Key information
Executive summary
The roll out has been successful, and this decision seeks approval to continue the support to existing programmes and enable new programmes to be developed and as well as new features and enhancements to be added to existing ones.
Decision
• Expenditure of up to £250,000 to extend the current contract with Keytree Ltd and agency resource from Xpertise to allow development services to continue until an ongoing development supplier has been procured; and
• Expenditure of up to £1,250,000 for the financial year 2020-2021 to procure a supplier to continue enhancement and development of the Open Project System and the Skills Gateway.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
In 2016, Mayoral Decision MD2007 approved expenditure of up to £2.5m to build a new grant and project management IT system for Housing & Land (H&L) and the Regeneration Unit. This followed notification from Homes England that the Project Control System (PCS), a shared IT system used for managing land projects, was being decommissioned in 2017 and analysis work showing the aging Investment Management System (IMS) was no longer meeting business needs.
A competitive procurement exercise using Transport for London’s (TfL) IT Solutions Framework was conducted and Keytree Ltd was appointed as the supplier to help GLA build the new IT system. The contract with Keytree for these services (the “Keytree Contract”) was entered into pursuant to a call-off contract from the TfL digital framework agreement dated August 2015 that was procured in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2016, in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. This call-off contract covered an initial term up to 17th August 2019, with the option to extend by a further 24 months to 2021.
A delivery team was then set up consisting of internal GLA staff and members of Keytree who worked from City Hall offices (“Delivery Team”).
Using the Agile delivery approach (an iterative approach to software delivery that builds software incrementally from the start of the project), the new system, now known as the Open Project System (OPS), developed by the Delivery Team, has successfully replaced both PCS and IMS, eliminated a number of spreadsheets and offline processes and is supporting 29 programmes across Housing & Land and Regeneration. The system is also used to manage the bidding process, ongoing grant management and payments for the following programmes:
Given the early successes of OPS, MD2182 in late 2017 approved further expenditure of up to £500,000 to extend the contract for development work by three months to 30 June 2018. This allowed for additional enhancements to the OPS system by Keytree including self-registration of external organisations and the ability to set payment authorisation limits against individual officers. MD2269 in spring 2018 also confirmed an option set out in the Keytree Contract to extend the contract term for an additional 24 months which was exercised for the Business As Usual or Run Phase services (covering data storage, licenses, bug fixes and day-to-day maintenance).
MD2293 in summer 2018 approved expenditure of £188,000 to extend the Keytree contract, as well as further expenditure of up to £1,812,000 to procure a new development supplier to support the corporate roll-out of OPS to the rest of the GLA and updating/developing OPS as required to fit the different departments’ needs. Following a competitive procurement exercise using TfL’s IT Solutions Framework, Keytree Ltd was re-appointed as the supplier to support the corporate roll out.
In July 2019 additional agency resource to supplement the existing GLA team was acquired from Xpertise Recruitment. A Business Analyst was procured via the Digital Marketplace ‘G-Cloud’ framework to supplement discovery work the team were undertaking. This procurement was permitted within the MD2293 approval. This approval includes extension of this resource for six months.
During the corporate roll out of OPS, a new system, the Skills Gateway, was delivered, supporting the collation and processing of Individual Learner Record (ILR) data to enable payments for the Adult Education Budget. The Skills Gateway interfaces with OPS to ensure that relevant performance information is sent to OPS based on ILR data, thereby supporting payment of grant. The data is also used for corporate reporting, central government reporting and to track partner performance.
OPS has now successfully been rolled out to two other functional bodies: the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), and is currently supporting three grant programmes for these organisations. All programmes were launched by reusing existing functionality, with minor enhancements to support each organisation’s specific needs, representing a huge cost saving to them both.
The OPS system and the Skills Gateway are intuitive and easy to use. Both tools have been built in iterations using feedback from real users, meaning the features delivered have been validated through real-use case scenarios. This has brought about a fundamental improvement in programme and grant management and has eliminated many of the pain points identified in legacy systems and offline processes.
In addition to building in iterations based on feedback from users, the success of OPS is owed to an approach taken whereby similarities in business processes across teams are identified first. This has allowed the Delivery Team to focus its work on the commonality across teams and programmes, resulting in generic yet configurable features which can more easily be used to support future programmes and business requirements going forward.
OPS administrators can also configure and launch new programmes and project types quickly and easily. A ‘block’ approach has been adopted in order to make grouping of information and features simpler, and to make configuration of new programmes more intuitive. The benefits of this approach have been realised and evidenced by 28 of the 36 live programmes being launched with minor development enhancements, allowing reuse of existing features. In addition, it allows a quicker turnaround as this can be managed in-house by GLA staff.
The continuation of the corporate roll-out of OPS is expected to be significantly cheaper than each individual unit or directorate procuring their own system. By continuing to add additional features, the suite of reusable blocks and features grows and will support more programmes going forward.
Both the OPS and the Skills Gateway code have been published and shared allowing others to reuse and build on the work we have delivered. The code snapshot is published to the GLA GitHub public repository once every six months after removing sensitive data. This helps meet the Government Digital Standards requirement to make all new source code open and reusable (securely) so that it can be reused by other government departments.
Continued roll-out and designation of OPS as the GLA’s primary digital tool for grant management and the Skills Gateway will have the following benefits:
This decision seeks approval to utilise up to £250,000 to extend the current supplier for two months, and to procure a new supplier to continue development of both OPS and the Skills Gateway with expenditure of up to £1,250,000 in 2020-21 in accordance with the requirements of the Contracts and Funding Code working with TfL procurement via TfL’s IT Solutions Framework.
The annual budget represents costs in terms of time and materials for both discovery and development work to support ongoing enhancements and the delivery of new features.
Discussions will take place with GLA Departments and Finance on how external funding (e.g. central government departments) available for the further development of programmes in OPS can be best dealt with.
It is expected that the supplier appointed to support the continued roll-out of OPS will have demonstrated a commitment to the Agile approach and a willingness to co-locate with GLA staff to maintain this approach. They will also come with experience delivering IT projects collaboratively with other third-party suppliers as they will be required to work closely with the Keytree managed services team who will retain responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of the system and bug fixes per MD2269.
The objective of this decision is to continue much needed enhancements and make the benefits of OPS available to the wider GLA. The expected outcomes of the corporate roll-out of OPS (as supported by the development supplier) are to:
• increase the number of customisable features available to GLA staff, saving development costs as time goes on;
• create ‘one version of the truth’, which will enable better and more robust reporting on key outputs across the GLA;
• help streamline business processes and reduce the administrative burden placed on GLA partners; and
• ensure adherence to good governance and audit practices.
The OPS system already has many reusable features. This approval will allow existing features to be enhanced and for new features to be delivered as per business requirements.
Some core features identified as priorities for 2020-21 are:
• enhancements to both OPS and the Skills Gateway, to ensure both are meeting accessibility requirements;
• enhancements to the current assessments feature;
• continued development of the Skills Gateway, including supporting provider submissions directly via the gateway;
• due diligence and partner qualification;
• further work to continue supporting the delivery of the Adult Education Budget programmes which are in their first year of delivery; and
• additional features to support new programme configuration via a user interface within OPS.
Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to:
• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and
• advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
The public sector equality duty requires the identification and evaluation of the likely potential impacts, both positive and negative, of the decision on those with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation) and to set out how the duty is being addressed.
Individual teams will identify and evaluate the likely impact of new programmes on those with protected characteristics. The OPS Delivery Team will also consider those with protected characteristics when analysing business requirements and system design. The minimum requirement for the OPS system is for the site to meet WCAG 2.0 level AA accessibility. Any future development will comply with this requirement.
All procurements are carried out in accordance with GLA procurement mechanisms, and governance framework. This approval will support procurement of a new supplier in accordance with the requirements of the Contracts and Funding Code working with TfL procurement via TfL’s IT Solutions Framework.
a) Key risks and issues
The key risks associated with this decision are as follows:
b) Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
This decision links to Mayoral and Corporate strategies across the following areas:
Governance
The GLA currently uses multiple systems and third-parties for managing grant payments. In some cases, there is no proper digital solution. A procurement exercise was recently concluded to put in place a framework agreement with two suppliers to support rationalisation. This is, however, an interim solution. Further consolidation on a GLA-owned platform would improve the GLA’s ability to implement common standards across projects and support fraud prevention and comprehensive reporting of grant funding payments across all business units.
GLA-OPS is developed using an agile approach, focusing on the end user throughout. It is built and managed using open source technologies and a public cloud environment. The solution therefore addresses the Digital and Technology objectives as detailed in the “Digital and Technology Strategy and Programme 2019”:
- to support Smart ways of working and Agile development to deliver better designed services;
- making greater use of Cloud based services to support flexible working;
- have infrastructure that is scalable, reliable, resilient and with the capacity to cope with greater load;
- prioritising the use of open source systems (to reduce our costs and to produce reusable and sustainable components); and
- to create services that customers and citizens find: useful, well designed, meets user needs, gets the information they seek in the fastest possible time and meets digital service standards.
c) Impact assessments and consultations
The recommendations in this decision have resulted from input and discussions between the OPS Delivery Team, the Digital Team and the Digital Board, the Technology Group, and GLA Governance & Finance. Feedback has also been received from individual users of OPS on an ongoing basis and officers in teams who would like to use the system. All consulted are in agreement with this decision.
A wider review of the future direction of OPS will be undertaken by the Digital Board in summer 2020. This review will consider the best approach to be taken to ensure that OPS continues to be supported and maintained in a sustainable way, and is able to continue supporting the changing nature of grant programme delivery.
Approval is sought to approve up to £1,500,000 of capital expenditure to extend the current contract with Keytree Ltd and Xpertise for development services and also to procure a supplier to continue the enhancement and development of the Open Project System and the Skills Gateway.
The expenditure will be funded by Technology Group Open Project System (OPS) Capital Budget 2020-21.
Sections 1 to 5 of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor (in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code) concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
• consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
• consult with appropriate bodies.
In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 4 (above) of this report.
Officers should ensure that the services be procured by Transport for London Procurement who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of the works.
Signed decision document
MD2610 OPS Service-SIGNED