Meeting documents

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Review Commission held on 9 March 2016, be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Chairman of the ICT (Information Communication Technology) Task & Finish Group; Councillor L Wood presented the report of the Group by means of a power point presentation.

The recommendations fell into three categories:

1.     To resolve the legacy issues following the handover from Northgate to Capita:

2.     To standardise, streamline and progress the operating systems, processes and tools in use:

3.     To implement a formal monitoring and review process for the ICT provision and incorporation of technology into work flow at Wycombe District Council (WDC):

Extensive evidence had been gathered and the themes of the work of the Group had been identified as:

• Accessibility and Efficiency;

• Versatility and Functionality;

• Security;

• Infrastructure;

• Economic Value; and

·         Monitoring

Reference was made to the end of mainstream support and extended support regarding the various Windows Client Operating Systems and the need to put into place systems that were as far as possible ‘future-proof’. Key issues identified were mentioned: the current outdated webmail and hardware security token, iPads only downloading in Wi-Fi areas, no member access to shared drives and non-receipt of all staff e-mails.

The Group had learnt that the Council was not entirely bound by the Capita contract, enabling it to set its own development pace. Capita’s past and current level of performance was also referenced. The constraints of the Public Service Network requirements were referred to; and the belief that support of members’ own devices would be inefficient.

Paperless working would require the appropriate digital system and training to be in place first. Importantly the Group had established that to operate at peak efficiency with technology, the Council should standardise operating systems and digital tools for both Members and officers together.

The full recommendations as arrived at by the Group (and as featured below) were explained in detail and set out in a general order of priority.

1.         To resolve the legacy issues following the handover from Northgate to Capita:

Recommendation 1

To immediately clarify and resolve, potentially through third party expert review, the nature of the stability issues either caused or aggravated by ‘File Server 1’.

Reason: To resolve stability issues leading to server failures and excessive downtime.

Recommendation 2

To ensure that suitable server power is provided to prevent logon issues during busy periods.

Reason: To resolve failures related to heavy traffic during busy periods at WDC offices.

Recommendation 3

That adequate and knowledgeable support is available from Capita, both remotely and on-site, for specialist programmes and systems.

Reason: In order to provide IT support that maintains 99.9% operational efficiency.

Recommendation 4

To require Capita to provide an action plan for fixing issues that have been identified.

Reason: To tackle the culture of patching.

Recommendation 5

To ensure that where short term patches are used, they are communicated to all staff.

Reason: To resolve problem of repetitive issues across departments.

Recommendation 6

That the possibility of implementing financial penalties against Capita for failures be explored.

Reason: To hold Capita to account for failures and ensure implementation of action plans.

Recommendation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The status of the current task and finish groups was considered and discussed.

Members agreed to the set-up of the Budget Task and Finish Group to be carried out in two stages as per the previous year, with reports to Cabinet In November for the input of recommendations for consideration for inclusion in the evolving 2017-18 budget, then again in February with recommendations as a result of the scrutiny of the proposed budget.

Vice Chairman of the Commission; Councillor A Collingwood agreed to chair this Budget Task and Finish Group. Volunteers to serve on the Group to be established.

It was suggested that the Cabinet Member for Planning be formally requested to attendthe next Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday 14 September 2016 to update the Commission on the progress of the Local Plan Consultation with the Local Plan Task and Finish Group to meet thereafter. Councillor Collingwood indicated that he would be happy to remain Chairman of this Group for the time being, though given his commitment with the Budget Task and Finish Group he proposed that a new Chairman to be appointed in due course.

Given that previous Local Plan Task and Finish Group members Councillors S K Raja and A Turner were now no longer able to serve on the Group in that they were now serving on the Council’s executive, again new volunteer replacements to be sought and appointed.

The existence of four current Task and Finish Group in line with the limit was noted; and the suggestion of a task and finish group at a future date to consider traffic issues arising from the Handy Cross development was noted.

No topics were identified on the attached Cabinet Forward Plan for review by the Commission at future meetings.

RESOLVED: That;

(i)            the update on the Work Programme and current task and finish groups be noted; and

(ii)          the Budget Task and Finish Group be established, with the Vice-Chairman in the chair, reporting directly to Cabinet at its November and February meetings, with cross-party membership to be agreed by the Chairman of the Task and Finish Group.

There were no Councillor Calls for Action.

The Chairman closed the meeting noting that this would be the last Commission meeting attended by the Head of Democratic, Legal & Policy Services; Charles Meakings, lead officer for Scrutiny.

Mr Meakings was retiring in late July, the Chairman wished to record his thanks for Charles’s input, brilliant support and diplomatic advice to the Commission and its preceding scrutiny committees over some 12 or so years. Wycombe’s status as an exemplar in respect of Improvement and Review and the successful work carried on by the Commission in scrutinising not only Wycombe District Council’s but various public services locally, was in no small way due to Charles’s input, advice and assistance.

After the Vice-Chairman’s re-iteration of those sentiments, Charles responded saying that he had enjoyed serving the Commission he had been proud to work for what was an excellent Scrutiny team at WDC; he never ceased to be amazed at the commitment of both Members and officers and thanked Members for their support over the years.