ADD2607 Robot Office – Performance Reporting System

1.1.    The Project Reporting Platform has been successfully applied to several LEAP-funded programmes, which has created an effective and efficient solution to the monitoring of project delivery. The initial funding of £30,000 was secured from Skills for Londoners Fund as part of the ongoing internal and external reporting requirements of this programme. The platform – which was built to monitor project and programme performance outside of OPS, and to replace the need for manual data entry – was procured via contract via Contract ICT 13788 on 26 March 2021. This has automated the process, reduced repetitive work and improved accuracy; helped improve performance-monitoring; and replaced the need for separate systems for monthly and quarterly monitoring across several ongoing reporting requirements Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities/Cities and Local Growth; internal Budget; and performance-reporting).

1.2.    The investment required will support further development enhancement and ongoing maintenance into the application over a three-year contract (reporting period remaining for existing programmes) for the GLA, as outlined below.

1.3.    The Project Reporting Platform costs £600 per month over an additional 2 years (£14,400), plus £17,200 for further enhancements to the existing platform to improve functionality and increase capacity for future programmes. The total request is therefore for £31,600 over the duration of the three-year contract.

2.1.    The investment will:

• enable a more seamless transfer of data between delivery partners and the GLA
• reduce errors and improve quality in data capture
• contribute to the quality-assurance needs of government-funded programmes
• enable better data management across all programmes
• minimise repetitive data entry for GLA staff
• potentially provide data that can be linked to OPS data to centralise a single reporting process on programme performance. 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 

3.2.    The developers (Robot Exchange Company) will consider those with protected characteristics when developing the application. As a minimum, we will require the system to meet WCAG 2.0 level A accessibility, and any future development will comply with this requirement.

4.1.    The Project Reporting Platform solution was vetted by the Technology Technical Design Board and the Change Advisory Board in September 2020. Approval was given to proceed in January 2021, as this application meets the GLA’s technical criteria and the LEAP Programme Board criteria. The request for further investment to enhance functionality and capacity is submitted under the same approval.

4.2.    The Project Reporting Platform application is a bespoke tool designed for a very specific task developed and supported by the Robot Office Company. Should this company cease to operate, the service and support will not be available. To mitigate this risk, we will enter into the contract on a monthly service cost to reduce our initial upfront investment. The proposed business change will require adjustment and training for staff members and our partners. This will be provided to all users by the Programme Management Office unit, based in the Good Growth Directorate’s Co-ordination team. Any feedback on lessons learnt will be used to improve the experience.

Link to Mayoral Strategies and priorities 

4.3.    This investment will contribute to work of the Skills and Employment, and Good Growth Directorates. These are responsible for regeneration, enterprise, growth, capital projects and the implementation of the Mayor's Economic Development strategy.

Conflicts of interest 

4.4.    No conflicts of interest have been identified for any officers involved in the development of this proposal, or the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1.    Approval is being sought for expenditure of £31,600 towards the ongoing development and maintenance of the Project Reporting Platform. 

5.2.    The expenditure will be funded 50% from the Spatial development within skills for Londoner’s budget and 50% residual London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP) budget Core Funds. Which is in line with budget allocations for 22/23.