Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources that presented an overview of the approved exemptions to the standard Procure to Pay (P2P) Process (for copy see file of Minutes).

Mr Chris Jones, Transaction Accounts team explained to Members about the approval process in place for the payment of invoices, the guidance used and exceptions to the process.  Some areas such as utility and telephone bills were not known until after the billing period.  In February 2013 14% of invoices were classed as an exemption, equating to 23% value of all invoices paid.  Approximately 29,000 invoices are paid each month.  Mr Jones informed the Committee that the P2P board would continue to monitor and make improvements to the process.

The Corporate Director, Resources commended the team for the improvements made as the Committee had previously raised concerns.  He added that as many invoices as possible were automated and Oracle was performing well.  Operators had recently been reminded how to best use the system for invoices however it was recognised that there will always be exceptions to the process.

Councillor Ord welcomed the report and asked if Oracle was beneficial.  Mr Jones confirmed that the system was working very well.

Mr Hoban asked how often signatory lists are checked and what size were the payment batches referred to in Appendix 2.  Mr Jones confirmed that the P2P board were exploring the signatories but initially it was up to each Service to review and a manual batching system was in place through a central point.  Councillor Harrison added that reviewing signatories was an HR issue and a reminder should be issued to them to update systems when required.  The Manager of Internal Audit and Risk said that this was already in place but that checks would be made as to how the system is administered.  There was a high risk involved with the manual process so checks would be made at how effective the control was.

Councillor Southwell congratulated the team on the work carried out so far but asked that improvements continue to be made and suggested that best practice is explored with other authorities.  He suggested that invoices should be returned if all information was not correct.

Councillor Temple reiterated the comments made about the report and stated that it was useful for the Committee.  As Mr Jones explained that no targets were in place for the exempt invoices paid, Councillor Temple added that there would be merit in introducing different target dates with a higher date for automated invoices.  He suggested that a report be brought back to Committee on achieved targets and any changes made.

The Chairman thanked Mr Jones for the report and passed on congratulations from the Committee.

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.