Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Jeremy Mayhew, Rehana Ameer, Sylvia Moys and James Tumbridge. 

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 1 November 2019.

RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee considered and approved the Public Minutes of the meeting held on Friday 1 November 2019.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chamberlain which provided updates of outstanding actions from previous meetings. The report also provided information of the Sub-Committee’s proposed work plan for forthcoming meetings.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk (Director of Communications).

The Committee received the report of the Town Clerk (Director of Communications) on the Design, build, support and hosting for new website.

The Digital Publishing and Content Strategy Lead briefed the Sub-Committee on the progress so far with the new website developments.  Members were pleased to learn that the project has a green status as well as currently being on time, on budget and within the projects scope.

A Member inquired what has been done in terms of user testing. The Project Manager of the new website informed the Sub-Committee that many tests have been carried with real users to identify areas of improvements and debugging. Another Member asked if the urls published in the various City print and on-line publications would be supported in the new website structure. The Manager stated that they would be supported.

RESOLVED– that the Sub-Committee notes the report

The City Surveyor's  Department to be heard.

The Sub-Committee received an oral presentation of the Digital Technology in the City Surveyors Department.

The Sub-Committee was told that there are four major groups within the City Surveyors Department, which are the Operations, Corporate Properties, Investment Properties and Property Projects with around 250 members of staff involved in the Departments activities. The Sub-Committee was told that the City Surveyors Department manages £4.1bn in investment property portfolio of which 324 are properties leading to an income of £136m per annum.

The City Surveyor’s Department has a major strategic impact on the work and services of the City. The Sub-Committee was further told that the IT software for managing our investment property portfolio is not now considered fit for purpose, as the package has limited Property  Management functionalities such as not being able to produce valuations and the service charge processes are not to British standard and there are very limited reporting facilities.

The Sub-Committee was informed that keeping up with floor plan updates is getting increasingly costly and is very time consuming. With the current contract with Facilities Management system MiCad coming to an end in May 2020, this allows the City the opportunities to explore other systems and perhaps look into a holistic system which will allow the City Surveyors Department to expand its services, save time and increase productivity while at the same time it can save the City money too.

The Sub-Committee was told in terms of smart working the City Surveyor’s Department has expanded its hot desking with up to 75% of its staff now using laptops, 20% desktops and 5% tablets. This has enabled the department to be mobile and be able to work remotely too. 

A Member asked how the team is ensuring that it is adopting the best technology. The Sub-Committee was

Item 9 of the agenda was taken as part of 6.A.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the Oracle ERP strategy – interim paper.

The Sub-Committee was told that the Chamberlain’s IT team have been working with colleagues in the Finance Division on an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) strategy based on the requirement to complete a major upgrade to Oracle in the next couple of years. 

A Member enquired if the City has started the recruitment process for a consultant for the upgrade. The Sub-Committee was informed that an independent consultancy will be commissioned in January 2020 to support the short options review.

RESOLVED– that the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the 2020 IT Managed Services Update. At the Court of the Common Council in December 2019 the winner of the contract was announced. The Sub-Committee was informed that the Chamberlain’s Department is looking for ways to progress some of the IT 2020 Managed Service project before the new contract formally starts.

The Sub-Committee was informed that there have been no challenges from the participating bidders, but one had requested a face to face feedback session.  The whole exercise was managed very diligently, and it was the first time Agilisys had won a contract whilst being an incumbent provider.

The Agilisys Representative commented that they were very pleased with the outcome and look forward continue to work with the City.

RESOLVED– that the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor and the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the joint report of the Comptroller and City solicitor and the Chamberlain on the City of London Corporation Information Handling (Protective Marking).

Members were told that the Information Management (IM) Strategy was agreed by the Summit Group in March 2019 and thereafter by the Digital Services Sub-Committee in July 2019. Members were informed that the City needs to do more to protect its data and flow of information. The objective of the report is to ensure that the City can bring about a cultural change and ensure that all its data are being shared with confidence. 

A Member asked if the Members of the Court of the Common Council will be provided with training and templates to ensure that Protective Marking enforced on all the City’s business by its elected Members. Officers assure the Sub-Committee that all the Members will be provided with adequate training on the Information Handling (Protective Marking). Members were also encouraged to ensure that they are using their City of London email address for all their Corporations related businesses.

The Chairman noted that for the Protective Marking to work on all documents, it needs to be aligned with Modern.Gov before the rollout. The Sub-Committee was assured that the IT Services will work together with the Town Clerk’s Department and ensure that the work is rolled out in alignment.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

This item was taken as part of 6.A.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the IT Division – IT Service Delivery Summary.

A Member noted that there were 2 P2 incidents on the report but 5 incidents are listed.  The Agilisys Client Director agreed that this was a mistake and in fact there were 5 P2 incident occurrence.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the IT Division - Change Management Summary.  Members were told that there has been a number of notable changes within the Change Management.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the IT Division Risk Update.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the CR 16 Information Security Risk.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.

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 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 the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 1 November 2019.

RESOLVED: That the Sub-Committee considered and approved the non public minutes of the meeting held on Friday 1 November 2019.

Report of the Chamberlain.

In conjunction with item 13.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the CR 16 Information Security Risk, which was part of the non-public appendix of item 13 of the agenda.

Report  of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee considered the report of the Chamberlain on the LAN and WAN circuit rental for City of London Police for ANPR Circuits, firewalls and corporate network.

The Commissioner of the City of London Police to be heard.

The Sub-Committee received the oral presentation of the Detective Chief Superintendent of the City of London Police on the Police Deep Dive Emergency Services Network.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee received the report of the Chamberlain on the IT Disaster Recovery testing plan for 2020.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee considered the report of the Town Clerk on the Cora PPM (Corporate Project Management Software).

Report of Roland Martin, Headmaster and Chief Officer.

The Sub-Committee received the report of Roland Martin, Headmaster and Chief Officer on the Freemen's School Managed IT Infrastructure Service.

There were no non-public questions.

There was no other non-public business.