Decision details

To present the findings of the Project Management Select Committee held on 17th February 2015 and make recommendations to Cabinet and Senior Management Team on how project management can be further improved.

That:

·  Overview and Scrutiny processes be reviewed following the Scrutiny away day, to include improved tracking of Overview and Scrutiny recommendations, improved information in reports to encourage challenge, and better decision making and analysis of Members’ skills to make better use of individual Overview and Scrutiny Panel Members;

·  Project management guidance be amended to require original Business Cases to be kept live and linked from the definition section of the Project Initiation Document (PID);

·  A session with the Programme and Projects Manager be arranged to explain the purpose of this new role and what it will achieve;

·  Project updates be included in the quarterly performance reports to Overview and Scrutiny Panels;

·  A review by the Overview & Scrutiny (Economic Well-Being) Panel be arranged for 6 months’ time to review steps followed in delivering the In-Cab Technology project and other projects currently in the delivery stage, including their procurement processes, and to assess how well the highlight reports for these projects are working;

·  A review by Members of the Project Management Select Committee be arranged for 12 months’ time to review financial reporting on projects and the post-delivery stage.

Following consideration of a project closedown report on the Multi-Storey Car Park in Huntingdon and the One Leisure St Ives Redevelopment by the Overview & Scrutiny (Economic Well-being) Panel in November 2014, it was determined that a Select Committee would be convened to review the Council’s new Project Management procedures.

The Select Committee considered past projects, a demonstration of the Council’s project management tools and three workshop sessions each focussed on different project phases.

Throughout the day, a range of issues were discussed and a number of recommendations were proposed to the Cabinet for consideration.

None.

The recommendations in the report do not require any significant additional resources, other than officer and Member time.