Wellington City Council has problems with implementing its planned IT systems overhaul, dubbed Project Odyssey. Contractors have not been paid, and phase two of the $19.75m project has been put on hold.

Plans to introduce an expensive IT system to make life simpler for Wellington ratepayers are in disarray after software glitches and staffing problems.

Wellington City Council has spent more than $15 million on the three-phase Project Odyssey so far but, a year after its introduction, phase two is on hold after problems with phase one.

The system, provided by Australian company TechnologyOne, is meant to merge all the council's main business functions, including rates, consents, dog registration, HR and payroll, into a single platform called One Council.

SUPPLIED Australian company TechnologyOne was charged with merging the council’s customer service, land, property, regulatory, assets, finance, HR and payroll functions onto a single platform called One Council.

But when it was rolled out last July, businesses supplying services to the council were left unpaid after the system neglected to pay their bills.

Information obtained from a Local Government Official Information Meetings Act request found the problem with the first phase of Project Odyssey was related to the validation of purchase order numbers for invoices.

If there was any differentiation in the format of numbers or dates, there would be delays in processing because of "incorrect details".

CAMERON BURNELL/ STUFF Dog registrations, as well as rates and resource consents, were supposed to be made easier by the stalled phase two of Project Odyssey.

The system used electronic scanning, which resulted in process issues for suppliers and council staff.

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Audit New Zealand recently raised concerns about Project Odyssey, which it identified as a business risk.

STACY SQUIRES/ STUFF A mix-up with purchase order numbers for invoices meant businesses supplying the council went unpaid last year. (File photo)

Audit documents say a high-level review of phase one noted issues with the quality of reporting to groups of senior staff and experts who were overseeing Odyssey, and wider structural changes in the council.

The council was given recommendations to improve project management, governance structures and reporting.

It has budgeted $19.75m for the implementation of the three-phase project, and has spent $15.6m so far. However, phase two has been stalled, and the council has terminated the contracts of five contractors to save costs.

It expects to remain within the $19.75m budget, despite the delays.

Phase two would have replaced systems used for property and rating, and those dealing resource and building consents, public health and dog licences, but its implementation has been stalled.

* Have you been affected by WCC pay delays? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz

Council chief financial officer Andy Matthews said the council was still committed to phase two, but had yet to finalise a schedule because it wanted to be confident a new version of software would work.

Some suppliers were still getting used to the new invoice requirement in phase one, he said.

Delays with payments last year and earlier this year happened while staff and suppliers got used to the system, but performance percentages had gradually been improving.

"It did take some time for staff and suppliers to get used to the new purchase order numbering system … We've ironed out the initial glitches caused by new processes.

"We are continuing to focus on training of council staff, and engaging with suppliers to further improve our process."

He would not say how many businesses or people were affected by the problem, and said there were no outstanding payments.

Someone had been employed to deal specifically with the project and train staff.

"We have worked hard over the past year to train staff and suppliers to use the system correctly. We fully understand the financial and emotional stress that suppliers and contractors – especially individuals and small companies – are subjected to when they are paid late, which is why we have focused on ensuring any process issues are resolved quickly."

TechnologyOne was preparing to release a new version of software called CiAnywhere, which would enable easier collection and immediate use of data, the ability to use different devices, and flexible working options for staff.

"We will not be rushing this as we want to be sure the new software meets our needs and that of our customers and ratepayers before implementing it," Matthews said.

Most of phase three was set to go live in the next few months, which included asset resilience and new budgeting and performance planning systems.