Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Barry.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the attached Minutes of the Joint ICT Committee held on 4 November 2024. 

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2024 were approved as a true record, subject to it being recorded that detailed updates on outstanding faults and utilisation of AI were requested.

Report of the Assistant Director of ICT

Before Committee heard the report, they received a verbal update, from the Director of Finance and Resources – NEDDC, on the topic of AI. Members heard that a multi-stage plan was in place at North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) to explore how the Council could utilise AI to increase efficiency. Step 1 was identified as increasing staff comfort around using AI tools, step 2 would be a data cleansing exercise and step 3 would be a major systems review. Members heard that a project team had been put in place and it was suggested that a detailed roadmap to the project be brought to a future meeting.

Some Members had questions over the scope of a grant that had previously been used to explore how AI could improve the efficiency of the planning process. It was clarified that the current approach was to look at how AI could improve services across the Council. Some Members suggested that outside experts would be needed to ensure the project was handled effectively.

Committee also discussed the cyber training that was set to take place at NEDDC offices, before hearing the report.

The Committee received a quarterly service update report that highlighted quarter 3 of the 2024/25 financial year. This included statistics on calls received and responded to by the Joint ICT Service, as well as details surrounding the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); incidents resolved within target time, incidents resolved on first contact and the level of resource utilisation across the Joint ICT service. Committee also received a detailed breakdown of the statistics surrounding outstanding calls. Members heard that the total number of outstanding calls was reducing and a review into older outstanding calls was in progress. Overall, the report highlighted that the Joint ICT service was performing well, as KPI’s remained stable.

Committee welcomed the report. Some Members had questions surrounding the length of time calls had been outstanding and how they were categorised. The way calls are categorised were clarified and Members heard that the majority of calls were resolved within a year. It was revealed that service requests took longer to resolve than incidents and there had been very few complaints in regard to outstanding call time. In this context, some Members suggested that separate graphs could be used to show outstanding calls by category. It was also suggested that a statistic on the number of outstanding calls left be included in the report for the next meeting, but the difficulties in obtaining this figure were acknowledged.

Some Members requested further statistics on the number of calls resolved on first contact by category. It was revealed that these figures were difficult to obtain but a new service desk tool for reporting incidents was set to be brought in which should make it easier.

RESOLVED –

1.            That Committee noted the report. 

2.            That a roadmap of the AI development project be brought to a future meeting.

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 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.

Report of the Assistant Director of ICT

(Paragraph 7)

Committee received a quarterly service update report that highlighted quarter 3 of the 2024/25 financial year. This included a detailed update on the budget, ongoing projects, a summary of outages, the cost saving plan and risks.

Committee discussed the report. Some Members raised questions around outages, bugs affecting certain projects, the impact of more funding and recruitment delays. Members discussed specific dates for key projects. It was suggested that forecasted end dates be included in the project table in future. Members discussed the ongoing Exchange Online project. It was revealed that the plan was to come to the next meeting with an offer, in this regard. It was agreed that a document detailing proposed options would be circulated beforehand.

Committee discussed the impact that Local Government reorganisation was going to have on the Joint ICT service. Members considered the amount of work it would take to consolidate IT systems across the district. Some Members had questions around how these decisions would be taken. Members felt that consideration was needed around investments in future projects, as a result of Local Government reorganisation. It was agreed that the forward plan be brought to a future meeting in order to look at prioritising certain projects.

RESOLVED –

1.            That Committee noted the report.

2.            That the forward plan be brought to a future meeting.

The next meeting of the Joint ICT Committee will be advised once the Council’s Calendar of Meetings Schedule 2025-26 has been approved. 

It was provisionally agreed that the next meeting of the Joint ICT Committee would take place on 20 May 2025 at 1:00pm at North East Derbyshire District Council.