University of Edinburgh warned of issues with new finance system
- Published
A letter written by the university's elected senate members has expressed "urgent and profound" concern with the new finance system
Academics have said they issued repeated warnings about problems with a new IT system at Edinburgh University.
The university has apologised after payments to students, staff and suppliers were delayed by the rollout of a new financial system.
BBC Scotland understands senior academics and officials sent letters and reports detailing their concerns about the system.
The university said it was "working tirelessly" to resolve the issues.
The new People and Money (P&M) system is a centralised HR, payroll and finance system which the university first introduced in 2020 and completed its rollout this year.
It is understood issues in this final phase of the project mean thousands of invoices issued to the university are still outstanding with finance staff now processing them manually.
One senior academic said: "There's no doubt that all these systems had to be modernised but questions over the cost and the complex nature of the system were asked from the outset, and we are still looking for answers."
A spokesperson for the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union added: "The system ordered was overly complicated and includes numerous, unnecessary manual checks.
"University senior management were warned that this was the case lots of times, including by the staff who work with these systems, but chose not to listen.
"Management are still refusing to address the root cause of the problems. This is a failure of process and procedure, not an IT issue."
A series of meetings, led by university principal Peter Mathieson, will take place with staff and PHD students on Tuesday to hear their concerns about the new finance system
One report sent to university management in February last year highlights dozens of issues with the previous human resources phase of the P&M rollout.
Written by the university's directors of professional services, the report raised problems in areas such as calculating annual leave and the issuing of contracts, highlighting: "We are having to say to people 'please can you start work without a contract' and that feels very wrong".
In addition, issues with P&M were also raised by the 23 heads of the university's schools who wrote to university managers with their concerns.
It is understood the estimated cost of the P&M system was initially put at about £10m. The project was then advertised as a £14m contract in 2017 but then a £20.4m deal was agreed in 2019.
'Working tirelessly'
A university spokeswoman said it was "sincerely sorry" for the disruption caused by the implementation of P&M and it was taking a range of actions to address this.
She added: "We have increased the number of people in our finance team who are working tirelessly to process the increased volume of outstanding invoices.
"The university prides itself in fostering good relationships with suppliers, and we are doing our best to ensure all payments are processed as quickly as possible. We apologise to any of our students, staff or suppliers who are experiencing a delay in payment.
"We know there have been stipend and student payment issues and these have been escalated to the highest level to be resolved as quickly as possible."
James Robinson pictured in Tanzania earlier this year where he was researching community forest management
The impact of the problems with the new financial system are being keenly felt by PhD students who rely on the university for an income and expenses during their studies.
James Robinson, a PhD student researching community forest management, has had two fieldwork trips to Tanzania this year and struggled to get the £3,000 he paid up front back on expenses.
A seven-week delay in getting reimbursed meant the 36-year-old had to borrow money from his partner.
He said: "The expenses haven't stopped just because the new system's a total nightmare, people are still paying for things out of their own pocket.
"I just can't get my head around it, from an organisation which is so big and established, and given how wealthy it is, to have done something to the system which is so catastrophically bad."
'We can't live without this money'
PhD students live on stipends - a non-repayable sum provided to doctoral students to help support their studies - from the university.
Amanda Byström, moved to Edinburgh in September to study at the Institute for Astronomy, and had her first three months' worth of stipends due that month paid four weeks late due to the P&M problems.
The 26-year-old said she felt ashamed when she had to borrow money from friends and family as a result.
She added: "I don't think I will receive my next stipend on time. I am very financially vulnerable, we all are, and we can't live without this money.
"I'm not talking about being able to go out for dinner at the weekend, I'm talking about making rent."
- Published9 November 2022
