Issue details

Proposed decision:

The Deputy Leader to:

1.         APPROVE the allocation of £7,562,446 from the flexible use of capital receipts to fund the remainder of Phase 2 of the Oracle Cloud Programme until February 2027, and;

2.         DELEGATE authority to the Senior Responsible Office in consultation with the Director of Technology, and with the Deputy Leader, for the necessary contractual negotiations and authority to enter into any legal agreements required to implement the above.

Reason for the decision

To finalise the replacement of our legacy Oracle application. Phase 1 was implemented in August 2025 and replaced our previous Finance and Procurement system. Phase 2 will deliver our replacement HR And Payroll function and is still in final stages of testing. Phase 2 is expected to go live later in financial year 2026/27.

Background

The Oracle Cloud Programme is a major technology transformation programme which began in 2023 with the procurement of the new Oracle Cloud system and the council’s implementation partner. It is an extremely complex programme that has required the time and effort of a combined team of specialist contractors and KCC staff from across the Council over the last three years.

The decision was taken to split the implementation into two phases in order to mitigate the risk of such a large scale and complex implementation. Phase 1 (Finance and Procurement) went live in August 2025. Phase 2 (HR and Payroll) has been moving through the design development and testing stages since early 2025.

It is the intention that Phase 2 is implemented later in 2026/27 to complete the Oracle Cloud transformation.

Options

The Oracle Cloud Board has been proactive in the approach to managing the issues faced and a number of options have been considered. 

Given the severity of the risks faced if the programme is not finished, demobilising the programme is not considered an option.

An expert third party strategic review was commissioned to highlight programme and governance amendments to guide and strengthen the delivery of the final phase. The recommendations of this review are being implemented with the oversight of the Oracle Cloud Board.

How the proposed decision supports the Council’s Strategic Statement

Aim 2 of the current Strategic Statement ‘Reforming Kent 2025-2028’ includes the objective ‘Make every penny count, using a common sense approach and DOLGE to find efficiency savings and income generation opportunities’.

Whilst the implementation of the Oracle Cloud Programme has proved more expensive that initially estimated, the benchmarking demonstrates that the costs anticipated bear comparison when compared to other organisations delivering comparative programmes.

Equally, there are efficiencies to be realised once the implementation is complete, as the Council will be able to reduce its reliance on additional, third party systems, as the functionality built into our new Oracle Cloud system will allow greater integration of processes than can currently be utilised. Equally, the improved use of data to inform decisions and the reduction in staff hours required for manual processes will deliver knock on efficiencies.