Digital

Moveable Transactions Project: good governance and active leadership

September 18, 2024 by Stewart Hamilton No Comments | Category Digital Assurance Office, Digital Scotland, Technology Assurance Framework

Guest blog by Laura Johnstone, Continuous Improvement team, Digital Assurance Office.

Introduction

Registers of Scotland (RoS) are undertaking a project to build, launch and maintain two new public Registers, introduced by the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023. The timeline for the commencement of the Registers is dependent on the implementation of secondary legislation. Read our first two case studies with the Moveable Transactions team on active learning and applying lessons in real time and creating a multi-disciplinary team.

Context

Ensuring projects have strong governance and effective control consistently emerges as a dominant challenge in major digital project reviews.  You can read about what we learned from major digital project reviews in 2023-24 on our blog.  We have also shared detailed insights on governance and project control.

The Moveable Transactions project has received assurance under the Technology Assurance Framework  with major digital project reviews and a Discovery Digital Scotland Service Standard (DSSS) assessment.  The major digital project reviews identified that the project had robust and proportionate governance, active leadership and senior level commitment.

This case study explores the governance in place for the Moveable Transactions project.

Activities

• RoS has an established governance framework for the management of projects – the Moveable Transactions project has been feeding into the Moveable Transactions Project Board and reports into the Business Portfolio Board, which in turn reports to the Executive Management Team (EMT) Corporate Governance Board and Investment Board
• the Business Portfolio Board (BPB) ensures that all of the projects underway in RoS are delivering on time and to budget and against the strategic objectives of the organisation – there are also a number of other boards e.g. Policy and Practice Group (PPG) that project boards can ask to consider and make recommendations on specific issues before going forward to the BPB
• there is a defined path for governance, project boards report to the BPB which reports further into corporate governance as necessary – the BPB is supported by good standard project reporting e.g. risks, issues, status, timeline, finances
• the Moveable Transactions project engaged in depth with the EMT Corporate Governance Board to support them to navigate the uncertainties in the legislative process
• the Project Board membership has been continually reviewed, as the project moves forward towards Go Live, appropriate representation will adjust
• established governance allows RoS to rigorously consider new approaches and identify where there is potential for improvements being identified from projects to be applied at an organisational level
• the Moveable Transactions project saw the potential to improve the approach taken to payments, as opposed to following current patterns used in RoS
• following established governance procedures, the idea developed in the Moveable Transactions project for payments was tested with the Architecture Steering Group, it then went through extensive organisational consultation and processes (e.g. an information governance risk assessment) before going to the Project Board, once approved by the Project Board, it was considered by the Policy and Practice Group and the Design Authority
• within the RoS governance structure, there is a cross organisational Service Alignment Team – it considers all of the initiatives that are underway across the organisation and helps to prioritise the different initiatives that are being considered within the various projects

Reflections

• effective project governance has been supported by a mature organisational governance structure – there is clarity on what reporting is needed and how to escalate risks, issues and other matters
• the BPB is a source of support and challenge and getting the perspective from more senior colleagues has been invaluable to the Moveable Transactions project
• the governance structure has enabled the Project Board to feel supported in its decision making and has provided clear routes for any decisions outwith its scope
• organisational governance provides a structure for advice and recommendations on particular issues – the range of different groups in the governance structure has been a valuable source of assurance for the Project Board, enabling a broad perspective on matters being considered
• the project SRO utilised the senior leadership of RoS and engaged directly with the Executive Management Team to support strategic decision making around the project
• active engagement from RoS senior leadership supported the Moveable Transactions project team to take a considered approach to navigating uncertainties and secured senior level buy in to the approach
• the project put in place an IAAP that enabled the Moveable Transactions team to track what papers were going where and when and map when external, independent assurance was needed
• organisational governance supports collaboration and enabled the Moveable Transactions project team to consider whether the solutions being developed could be applied at an organisational level

Find out more

For more information about this case study contact PMO.Support@ros.gov.uk

The Technology Assurance Framework (TAF) is designed to help prevent digital projects from failing for common reasons, improve delivery and ensure that the lessons learned from previous experience are reflected and embedded in future practice. The Digital Assurance Office are working with organisations to share information which might help others deliver digital projects and we have been publishing our insights and case studies on our digital blog. If you want to get involved contact us at DigitalAssurance@gov.scot

The Scottish Digital Academy is the public sector centre of expertise for digital capability and can provide information, advice and guidance on developing digital, data and technology skills to support transformation.

For expert guidance on delivering a digital project visit the Digital Scotland Service Manual.

For further information and signposting to advice and support on programme and project management, including details of the SRO/Project Leadership Development Programme which provides an introduction to the role and various aspects of it for new and aspiring SROs’ contact the Programme and Project Management Centre for Expertise.  The role of the SRO published by the UK Government explains what is expected of senior responsible owners when leading projects or programmes in government.

The Scottish Government programme and project management principles are available and apply to any project of any size.

The Social Security Programme: Our Story Team are part of a wider legacy portfolio, whose goal is to capture and disseminate eight years of acquired knowledge, capabilities and lessons learned to demonstrate that irrespective of the size, nature or maturity of your Programme, your profession or career pathway, ‘Our Story’ has the potential to build individual and team skills and capabilities whilst improving the effectiveness and quality of your delivery. They do this through a variety of means from building case studies, interviews and blogs to facilitating workshops and resource loans, for the benefit of Social Security Scotland, the wider Scottish Government and public sector. You can access their resources on Pathways or contact the team: socialsecurity.ourstoryteam@gov.scot

Tags: Continuous Improvement, Digital Assurance Office, Moveable Transactions, Registers of Scotland, Technology Assurance Framework

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