Agenda item

(To receive a verbal update from Fiona Thompson (Service Manager – People Management) on the Payroll Control Environment)

Consideration was given to a presentation which updated the Committee on the payroll control environment and a summary of improvements since the last update in June 2018.

The Service Manager – People provided detailed information as part of the presentation, which covered the following areas: -

·    Summary of measures to improve the control regime;

·    Checks undertaken by internal audit;

·    Overview of recent performance;

·    Trend in advances paid;

·    Incorrect / Late data – Actions Taken and Next Steps; and

·    Management of historic under / overpayments.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·       The Committee was advised that the Pay Statements Project had not identified any incidences of fraud and that the errors found were as a result of input and/or system errors.  Furthermore, it was advised that as part of the assurance to the business, dedicated work was being carried out on counter fraud and as part of this data analytical work would be carried out on source data;

·       It was advised that a further update would be provided to the Committee in November 2018 on progress with the Payroll Control Environment, and this would include an update on Year 3 for Fire and Rescue and for Corporate and Schools for the 3 years. It was confirmed that milestones were built into the project and the project was currently working to a challenging timeframe of November 2018;

·       Improvements had been made to Business World On (Agresso), which had reduced the number of manual workarounds and had introduced pre-populated and simplified forms to assist with those putting data into the system.  A significant rebuild was planned, which would bring improvements to the system;

·       A specialist business support team had been put in place to assist both School Business Managers and Lincolnshire County Council managers for duration twelve months to validate data and support corporate and schools;

·       It was confirmed that significant training had been provided to schools when the system was initially implemented and training was provided to newly appointed School Business Managers.  The Committee requested that the training was reviewed to ensure it met the needs of the School Business Managers;

·       A Councillor highlighted that Serco's error rate was down to 0.31% and queried the County Council's error rate.  It was advised that for corporate payroll, excluding schools, 32% of the forms submitted were incomplete, incorrectly completed or submitted beyond the deadline.  However, those errors were not included as part of the payroll, as they were identified prior to being processed.  It was highlighted that this data was monitored on a monthly basis and the relevant directors were notified of errors within their respective areas.  It was requested that for the next meeting of the Committee, context was provided as to the 32% of incorrect or late forms, specifically the number of inaccurate or late forms submitted by the County Council and what protocols were being implemented to reduce this number.  It was also requested that the Committee received detail on the County Council's performance in this area for 2017/18;

·       It was highlighted that the specialist business support team was also validating the content of forms provided by the County Council, prior to them being submitted to Serco.  This reduced the risk of any errors reaching payroll;

·       The issue of late data being provided to Serco had been highlighted at each departmental management team of the County Council, with an expectation that this data be submitted on time in future.  Accountability for the completed forms lay with the manager (originator);

·       Serco was not expected to process data that had been submitted late;

·       The County Council and Serco had committed to putting in effective performance monitoring systems.  Data would be provided to the Committee at its meeting in November 2018 on the impact of the controls that had been introduced;

·       A Councillor highlighted that the introduction of the specialist business support team was crucial for the short term.  However, the Committee would need to receive assurances relating to the long-term, once the business support team was no longer in place;

·       Monthly payroll reports were provided to schools prior to the payroll run which they were required to monitor;

·       The Committee required assurance that the improvements to Business World On were robust and were addressing the error rates;

·       It was concluded that the Committee would need assurance that the improvements to the system were functional and that the relevant staff were equipped going forward.  The importance of prompt and accurate information being provided by the County Council to Serco was also highlighted as a key area for improvement.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and the Committee be provided contextual information on the County Council's error rate as part of the update to the November 2018 meeting.