Agenda and draft minutes

To appoint the Chair of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Jayne Barry (NEDCC) be appointed Chair of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

To appoint the Vice Chair of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED – That Councillor Joseph Birkin (NEDDC) be appointed Vice-Chair of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor David Bennett (BDC), Councillor David Chapman (DDDC), and Councillor Clive Moesby (BDC). Councillor Duncan Heywood attended in his place.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the attached Minutes of the Joint ICT Committee meeting held on 12 February 2024.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Joint ICT Committee, held on 11 April 2024 were noted.

To appoint a Secretary of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED - That the Assistant Directors Governance and Monitoring Officers for Bolsover District Council and North East Derbyshire District Council be appointed as Secretary of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

To appoint a Treasurer of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED -That the Section 151 Officers for Bolsover District Council and North East Derbyshire District Council be appointed Treasurer to the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

To appoint an Auditor of the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024-2025 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED - That the Internal Audit Consortium Manager, Derbyshire Dales District Council, be appointed as Auditor to the Joint ICT Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

Report of the Joint Assistant Director of ICT

Joint Committee received an overview of the Joint ICT Service. This included the roles and purpose of the service as well as SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and an outline of the teams working within the Service.

Members discussed the Joint ICT Service and received information on what the current primary focus of the service was. The Joint ICT Committee also heard that there were a number of projects being undertaken. Members requested clarification on particular areas of work, and how project time was calculated.

Committee also discussed user feedback groups, and issues with ICT across the service. Mitigations were discussed to prevent website attacks, predominantly in NEDCC but would be rolled out across the other areas.

The Chair to move:-

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item(s) of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item(s) of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Report of the Joint Assistant Director of ICT

                                                                                                         Paragraph 7

Committee received a quarterly service update report that highlighted Quarter Four of the 2023/24 municipal year.

Members heard that the total number of incidents and service requests had remained stable throughout the period and that the total number of outstanding calls had begun to gradually decrease over the last quarter. In order to help address the backlog of calls and to provide additional resources, two fixed term temporary posts and one part time permanent post had been recruited to.

Joint Committee were informed that over the six-month period, BDC and DDDC on average exceeded the SLA on the number of incidents and service requests being resolved within the fixed time. NEDDC was under the SLA. However, the majority were service requests and not incidents.

Members learned that throughout the period there had been a total of 20 Priority Two outages and 5 Priority One outages.

Joint Committee discussed the report at length. In particular they discussed the number of issues which had been resolved on first contact, time taken to resolve incidents, issues with the websites, and utilising underspends from previous years’ budget to assist with call backlogs and project work.

The Assistant Director of ICT informed Members that she would be discussing the report with Service Managers.

RESOLVED – That the service report be noted.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Committee received a presentation around Artificial Intelligence (AI). This explained what AI entailed, and what it can be used for. Gen AI was discussed, and examples of where AI is used were provided. The benefits and risks of AI was covered and, how AI was being implemented within Joint ICT Service was shared.

Members requested clarification around cost savings in the future. Statistics on customer satisfaction were explored and Members asked for clarification around risks, bias, and discrimination. Additionally, Members discussed how the Council could harness AI for improvements. It was shared that this information would be taken to Service Managers.

Members suggested carrying out an AI Pilot in a controlled environment. Furthermore, Members discussed data control, and the risks around this. Members recommended an impact assessment on AI, exploring the risks, and how to control them.  It was highlighted that the Committee could request this to be explored through a piece of work.

Members asked if staff at the Council could use AI on Council equipment, it was confirmed that there was some availability. Examples were provided of where AI was being used by colleagues.

Action – To be discussed at the next meeting.

The next meeting of the Joint ICT Committee will take place on Monday, 4 November 2024 at 2.00 pm. 

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Joint ICT Committee would be held at Derbyshire Dales District Council on Monday, 4 November 2024 at 1.00pm.