Agenda item

ICT Facilities for Members

Decision:

Cabinet DELEGATED the Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services to:

(a) Consider the cessation of Council funded ICT equipment and provision to Members.

(b) Consider the proposal for Member funded ICT provision based on the use of tablet computers and appropriate software to support a more sustainable approach with regard to the production of paper agendas and reports.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered a report which outlined a proposal to provide an improved, more cost effective, sustainable and efficient ICT service to the Council’s elected Members.

Councillor David Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented the report and reminded Cabinet that elected Members had been provided with laptops or personal computers for a number of years. Whilst acknowledging that this technology had achieved significant benefits, he reported that some major disadvantages had become increasingly noticeable over recent years and put forward the following examples:

· the current ICT solution worked by providing Members with access into the Council’s ICT infrastructure, increasing the burden of ensuring effective ICT security;

· changes in the basic software currently provided to Members on their Council-owned laptops or personal computers, in particular the demise of the operating system Microsoft Windows XP, gave rise to a significant issue that needed to be addressed. With effect from 31 March 2014 Windows XP would no longer be supported by Microsoft, which for Members meant a potential exposure to viruses, malware and security flaws. This would leave the Council in a position where it was non-compliant with the required minimum standards;

· an upgrade or replacement of Members’ ICT from Windows XP to Windows 7, as the Council’s current business model, would cost approximately £41,000;

· current access to email and other Council ICT resources was quite cumbersome and had been designed around systems installed over five years ago. Modern technology meant that much more simpler processes could be put in place to provide these services to Members;

· the associated cost of printed matter and paper consumption continued to rise and modern technology now allowed for electronic copies to be made easily available and provide a timelier, cost effective and sustainable approach to the provision of information.

Councillor Whiteman-Downes explained the proposal for removing provision of Council-funded ICT equipment to Members, with the Council instead assisting the procurement of tablet devices to be funded from a Member’s basic allowance should they wish to proceed on that basis. The cost of this would be approximately £10 per Member per month for the full four year term of office. For those Members not wishing to fund the device, an option would be to use their own tablet devices or other ICT equipment. Members interested in retaining their current Council-owned laptop or personal computer could have the ownership transferred for the usual annually depreciated price of 50% per year.

Speaking on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor John Williams was disappointed that the Apple ipad had been chosen as the preferred platform to support this proposal, as a number of Members within his group did not particularly wish to purchase or use Apple products. He referred to a section within the report that suggested ICT support would not be guaranteed for other devices and he argued that this did not provide Members with sufficient support to enable them to carry out their duties. In response, Councillor Whiteman-Downes reassured Cabinet that the proposal would not restrict access and confirmed that the new software would work on the majority of Android products. Apple ipads had been chosen as a preferred device due to their ease of use, safety and security features, portability and the fact that they were widely available. He emphasised that Members were free to choose whatever device they wanted to use but highlighted that the Council’s ICT team would be set up to support Apple ipads, with support for other devices provided on a best endeavours basis.

The following further points were made by Members in discussing the proposal:

· consultation with disabled groups should be undertaken to establish any problems experienced by people with disabilities using tablet devices;

· the views of the Independent Remuneration Panel should be sought on Members being expected to use their basic allowance to pay for ICT equipment;

· those Members who did not have their own ICT equipment would be forced to purchase a new device or their current Council-owned ICT equipment as part of this proposal;

· hardcopies of agendas and papers for meetings would continue to be provided to Members unless they individually opted out, but Members were encouraged to rise to the challenge of paperless working.

Councillor Whiteman-Downes informed Cabinet that he would be meeting with Scrutiny and Overview Committee Members on 22 November 2013 to discuss the proposal in more detail and indicated that he would take into consideration the above points raised at this meeting.

Cabinet DELEGATED the Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services to:

(a) Consider the cessation of Council funded ICT equipment and provision to Members.

Supporting documents:

ICT for Members, item 50. PDF 45 KB