Programme Management Arrangements & Project Management Pack

Introduction

This page introduces the LCE's arrangements for Programme Management and the Project Management Pack of template documents.

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London Centre of Excellence Programme Management Arrangements

The programme management arrangements operated by the London Centre of Excellence are as shown in the following diagram:

Figure 1 – Programme Management Reporting Hierarchy

Approvals Decision Process

Day-to-day approvals and decision making are undertaken by the Centre of Excellence Programme Board.

Approvals of bids and business cases, particularly to receive funding support from the London Centre of Excellence are approved via a two stage process:

1. Initial approval is required by the Programme Board.
   
2. Final approval is required by the Management Board. The Programme Board present the bid or business case with recommendations or comments to the Management Board for final discussions and approval or rejection.

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Timetable for submission of bids or business cases for approval

The timetable for approvals is as follows:

21 days prior to the Management Board Meeting	Cut-off date for submission of papers to Programme Board to be approved for inclusion onto Management Board Agenda
7 days prior to the Management Board meeting	Last date for emergency submissions only.  Papers approved by Programme Board normally issued to Management Board
0 days	Management Board meeting

The 21 days period prior to the Management Board meeting allows sufficient time for the Programme Board to consider the papers and for any amendments to be made by the submitting project team in time for issuing to the Management Board (usually 7 days before Management Board meeting date).

The Programme Board meets on a fortnightly interval; the Management Board meets on a quarterly interval. (The Management Board schedule can be found on the London Centre of Excellence web site at Management Board).

A Management Board ‘emergency’ approval process can be invoked where an important decision is required and the next meeting is not due for over a month. Project Managers or Sponsors are advised to contact the Programme Board in the first instance if they require invoking the emergency approval process.

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The Project Management Pack

Introduction  

A project is considered to consist of a number of phases as follows:

1. An initial ‘bid development phase’. (Not funded). This phase involves developing a ‘good idea’ or bid such that it can be presented to the Programme and Management Boards for funding approval. Many bids have been successful where they have recommended an activity to develop a business case that proves the viability of that ‘good idea’, followed by an implementation of the recommendations from the business case. However, some bids have been successful in their own right and have led directly to an implementation phase. Generally, the development of a business case or ‘proof of concept’ allows the feasibility and appetite for collaboration to be determined or established before proceeding with a potentially costly implementation effort.
   
   The initial bid phase is generally not funded by the London Centre of Excellence. Initial bids need to present a good case for attracting funding support from the Centre, but do not have to contain extreme detail – that would be more appropriate to the business case. (Typical bid documents are rarely more than 3 – 4 pages in length). Bids that are innovative, collaborative and can demonstrate achievable savings in a Pan-London context will be looked on favourably.
   
2. Development of business case / proof of concept / feasibility study phase. (Funded). A successful bid often leads to the development of a business case or a proof of concept that can lead to a later phase involving implementation of the resulting recommendations. This phase can take a number of months to conclude and is underwritten by Centre of Excellence funds. Participating Boroughs are expected to freely contribute resources (typically Council staff time). Reimbursement is for external costs such as consultancy fees where specialist skills are procured to assist with the development of the business case. Assessment of the resulting business case will balance the level of funding being requested against the potential savings and achievability of the project objectives. This phase of the project could result in a series of recommendations that do not necessarily presage an implementation phase, but remain a recommendation for later adoption by Boroughs.
   
3. Implementation Phase. (Funded). The final phase of a project can (but is not obliged to) be the implementation phase. In this phase, the recommendations from the business case are put into practice e.g. development of a common information system  

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Project Management Documentation Templates

In order to ensure projects are appropriately controlled and that the Centre’s funds are appropriately used, a set of project management templates have been created. The documents represent a pragmatic application of the PRINCE2 methodology.

After a bid has been accepted, the Centre of Excellence requires that projects in the developing business case and implementation phases use the following documentation set. Monthly highlight reports will be required from project managers to provide evidence of project control and to report progress to the Programme and Management Boards

The project management ‘pack’ contains the following document templates:

Table 1 – Project Management Documents – when to use them; where to find them

Note that each document template has some introductory paragraphs to help with their completion.

It is recommended that projects develop a plan, although no standard tool or presentation layout for a Gantt chart is mandated.

The diagram below shows pictorially when the documents should be used:

Figure 3 – Project Management Documents – when to use them

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Special Notes on Claiming Reimbursement of Costs

Reasonable costs for goods and services can be claimed using Form CEP/1 (provided in the project management pack). Participating Councils are expected to freely provide staff time as their contribution to the project.

Only the Lead Borough can reclaim costs. The Lead Borough can reclaim on behalf of Boroughs acting in partnership.

Costs for developing and submitting a bid cannot be reimbursed. 

Please note that costs can only be claimed retrospectively , usually on delivery of a project ‘product’ e.g. business case, and accompanied by appropriate evidence of expenditure.

Where the development of a business case or proof of concept is likely to result in some extended cost exposure to the Lead Borough, the Centre advises creating a set of ‘delivery points’ in the project plan where on completion of a product of appropriate quality, the Centre can provide an interim reimbursement of costs.

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Highlight Reports

The Centre of Excellence Programme Board requires that all projects (with the exception of those developing a bid submission) provide a monthly highlight report using the template provided.

Highlight reports should be compiled in the first week of a month – and provide a ‘backward review’ of the tasks completed during the previous month, and a ‘forward view’ of the tasks to be completed during the current month. As a minimum, highlight reports should be sent to the London Centre of Excellence Programme Manager (Philip Snowling – email address: philip.snowling@mouchelparkman.com)

Details of adherence to project schedule, budget and quality of outputs are required – using a ‘traffic light’ reporting scheme (Green, Amber or Red to indicate levels of concern; Green being ‘all clear’, Red being ‘significant concern/risk’).

The highlight report should contain entries in the Milestones section to identify significant project events, their planned date, likelihood of slippage from planned date and actual delivery date.

The highlight report should contain a risk register that is actively maintained throughout the project lifetime.

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  Project Management Presentation