Joint Committee on Shared Services – 23 September 2016

Chairman:    Councillor Hannigan
Venue:         Function Room 1, Civic Centre, Scunthorpe
Time:           2 pm

 AGENDA

1.  Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Personal or Personal and Prejudicial Interests.

2.  To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 14 June, 2016.

3.  Shared Services – Progress Report.

4.  Shared Services Performance Report – Quarter 1

5.  Shared Information Governance Function

6.  ICT Technical Standards – Report by the Shared Services Board.

7.  Any other items which the chairman decides are urgent by reason of special circumstances which must be specified.

Note:  Reports are by the Shared Services Officer Board, unless otherwise stated.

MINUTES

PRESENT: –  Councillors Hannigan, Patrick, Reed and Waltham.

Sally Jack, Helen Manderson, Mike Wedgewood, Jason Whaler and Matthew Nundy also attended the meeting.

The meeting was held at the Civic Centre, Scunthorpe.

36  DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS AND PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, personal or personal and prejudicial interests made at the meeting.

37  MINUTESResolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the joint committee held on 14 June 2016, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the chairman.

38  (5)  SHARED SERVICES – PROGRESS REPORT – Further to Minute 32, a report was submitted by the Shared Services Board updating the committee on the recent work in relation to the shared service.

Projected savings for the shared services programme remained on target and monitoring systems were in place to ensure control and scrutiny of budgets and savings on shared services.

As previously considered by the joint committee, the new Customer and Local Taxation and Benefits shared service in North and North East Lincolnshire went live during July 2016.

Positive internal (Internal Audit) and external KPMG validation had been received regarding the implementation of shared services and a progress update had been submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) regarding the transformational challenge award allocation, which DCLG had accepted.

The report contained other detailed information in relation to progress on the implementation of shared services.

Resolved – (a) That the successful implementation of shared services during its first quarter and the positive direction of travel of “Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect” be noted, and (b) that as per paragraph 2.10 of the report, the joint committee agree, in principle to develop potential commercial models to support the work of “Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect”.

39  (6)  SHARED SERVICES PERFORMANCE REPORT – QUARTER 1 – The Shared Services Board submitted a report which provided the joint committee with the performance arrangements and financial performance of the shared service as at August 2016.

The financial performance of the shared service was contained in Appendix A to the report and Appendix B to the report identified a range of successes, detailed by service, during the first quarter of 201617.

Resolved – That the 2016/17 Quarter 1 performance of the shared service be noted.

40  (7)  SHARED INFORMATION GOVERNANCE FUNCTION – The Shared Services Board submitted a report which set out a proposal to develop a shared information governance function incorporated within the scope of Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect.

Information Governance (IG) was the term used to describe a range of information management functions encompassing:

  • Freedom of Information
  • Environmental Information Regulations
  • Data Subject Access Requests
  • Records Management
  • Data Protection

The function was subject to a range of significant statutory compliance requirements relating to data protection and associated legislation, with enforcement and compliance monitored at national level by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

At North Lincolnshire Council, the function currently forms part of the Business Support Division within the Policy and Resources Directorate.  It was structurally allied to the shared IT service but as a North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) specific function, aligned with the IT security team given recognised functional synergies that exist across these professional areas.

The NLC team consisted of a Principal IG Officer supported by an IG Officer.

Following a recent review at North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) the Information Governance and Data Protection Manager had been similarly structurally aligned with the shared IT service but as with NLC it currently maintained a council specific focus.

These recent changes alongside the formation of Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect presented an opportunity to develop and formally incorporate the function as a shared service to realise a range of benefits.

It was proposed to incorporate the IG specialists within the ICT Communication and Facilities team alongside the IT security specialist, as set out in Appendix A.

The Principal IG Officers together with the Principal IT Security Officer would report to the Strategic Lead – ICT Communications and Facilities.

Resolved – (a) That the proposal to develop the North Lincolnshire Council / North East Lincolnshire Council information governance functions as a shared service within the scope of Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect be approved, and (b) that the structural change to the shared IT service, as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved.

41  (8)  ICT TECHNICAL STANDARDS – The Shared Services Board submitted a report which provided a position statement on the alignment of the Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect ICT technical standards and sought approval of a future development plan.

A new joint ICT strategy was recently approved reflecting both councils shared priorities for the coming three years, building on the ICT shared services business case.

The ICT strategy supported the realisation of the business transformation priorities of both councils, as services were remodelled and sized to meet local needs within an increasingly restrained financial environment.

Common ICT standards provided the necessary technical platforms that underpin the delivery of the ICT strategy and were essential for providing a secure and agile infrastructure that was fit for purpose enabling both councils to deliver their business priorities.

Appendix A set out the ICT technical standards used across North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council, highlighting where common products and technologies had been implemented or aligned, together with a commentary on the future development plans.

In line with good practice the document would be periodically reviewed to reflect the complex and rapidly changing nature of the ICT business environment.  The standards would form part of the ICT Technical Roadmap for Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect.  The roadmap was necessary to ensure that all ICT systems, applications and infrastructure technologies were developed and standardised as one, enabling the shared service to operate effectively and deliver both current and future financial efficiencies and business priorities.

The standards would comply with the nationally mandated Public Services Network (PSN) Code of Connection, which provided network links to external public bodies and national government with a consistent level of mutual information protection and assurance.

The ICT technical standards set out at Appendix A covered:

  • Office systems
  • Desktop environment
  • Digital technologies
  • Data Centre and server infrastructure
  • Remote and agile working
  • End user devices
  • Unified communications

Resolved – That the current position statement be noted, and (b) that the high-level development plans, as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved.