Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Jamie Ingham Clark and Rehana Ameer.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 July 2021.

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 July 2021 be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chamberlain which provided updates on outstanding actions from previous meetings.

Members highlighted recent changes to Mailchimp terms and conditions of use and ongoing concerns regarding GDPR audits/compliance and ensuring that Members were kept informed of any changes to ICO guidance

Officers agreed to provide regular updates on GDPR audits/compliance and how this risk was managed.

RESOLVED –

1. That the Sub-Committee notes the report.
   
   
2. That regular updates on GDPR audits/compliance and how this risk is managed are considered by this Sub Committee.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer listing items of business or future meetings.  Officers drew the Sub Committee’s attention to the IT Priorities Plan which was for 2022/23 (not 2021/22)

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Director of Communications to be heard.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk updating Members on the action being taken to address teething issues following the launch of the new CoL website.

In response to questions and comments from Members, Officers advised that the link to Councillors information was now accessible from the home page but there were ongoing issues with poor search results which were being addressed.  The key information on Councillors had evolved over time and editorial content could be altered quickly.  However developmental issues took longer to resolve although efforts had been made to reduce the number of pages and also information that was no longer relevant. Officers gave assurances that issues raised would be pursued and encourages Members to flag any concerns so that these could be addressed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Comptroller regarding compliance with Data Protection requirements.

Members were concerned that a two-stage authentication process was not used and the potential risks of data breaches from lost or stolen devices.  It was also suggested that future annual reports should specify which areas of legislation were applicable to provide the Sub Committee with assurances that all issues were addressed.

The Deputy Chairman requested a comparative analysis/benchmarking data for

• measuring engagement with the public/partners
• collecting and responding to feedback

In response, Officers stated that as soon as devices were reported lost/stolen they were disabled and newer devices made two-step authentication redundant. Officers were happy to develop a digital engagement dashboard and this item would be added to the outstanding actions report and the forward plan.

RESOLVED –

1. That the report be noted.
   
   
2. That Officers develop a digital engagement dashboard and add this item to outstanding actions and add to the forward plan.

Report of the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Comptroller regarding compliance with Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations requirements.

Member suggested that future annual reports should specify which areas of legislation were applicable to provide the Sub Committee with assurances that all issues were addressed.

RESOLVED - That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer outlining the key tasks from the Social Value Workstream of the IT managed service contract with Agilisys.

In response to observations from Members, Officers reported that Social Value commitments fed into the overarching Digital Skills Strategy.  Members also suggested that in order to avoid duplication, the Procurement Sub Committee should have the overall lead on social value in contracts.

Officers reiterated that this update was provided to Members as part of the Agilisys IT managed contract and the Chairman suggested that future updates should be on an exception basis only.

RESOLVED –

1. That the report be noted.
   
   

2.    That future updates are provided on an exception basis only.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer presenting the findings from the Modern.Gov app.

Members discussed this report at length and the Deputy Chairman urged members to embrace digitisation which would create environmental and financial benefits.  It was suggested that Option 7a should be supported in principle whilst recognising the resources and work required to support this huge transformational change. 

The Deputy Chairman stated that if there was a consensus among Members to accelerate change, the tools and challenges to drive this should be identified as the new cohort of Members elected in March 2022 was the ideal opportunity to bring about change by embracing digitisation.  These sentiments were echoed by other Members.

Officers reported that Modern.Gov had national and regional user forums and that Civica had been very responsive in addressing issues with app functionality including glitches with publishing papers to the app. An extranet pilot was also being rolled out to test access to committee papers where connectivity was an issue.  However, at present, confidential papers could not be viewed via the Modern.Gov app.

Officers were having discussions with Civica about the democracy pages so that the branding was consistent with the wider CoL branding.  Taking into consideration the past 18 months where meetings papers had been available electronically only for the most part, now was a good opportunity to collaborate with IT and maintain the momentum for driving for paper free meetings and promoting uptake of the Modern.Gov app.

The Deputy Chairman emphasised that a huge culture shift was required with full buy-in from the Sub Committee and the Policy and Resources Committee.  The Chairman also stated that a clear presentation of costs versus benefits was required to inform the aspirations/vision and inclusive solutions and broad support for digitisation.

Some members had reservations

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer reviewing the 2 critical corporate IT risks.

RESOLVED –

1.    That the report is noted.

2.    That the following statement describing the Sub Committee’s appetite for risk be approved:

“The City Corporation will minimise unnecessary risk and manage residual risk to a level commensurate with its status as a public body so that:

·         The risks have been properly identified and assessed.

·         The risks will be appropriately managed, including the taking of appropriate actions and the regular review of risk(s).

The City of London Corporation will also positively decide to take risks in pursuit of its strategic aims where it has sufficient assurances that the potential benefits justify the level of risk to be taken.”

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer regarding risk management.

In response to questions, Officers stated that IT budget savings would feed into the overall TOM savings and presented as a package. The proposed E5 licensing would provide enhanced security, telephony and Power BI analysis tools to all end users. However, due to the time limitations on the discounts offered, this would need to be progressed through urgency/delegated authority.  Officers were happy to provide an update to the next meeting.

Officers advised that there would be full consultation with budget holders and there would be financial challenges for CoL and CoLP. The ultimate consequences and impact would be reflected in the new TOM presented by the Chief Operating Officer.  Proposals would be reviewed during October 2021 prior to consideration during the next committee cycle and this would inform the Medium Term Financial Plan. 

RESOLVED –

1. That the report is noted.
   
   

2.    That an update on IT budget savings be presented to the next meeting.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating Officer regarding service level incidents.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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 23 July 2021.

The Sub-Committee approved the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2021 as an accurate record.

Report of the Chief Information Security Officer.

The Sub Committee considered a report regarding Key Risk Indicators and Control Indicators for Cyber Security.

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Police Commissioner regarding the provision of in -vehicle audio/video equipment.

There were no non-public questions.

There was one item of non-public business.