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Laying the foundations for better local public services

Income Management System (Alpha)

Contents:

  1. Project outputs
  2. Project timeline

This project (also known as ‘Better income management and e-payment systems’) led by Barnsley Metropolitan Council builds on previously completed discovery work and aims to define an end-to-end Income Management System (IMS) proposition for users. 

Working with Dorset County Council and Huntingdonshire District Council, the project looks to design various components of the service wrap and to develop a new product for processing and reconciliation of payments received. The project also explores systems in use across local government, with a view to understanding how the current marketplace meets council needs.

Goals for a future IMS:

  • A better experience for those who use and deliver payment and income services by designing a user-centered service that meets their needs
  • Value for money: demonstrating that councils can save money and run more efficient processes by adopting the future service
  • Open by design: sharing an open, configurable, cloud hosted system with a flexible support model that councils can absorb
  • Collaboration: working with local authorities and potential support providers to design a good local government service
Income Management System screenshot

The project followed Agile delivery principles, incorporating user research and service design into its activities. Working in the open, the project hosted fortnightly show and tells to update on progress and share findings. You can find the show and tells and sprint notes on the project website.

Project outputs

Downloads

Click through prototype for the new income management system

Project details

Phase: Alpha

Funding granted: £100,000

Duration: March - September 2020

Partners: Barnsley Metropolitan Council, Dorset County Council, Huntingdonshire District Council

Project links

Related projects:

Project timeline

December 2018 - discovery

Previous GOV.UK Pay as a viable alternative e-payment provider discovery receives £52,103 from the Local Digital Fund.

April 2019 - discovery

GOV.UK Pay as a viable alternative e-payment provider discovery delivers project outputs which are published on the Local Digital website. Recommendation made for further discovery into income management and e-payment systems.

September 2019 - discovery

MHCLG awards £80,000 for previous discovery exploring income management and e-payment systems from the Local Digital Fund.

March 2020 - discovery

Project team delivers agreed outputs from income management and e-payment systems discovery, published openly on the Local Digital website

Project prepares their IMS Alpha bid.

March 2020 - alpha

Project is selected to be funded as part of Local Digital Fund. 

Project blogs about their bid. 

April to May 2020 - alpha

  • The project receives £100,000 funding
  • Setting up the team and collecting resources
  • Undertaking procurement activities
  • Project inception meeting to identify project vision
  • Project week notes about their pre-sprint 1

June 2020 - alpha

Project agrees alpha vision and goals, activities and outputs.

The project also identifies which team members would contribute to which activity.

Project publishes weeknotes about their pre-sprint 2.

Sprint 1 week notes: 

  • understanding how the IMS fits into a wider ecosystems of processes and technology solutions
  • research plan to extend the things that the discovery found with specifics about how councils procure their IMS. 
  • explored the likely technical architecture, both in terms of the target infrastructure and the features that we expect to ‘bundle’ with the IMS.
  • Started to prototype new features of the system
  • Started to create council personas for future users
  • Define reference architecture and infrastructure

Hosts 1st show and tell

July 2020 - alpha

Hosts 2nd show and tell:

  • Continue to prototype new features of the system
  • Started to design a first iteration of the support model
  • Continue to define reference architecture and infrastructure

Hosts 3rd show and tell:

  • Continue to prototype new features of the system
  • Continue to design a first iteration of the support model
  • Started to define service governance
  • Continue to define reference architecture and infrastructure

August 2020 - alpha

Finish the 7 project epics:

  • prototype new features of the system
  • create council personas for future users
  • define reference architecture and infrastructure
  • design a first iteration of the support model
  • create a cost model
  • define service governance
  • map the landscape

IMS Alpha – Show & Tell 4 (finale)

 

September 2020 - alpha

Prepares the project IMS Alpha – Final report and benefits case.