TL;DR
Birmingham City Council has postponed the planned relaunch of its Oracle Fusion ERP implementation, moving the go-live from April to at least the summer to allow staff more time to adapt and to reduce risk. The decision follows a 2022 go-live that left the authority unable to produce auditable accounts and a reimplementation programme whose costs have risen sharply to around £131 million.
What happened
Birmingham City Council has pushed back the scheduled relaunch of its Oracle Fusion enterprise resource planning system, saying staff need more time to adopt the vendor's standard processes and to ensure operational readiness. The council had planned an April go-live for the reimplementation but, after end-to-end testing and a programme 'stocktake', officials decided to defer the launch until at least the summer. The move follows a troubled April 11, 2022 go-live that prevented the authority from producing auditable accounts and helped contribute to it becoming effectively bankrupt. The project, originally estimated at about £19 million, has grown to roughly £131 million. After the 2022 failures the council reverted to a more standard Oracle implementation and adopted off-the-shelf third-party software for bank reconciliation, renamed Income Management. Schools were removed from the project scope in May 2024. Council officers said the delay is a timeline and risk-reduction decision informed by readiness reviews; further governance decisions and independent assurance checkpoints are scheduled to confirm readiness before any new go-live.
Why it matters
- A functioning ERP is central to producing audited accounts and managing public funds; failures in implementation can undermine financial governance and service delivery.
- Delaying the relaunch to prioritise staff readiness and pay accuracy aims to reduce operational risk, but it prolongs the period of uncertainty over the council's finance systems.
- The project’s cost escalation—from an early estimate of £19 million to about £131 million—raises questions about oversight, scope changes and value for public money.
- The timing has political implications: opposition councillors warned the council could enter upcoming local elections without a fully functioning finance system.
Key facts
- Original Oracle Fusion go-live occurred on April 11, 2022, and proved problematic for the council.
- The initial business case estimate was roughly £19 million; reimplementation costs are now about £131 million.
- Failures in a customised Bank Reconciliation System were a significant factor in the 2022 issues; the council switched to an off-the-shelf third-party solution called Income Management.
- Schools were removed from the scope of the reimplementation in May 2024.
- Planned April go-live for the reimplementation has been delayed to at least the summer after readiness reviews and testing.
- Council officers cited ensuring accuracy of staff pay and reducing go-live risk as main reasons for the delay.
- Independent assurance will be applied at agreed checkpoints and further formal governance decisions are scheduled later in the month.
- A council spokesperson said the current system continues to run and payments to colleagues and suppliers will not be affected by the postponement.
- Auditors previously found testing was incomplete because the system was not stable, and estimated total losses versus expected savings could be as high as £216.5 million.
What to watch next
- Results of the formal governance decisions scheduled later this month to confirm revised timelines and readiness.
- Findings from the independent assurance process at agreed checkpoints to determine whether the programme is fit to go live.
- Whether the council sets a firm new go-live date beyond the current 'at least summer' position.
- not confirmed in the source: whether overall programme costs will rise beyond the current £131 million estimate despite the stated contingency.
Quick glossary
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): Integrated software systems that manage core business processes such as finance, procurement, payroll and supply chain across an organisation.
- Oracle Fusion: A suite of cloud-based enterprise applications from Oracle for functions such as financials, procurement and human resources.
- Go-live: The point at which a new IT system becomes operational and is used in day-to-day business.
- Bank reconciliation: The process of matching an organisation's internal financial records with bank statements to ensure accuracy of cash balances.
- Independent assurance: External or independent checks on a programme's readiness and controls, typically carried out to validate risk, testing and governance before major milestones.
Reader FAQ
Why was the relaunch delayed?
Council officials said staff need more time to adopt standard processes and to ensure accuracy of staff pay; the delay was framed as a risk-reduction decision based on readiness reviews.
When did the original Oracle implementation go live and what happened?
The system went live on April 11, 2022; it left the council unable to produce auditable accounts and contributed to the authority becoming effectively bankrupt.
How much have costs changed since the project began?
The early business case estimate of about £19 million has risen to around £131 million for the reimplementation.
Will the delay increase programme costs?
The council said the reimplementation budget included a contingency and that costs are not expected to increase; future changes are not confirmed in the source.
Are schools included in the relaunch?
No; the council removed schools from the scope of the reimplementation in May 2024.
DATABASES 2 Birmingham pauses Oracle relaunch to get staff on board Europe's largest council delays Fusion reimplementation four years after go-live disaster Lindsay Clark Tue 13 Jan 2026 // 11:00 UTC Birmingham City Council…
Sources
- Birmingham pauses Oracle relaunch to get staff on board
- Further delay in fixing council's troubled IT system
- Birmingham council's 'doomed' IT project faces massive …
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