, Payroll and OD, the system from MHR, iTrent, was deemed best in class in comparison to other system demonstrations, when comparing the breadth of functionality and end user interface and experience.   MHR, iTrent is a proven market leader, a product which has been developed for local government, including the complexities of a wide range of terms and conditions and pension scheme administration along with a user friendly and accessible self-service (interactive payslips, annual leave, timesheets, mileage etc), manager dashboards (visible data and insight), occupational health, safety, and wellbeing modules, together with case management and is also fully mobile enabled. It is used by over 180 Local Authorities and has been implemented without issue across these organisations which led to 8 out of the 10 Greater Manchester Local Authorities creating and implementing the framework.   Assessment of risk: This is high risk programme, with significant risks to the financial stewardship of the council, along with a high risk for the management of employee and payroll data. This risk is mitigated by the resourcing of a dedicated project team, with a robust governance process in place and internal audit involved from the beginning.   The source of funding is from the revenue budget: Agreement has been reached to use elements of the Transformation Reserve to support the project, with additional funding through the revenue account details of which will be built into the Medium-Term Financial Plan.   Legal advice obtained – Yes.   Financial advice obtained – Yes.   Procurement advice obtained – Yes.   HR advice obtained – Yes.   Climate change implications obtained – Yes.   The following documents have been used to assist the decision process: ·      Approval to initiate a competitive process for a replacement ERP system was granted at the Procurement Board meeting on 26th June 2024, following a Lead Member pre-briefing on 11th June 2024. ·      Prior to presentation at the Procurement Board (14th October 2024), this report has been approved by CMT (4th September 2024) and LMB (10 September 2024). ·      (if the documents disclose exempt or confidential information, they should not be listed, but the following wording shall be inserted : "(The relevant documents contain exempt or confidential information and are not available for public inspection)":-   Contact Officer:        ·      Steve Fry, Director of Digital & Customer Services Steven.Fry@salford.gov.uk ·      Samantha Betts, Director of HR & Organisational Development samantha.betts@salford.gov.uk   Please delete from the bullets below any which are not relevant: ·      The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract. ·      Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is the     Signed:    Paul Dennett       Dated:    14 October 2024.                   City Mayor   FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY   *           This decision was published on 14 October 2024 *           This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 21 October 2024 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.