Agenda item

The Licensing and Support Services Manager highlighted to new Board Members that at first meeting of the Board in 2022/23, Board Members had agreed to create a reserve of £150,000 underspend to fund the implementation of automation of data entry for customers; enabling a range of services to be addressed by the client entering data in forms on the WRS website, which would then upload directly into the IDOX Uniform back-office system.

Following on from this, WRS officers agreed to provide a short progress report at future Board meetings on the implementation of the project. 

Governance

At the last Board meeting held on 29^th June 2023, Board Members had requested additional assurances around the governance of the project to ensure that the correct controls were in place. Members were informed that officers continued to use the Bromsgrove Project Framework as a mechanism for Project Governance and Management but had also introduced an extra level of scrutiny for sign off.

Officers had liaised with the councils’ shared Audit service and had agreed that the Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services, the Director of Finance and Wyre Forest District Council’s ICT Manager would be responsible for sign off prior to any project go live milestones that were executed. Officers hoped that this provided Board Members with the assurance that these senior officers would be evaluating the situation independently and objectively, making any decision proportionate to the project.

In addition to this, colleagues from Audit would audit the financial elements of the project throughout to ensure that all safeguards were in place to mitigate any risks of monies being moved to the wrong place or account.

Progress

The testing and evaluation of forms continued. The project remained in the first testing phase whilst officers awaited the merchant ID number to enable on-line card payments, so progress to Stage 2 testing could commence. Stage 1 testing had involved internal testing with different teams within WRS, using officers from across the service.

Alongside the testing phase a program of communications was being planned in conjunction with the district communications teams. It was envisaged that a soft launch strategy would be executed but stakeholder groups would need to be approached to ensure that the correct channels were used to provide information, whether this be through the district council websites or other means.

In parallel to the wider automation project, officers continued to assess the roll out of electronic ID Cards in the taxi trade for both safeguarding and enforcement measures. IT colleagues at Wyre Forest continued to work on the dashboard implementation. Once officers understood the timeframes of this in more detail, a plan would be executed for implementation across the County.

The Licensing and Support Services Manager responded to questions from Board Members with regards to ID Cards.  Members were informed that every license holder would be required to carry an ID Card that was registered against their badge.  These ID Cards could be scanned by officers when carrying out any enforcement activities, providing a quick method of checking the drivers’ details and photo identity. Members of the public would be able to use their mobile phone to ‘tap’ ID Badges with the drivers details then being displayed on their mobile phone.  It had been suggested that licensed drivers could display their ID Cards on the back of their headrests for ease of access for members of the public.

Members queried if the ID Cards would be suitable for members of the public who were visually impaired.  The Licensing and Support Services Manager agreed to look into this.  

Part 2 of the testing would take 4 to 6 weeks before going live.  Officers would wait to see how the first forms worked before releasing any further forms, therefore the forms would be released in batches, starting with those where applications were more frequent.

The first stage of testing did use different internal teams within WRS, as initially this was seen as beneficial.  However, Stage two testing would see external officers outside of WRS testing, with the possibility of Board Members also being involved in testing. The Licensing and Support Services Manager reiterated that the back office system needed to be live and correct, in that licensed driver’s details were correct and updated live onto the system. 

Members were disappointed with the length of time it had taken for officers to receive the merchant ID number.  Officers highlighted that the merchant ID number had now been received and that not all of the delay had been caused by the 3 month wait for the ID number; additional governance had caused some delays.     

The Licensing and Support Services Manager further responded to a query as to whether the project had had to be pushed back due to the additional governance involvement of the shared Audit service and if this had affected the original budget.  Members were informed that the first stage of testing of forms had been pushed back from June/July to October; officers would now relook at the project plan.  

The Chairman took the opportunity to thank officers and stated that the progress made on the Automation project was also down to the great work of the previous WRS Chairman and Board Members and this should be acknowledged.  The safety of the travelling public, which included women and children, was paramount. The Chairman further stated that he hoped that a good news story would be rolled out before the Christmas period on this important project.

RESOLVEDthat the progress on the Automation Project, be noted.