Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy John Chapman, Deputy Jamie Ingham Clark and Hugh Morris.

There were no declarations.

The representatives of Agilisys introduced themselves to the Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee welcomed the Agilisys representatives to the meeting, and also welcomed Simon Woods, Head of IT, to the Corporation.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 9 June 2015.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 June 2015 be approved as an accurate record.

Note of outstanding actions.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided an update on the Outstanding Actions from previous meetings.

A Member asked whether the PSN Accreditation of Outlook on mobile devices had been raised with Microsoft. The Chamberlain agreed to raise this with Microsoft.

The Chamberlain also updated Members on the recruitment of senior staff within the IT Department. He advised the Sub-Committee that three of the four management staff had now been recruited, with the recruitment process for the fourth vacancy currently in the final stages.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

To receive a resolution from the Housing Management and Almhouses Sub (Community and Children's Services) Committee seeking assurance that officers had the ability to send information to residents quickly and effectively.

The Sub-Committee received a resolution from the Housing Management and Almhouses Sub (Community and Children’s Services) Committee which sought assurance that officers had the ability to send information to residents quickly and effectively.

The Town Clerk advised that the Chamberlain’s Department had ensured that officers had been provided with appropriate equipment and software to ensure that residents could be informed of issues quickly and effectively. This had been done to the satisfaction of the Housing Management and Almhouses Sub (Community and Children’s Services) Committee

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the motion of the Management and Almhouses Sub (Community and Children’s Services) Committee

Report of the Chamberlain. This report will also be supplemented by a presentation at the meeting.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided a review of the second year of the Agilisys Information Technology Contract.

The report was supplemented by a presentation by the Chamberlain and representatives of Agilisys. The presentation provided information of the original intentions of the contract with Agilisys, progress made in years one and two of the contract, plans for year three of the contract and upcoming projects.  

The Chairman noted that there had been significant improvement over the last year. The Chairman also noted that it was vital that the Corporation kept up to date with current technology, and suggested that IT resources should be considered to be a consumable now, rather than an investment, as IT equipment was no longer likely to be a viable resource for more than three years.

The Chairman requested that the IT Newsletter be circulated to Members, as well as Officers.

Members asked a number of questions regarding the report.

In response to a question about whether the Corporation was required to use Microsoft products, the Chamberlain explained that there was not a requirement to do this beyond the current contract, and other providers would be considered when this contract came due for renewal. The priority would be ensuring the best deal and best service for the Corporation. Agilisys representatives explained that Microsoft remained the market-leader in enterprise software for business. Agilisys explained that one of their clients had desired to move away from Microsoft, but after using a competitor’s products, was now moving back to Microsoft.

A Member commented that while there were potential issues with ‘lock-in’ with Microsoft, Oracle products were likely to provide a bigger risk in this area.

In response to a question about storage and server costs, the Chamberlain explained that the contract was in budget for

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

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.

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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

There were no non-public questions.

There was no items of non-public urgent business.