Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Meeting.

No apologies were received.

None

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services  in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 7 May 2019).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13 March 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Director of Commercial and Commissioning introduced the Report and provided an overview of the key issues covered in the Agenda report which included:

·         A recap on the recent history relating to the IT service, including the insourcing of IT services and the amalgamation of various teams

·         An update on the IT Management Structure and the extensive list of responsibilities of the Team

·         The IT offer to Councillors which had been in place since 2017 and included the direct provision of IT equipment and a contribution of £240 per annum towards Broadband connection per Councillor

·         The upgrade to various software as part of the Future Technology Transformation Programme. Windows 7 was being replaced by Windows 10 across the Council, with this work to be completed later in the year.

The Panel was reassured that the quality of the IT service provision had been improved since bringing it back in-house and that it was now operating in a more flexible and cost-effective manner as a result.

Members were provided with details of the current major developments in IT, which were:

·           The Social Care Case Management Programme (SCCM)

·           The Future Technology Transformation Programme (FTTP)

·           Worcestershire Children First (WCF) IT and Information Management workstream

·           The New Library Management System

·           Organisational Redesign Digital and System workstream

·           County Hall, G1 refurbishment.

The development of a Council IT Strategy ‘IT for the Future’ set out a suite of activities that needed to be put in place. Strategies currently being developed included the Cyber Security Strategy and the Digital Strategy.  Funding was being sought from central Government to assist with training on these new strategies.

The Director drew members attention to the 6 Technology Principles which had been identified as key components to support the Business Strategy to 2022 as follows:

·           Cloud first for new and cloud migration for legacy

·           Ubiquitous connectivity, superfast as a minimum

·           Lightweight devices, always on and work anywhere

·           Role based security, which works with partners and meets UK Government standards

·           Line of business systems designed around the user, interoperable and compliant with recognised standards

·           Information governance across partners managed by Worcestershire Office of Data and Analytics (WODA), ensuring that that the Council has the right permissions to share data.

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·         A Member queried the benefits/cost implications of IT Services being outsourced to DxC (previously Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)) and then brought back in-house. The Interim IT and Digital Manager advised that the IT Service had benefitted from the rigour of a professional IT company, but a review had highlighted that DxC’s business priorities were different to HPE and that they didn’t wish to continue providing the Service to the Council. A Cabinet Member decision was therefore made in October 2017 to bring the service in-house, at a timescale to suit the Council’s needs.

·         The Panel was informed that DxC had been helpful during the transition period of bringing the Service back in-house and the process had gone smoothly. The Council now had more flexibility,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 221.

The Panel received details of their current work programme for review.

After discussion, the following actions were agreed:

Libraries Remodelling

An additional Panel meeting would be arranged for 9 July 2019 (2pm) to consider the Libraries Remodelling Report, prior to Cabinet on 11 July.

Place Partnership

The Panel was interested in discussing the Place Partnership contract, achievements to date and plans for the future. It was agreed that the Chairman would discuss the detail of this suggestion with the Director of Commercial and Commissioning.

It was noted that the Fire Authority were considering work in this area and that they should be contacted to avoid any overlap and duplication.

Development of Procurement Strategy

This item would be moved to the September Panel meeting.

Liberata

This item would be deferred to a later meeting (TBC).

New items suggested for the Work Programme

·         Travellers – an update on the service

·         Countryside Service

·         Adult Education service – revenue raised and how being utilised.