To receive the Annual Reports of the services currently delivered in partnership with Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils and to note progress of the renewal of the 3C Shared Services Agreement.
Executive Councillor: D Keane.
Contact: O Morley: (01480) 388103
Additional documents:
Decision:
Cabinet noted the Shared Services Annual Reports for 2019/20 as outlined in Appendix A of the report now submitted and delegated authority to the Managing Director to finalise and agree the renewed partnership agreement by September 2020, after consultation with the Executive Councillor for Corporate Services.
Minutes:
The Cabinet received a report by the Corporate Director (People) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) regarding the Shared Services’ 2019/20 Annual Report and the progress of the renewal of the 3C Shared Services Agreement.
In introducing the item, the Executive Councillor for Corporate Services drew attention to the key outcomes to be achieved by the shared service over the ensuing 5 year period and commented upon the pressures placed upon 3C ICT to deliver against the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic specifically in relation to network functionality and the Council Anywhere project.
Having been apprised with the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Growth) and in expressing their support for the renewal of the Shared Services Agreement, it was
RESOLVED
(a) that the 3C Shared Service Annual Report for 2019/20 as attached as Appendix 1 of the report now submitted be endorsed; and
(b) that delegated authority be given to the Managing Director to finalise and agree the renewed partnership agreement by September 2020, after consultation with the Executive Councillor for Corporate Services.
The Panel are to receive the 3C Legal, ICT and Building Control Shared Services Annual Reports 2019/20 and Partnership Agreement Renewal.
Contact: O Morley 01480 388103
Additional documents:
Minutes:
With the aid of a report by the Corporate Director (People) (a copy of which has been appended in the Minute Book) the Shared Services Annual Performance and the Partnership Agreement Renewal was presented to the Panel.
After the Corporate Director (People) presented the report, Councillor Alban asked how the Council maximised the benefit it gets from the ICT products, particularly global products such as the Office 365 suite. In response it was explained that the Council has little influence over development of global products however the Transformation team, and the intelligent client, work with Council services to understand business needs and ensure that they are able to maximise the benefits from these tools. This approach means that services do not have to be technology experts but are supported to use the tools that can make them both more efficient and more effective.
Councillor Tysoe commented that the decisions on investment in the ICT service by the Council are showing their value and worth, particularly in the way that services have been able to work largely as normal during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Concern was raised by Councillor Tysoe over the resilience of the Council as it is now more reliant on IT and how would the Council cope if the IT system failed. The Panel was reassured that the Council have disaster recovery arrangements in place, steps have been taken to strengthen the resilience and that the plans are constantly reviewed. It was noted that before digitisation a risk was still present but it was sat elsewhere, e.g. in irreplaceable sets of paper files. Following digitisation the risk of complete loss is very low but risk profiles change alongside process change and the Council keeps such issues under review.
A question was raised by Councillor Wakeford whether governance is going to be robust enough to adapt to working with potential new partners. Members were reassured that the governance arrangements are robust enough and that there is little appetite to bring new full Shared Service Members into the partnership, therefore any expansion would likely involve delivery of services under contract.
RESOLVED
that the Panel’s comments on the 3C Legal, ICT and Building Control Shared Services Annual Reports 2019/20 and the Partnership Agreement Renewal be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration.