Agenda item - Dorset Council Transformation Investment Update: Our Future Council

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for the Corporate Development and Transformation.

(a) That the update for Our Future Council including commitment to the financial and strategic context for transformation following initial consultation, be noted.

(b) That the high-level delivery plan, enabling Dorset Council to continue delivering critical improvements, modernising services, and preparing the organisation for future challenges and opportunities, be noted.

(c) That the use of reserves to fund the investment of £12.4m in 2025/26, be approved:

· £7.93m in H2 2025/26 plus additional procurement costs which must be committed to up-front totalling £4.47m.

· Allocation of budget required as detailed in section 6 of the report to Cabinet 9 October 2025, released incrementally every 6 months. This includes investment required for internal and external capacity and skills, delivery of technology including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), contact centre, automation and AI and corporate bookings.

The incremental release required for October 2025 to March 2026 is:

· ERP: £1.65m plus commitment to 3 years procurement costs for SI and licensing of product to the value of £2.98m (out of a total of £14.23m over 3 years).

· Contact Centre: £1.55m plus commitment to software licencing to the value of £0.99m and contracting of product team to the value of £0.5m (out of a total of £5.64m over 3 years).

· Extension of existing automation technology, Ui path: £0.057m (out of a total of £0.25m over 3 years).

· Whole council booking solution: £0.075m (£0.385m over 3 years).

· Internal resource: £2.1m for Transformation Management Office.

· Redundancy costs: £2.5m for voluntary and compulsory redundancies

(d) That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transformation and Corporate Development and Section 151 Officer to procure and award contracts for the following (within the budget defined in paragraph 1.3 and section 6 of the Cabinet report to 9 October 2025):

· Strategic implementation partner for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) at a total contract value of £2.1m, licensing costs of the new product to a total value of £0.98m

· Digital product team for contact centre of £0.5m for H2 2025/26 and commitment up front to £0.99m in licensing costs over 3 years.

(e) That the strengthened governance and leadership arrangements, with regular engagement, leadership, and oversight provided by the Chief Executive, Cabinet, and the wider Members Steering Group, supported by the Design Authority, be noted.

(f) That investment requests, be made to Cabinet every six months as needed and as set out at section 4.3 of the Cabinet report of 9 October 2025, be agreed, with monthly monitoring by the cross-party Members Transformation Steering Group including:

· Delivery progress

· Evidence of benefits realisation and substantiated savings

· An updated request for the next investment increment, aligned to programme milestones

Reason for the decision

To confirm Dorset Council’s transformation strategy, reaffirming our commitment to delivering Our Future Council as a whole-council, cross-cutting programme. This approach reflects the revised financial and strategic context and builds on the significant progress made over the past year.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Development and Transformation set out a comprehensive update on Dorset Council’s transformation programme, Our Future Council (OFC).

The update included a funding request of £12.4 million to support planned technology developments, specifically relating to the customer hub automation and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) programme. The report also reaffirmed the council’s commitment to delivering a whole-council operating model, supported by phased investment, enabling technologies, and strengthened governance. Cabinet was asked to approve the next phase of investment to support delivery of modern, efficient, and sustainable services.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Development and Transformation advised that the Member Steering Group played a key role in reviewing decisions emerging from the Design Authority, ensuring that member input into the customer aspect of the transformation programme were designed effectively for the organisation. The Corporate Director confirmed that the Design Authority was officer-led with broad representation across the organisation for service design, workforce planning and organisational development supporting a “one council approach”. The Cabinet Member also confirmed that despite some changes in strategy the redundancy timetable remained on track.

Whilst external support was required initially, the aim was to reduce reliance on third parties over time by developing sustainable in-house expertise. In reinforcing the importance of this approach, the Chief Executive, highlighted that as a modern, technology-dependant organisation, Dorset Council must invest in growing its own skills and capacity, to ensure long term sustainability beyond the life of the programme.

In response to a question regarding the budget process, the Chief Executive confirmed that the budget process would be aligned with the investment plan, the OFC programme and the implementation of the ERP system, which was essential to achieving a clear financial line of sight. She also noted that the budget process should be used to uncover opportunities for transformation which might be delivered by OFC in the future.

It was proposed by Cllr B Wilson and seconded by Cllr S Clifford

Decision