Decision details

The Council’s corporate performance management system, CorVu, was purchased in 2008 and implemented in 2010; it required a rolling 3-year maintenance licence - the last (Dec 2020 to 2023) being procured in July 2020. The CorVu system provides automated reports from data within the system; and performance management modules to monitor corporate measures, projects/actions and risks.
CorVu has been used to support:
•the Council’s business planning and to coordinate monitoring against business plan objectives (actions, measures

RESOLVED - That:
That the Council adopts the proposal that:
a.Service dashboards will be re-developed using existing ICT provisions to provide service level performance reporting, managed in service
b.the CPR process will be adapted in the short / medium term to provide corporate level performance reports; this may require more manual input than at present but will allow for the output to be reviewed.

The Service has carried out a thorough review of the ‘performance management’ systems available on the market; this included research/ benchmarking of other Local Authorities and demonstrations by providers. This research concluded that there was no viable product available to replace CorVu.
The Service and ICT colleagues also met with the supplier to reconfirm that the product is truly at ‘end of life’.
Having mapped the current processes and analysed the current use of the CorVu products, it was agreed that Power Bi, which is available as part of the Microsoft suite, can be used as a reporting tool, with view to its further development in the longer term. This would not be a final solution but a bridging option until the emerging corporate data management systems are available. This solution would also support services to become more self-sufficient in terms of managing and reporting on their performance.
The cost of staffing would remain the same; however, capacity in the Service will be reduced as the transition arrangements are put in place.
•5 staff will use existing Power Bi licenses (£65 per annum / per user = £325)
•Corvu £17,832 per annum – Council owned contract, expiry date 28/12/2023.

There are no viable alternatives to this recommendation – to do nothing will impact on service and corporate capabilities to provide performance reporting and does not align with the strategic direction of the Council.

ICT colleagues have been consulted extensively regarding system requirements.
Other local authorities have been consulted regarding viable systems.