Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Ray Catt and Hugh Morris.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 19^th February 2013.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 19 February 2013 were approved.

Matters Arising:

Members Technology Fund

In response to a Member’s question the Chairman suggested that looking at the introduction of iPads on a cost basis alone was not sufficient and suggested that it would be better to ask the question, ‘have iPads impacted working practices?’, as part of a wider review.

To receive a report of the Chamberlain relative to the Corporation of London’s IS Strategy.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain which followed on from the IS Strategy consultation document presented at the February 2013 meeting.

The Chamberlain stressed that the strategy was a living document that would evolve over time. He added that it shifted the departmental focus from backroom facilitators to a customer facing department.

In response to a Member’s question on data protection issues, the Chamberlain responded that an organisational refresh was underway on the subject and this would also be delivered to Members.

In response to a Member’s question regarding assisting with the digitisation of the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), the Chief Information Officer, responded that colleagues in his department would be working with the LMA on this project. He added that the team intended to learn from the digitisation project undertaken at the British Library. 

In response to a Member’s question regarding ORACLE Property Management software, the Chief Information Officer responded that a decision on adoption of the software would be taken in July. The Chamberlain clarified that the new system would be used for investment property management and not rental properties.

RESOLVED – That the strategy be adopted and be subject to review after a period of six months.

To receive a presentation by Susan Attard, Deputy Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation of the Deputy Town Clerk providing Members with user feedback and statistics from the 2012 website overhaul.

The Deputy Town Clerk advised that whilst there were still areas that could be improved upon, notably the search function and integration with social media, overall user feedback from the new site had been positive. She added that areas identified for improvement were being worked on as a matter of priority.

It was noted that the website had received a Webby Award as recognition of the improvements.

In response to a Member’s query, the Deputy Town Clerk advised that users surveyed for feedback were a mix of staff, residents and business users.

Members raised a number of concerns regarding integration of the website function with other applications search functions, for example the planning system and Modern.gov committee management software.  In response, the Chief Information Officer advised that his team would examine marrying the systems into the website’s search function.

RECEIVED.

To receive a report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain outlining lessons learnt from the website overhaul project.

The Chief Information Officer stated that issues with the project had stemmed from two key areas, the absence of strong project management and inadequate testing; these had added significant risk to the new site launch. He added that contractors had been brought in to make improvements. He highlighted that the changes made as a result of the lessons learnt on this project would assist in the smooth running of future projects.

In response to a Member’s question, the Chief Information Officer advised that other projects had been affected as a result of the extra resources required to finish the website refresh.

RECEIVED.

To receive a report of the Chamberlain relative to the latest position on key projects.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain summarising the progress made on the delivery of key IS projects which were considered to be the most critical for the committee to monitor.

The Chairman requested that a project number be added to the table within the report but welcomed the improvements officers had made to the document in its latest iteration.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No.                                                          Exemption Paragraph(s)

11                                                                                4 & 5

12                                                                                2 & 4

15                                                                                   4

RESOLVED - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To receive a report of the Chamberlain relative to the tender for IS Managed Services.

The Sub-Committee approved a report of the Chamberlain.

A report of the Chamberlain relative to the reorganisation of the IS Division.

The Board received a report of the Chamberlain.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

To approve the confidential minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 February 2013.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 19 February were approved.