Issue - meetings

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Service

Recommendations:-

1.    To approve the Council’s Digital Strategy.

2.    To note the investment already approved towards its delivery.

3.    To endorse the management and governance arrangements.

Consideration was given to the report which outlined the Council’s Digital Strategy. It highlighted the work undertaken already and illustrated how the Council planned to use digital technologies to become more modern and efficient. It would also help provide self-service access to and delivery of Council services and contribute to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114

Cabinet Portfolio: - Corporate Services and Finance  

Strategic Directorate: - Finance and Customer Services

Consideration was given to a report that was submitted for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 15 February 2021 that proposed a refreshed Digital Strategy and that also detailed the progress made in the strategy’s implementation and ongoing development. The Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Finance, the Strategic Director – Finance and Customer Services, the Assistant Director - Customer Information and Digital and the Head of Digital Services attended the meeting to present the report.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Finance noted that the Council’s Digital Strategy had covered the period 2016-2019, and as such was overdue a refresh and refocus.

The report stated that the Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted how integral technology had been in ensuring that Council services could be successfully manged and delivered remotely during the pandemic, as well as in ensuring that residents had been able to continue to access services through non face-to-face channels. It was noted that the refreshed Digital Strategy would underpin much of the work that was being carried out in order to deliver the Council’s Customer Access Strategy, providing the infrastructure, software and technology capabilities necessary to realise its aims and objectives, as well as exploring new and emerging technologies that would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the access channels used.

The Strategic Director – Finance and Customer Services noted that as the governance arrangements surrounding the strategy were proposed to be delegated from Cabinet to Officers, only major changes in the focus of the strategy would be brought to Cabinet for approval. The Assistant Director - Customer Information and Digital and the Head of Digital Services noted that while separate, the Digital Strategy was, and would continue to be closely aligned with the Council’s Customer Access Strategy.

The refreshed Digital Strategy was attached as an appendix to the officer’s report.

Members welcomed the refreshed Digital Strategy and its objectives. Members also noted their support for the approach of utilising existing software solutions, rather than building bespoke systems as these would be better supported technically and would also enable data to be migrated more easily to new systems when systems were updated or replaced.

Members asked how the Digital Strategy would be updated and refreshed moving forwards. The Strategic Director advised that the Digital Strategy would be updated and refreshed annually in order that it remained focused and relevant in a fast changing environment and that reports on its development could be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board they were asked for.

Members asked for further information on the Rotherham Health Record that would provide shared access for health and care professionals to patient data. The Head of Digital Services advised that the initiative would enable some patient data to be shared between health and social care practitioners to ensure a joined up and person-centred service to be delivered. The Head of Digital Services advised that the information that was shared and included in the record would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 302