Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th December, 2012 be approved as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Richard Copley, Corporate ICT Manager, which sought approval for an exemption from Standing Orders in procuring the Civica FastWEB product to encourage more customer online self-service for planning enquiries, on the basis that this was the only practical option available for the Council.

The Council currently had a limited self-service planning tool which was delivered by the ROAM system (Rotherham’s Online Application for Mapping). The functionality offered by ROAM was now limited and it difficult to use which had resulted in customer complaints. Furthermore ROAM was based upon outdated technology which would be decommissioned in 2013. There was a requirement, therefore, to implement a new online self-service tool and by implementing a fully functioning online search tool for planning this would be able to direct more planning related Freedom of Information requests to this system and reduce the amount of officer time spent responding to them.

The costs associated with this product would be met from the ICT Strategy with annual support and maintenance costs being met from existing budgets.

It was noted that the functionality within the FastWEB product would provide a better customer facing service and provide a direct integration between the public website and the back office planning system.

Resolved:-  That the award of the contract for the supply of a customer online self-service for planning enquiries to Civica, through FastWEB be approved and that it be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order 47.6.3 (requirement to invite at least two oral or written quotations for contracts with an estimated value of £5,000 but less than £20,000).

Janine Parkin, Strategic Commissioning Manager, gave a verbal update on Welfare Reform and the appraisals that were taking place on how best to take this work forward given the anomalies in the data sharing protocol with the Department of Work and Pensions.

Advice was being sought across some Directorates with ultimate responsibility laying with the Revenues and Benefits Section in Resources.  Further information was to be provided in due course both to customers and Elected Members.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

Janine Parkin, Strategic Commissioning Manager, gave a verbal update on the Festive Food Fund which was available over the Christmas period and finished on the 11^th January, 2013.  

Take up was very positive and some appraisal was now taking place on how this could be improved and lessons learnt from the project.

Further information was to be provided to the Deputy Leader on how many applications were received, how many were approved and what value these came to.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

Janine Parkin, Strategic Commissioning Manager, confirmed that a report was being worked on relating to the recent census data, which would be presented shortly.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

Janine Parkin, Strategic Commissioning Manager, confirmed that Terms of Reference and a model format for performance clinics was being developed to ensure they all followed the same format following a concern raised at the Self Regulation Select Commission.

Resolved:-  That the information be noted.

There were no reports coming forward for Cabinet other than what was already included on the Cabinet agenda for Wednesday, 16^th January, 2013.

The following issues were raised:-

(a)          Colin Earl, Director of Internal Audit and Asset Manager, gave an update on the progress of integration of staff and Elected Members from the Eric Manns Building back to the Town Hall which should be from early February, 2013, with work on site commencing next week.

Discussion ensued on the room allocations, the limited storage space and the reduced meeting room capacity.

(b)     Colin Earl, Director of Internal Audit and Asset Manager, also confirmed that work was to commence on the Civic Theatre shortly, which would see the venue being closed for six weeks.

(c)     Phil Howe, Director of Human Resources, gave an outline of the current position with regards to the national pay award and the discussions that would be taking place regionally.

(d)     Phil Howe, Director of Human Resources, confirmed that all the Doncaster records had all been successfully migrated across to the Rotherham systems.  It was noted that additional support was being provided to Doncaster around auto-enrolment with the pension fund.

(e)     Richard Copley, Corporate ICT Manager, confirmed that twenty-one Members had now been issued with Ipads as part of the ongoing electronic equipment trial.  A demonstration was provided immediately before the Planning Board meeting last Thursday and as a result a number of 1:1 training sessions were to be arranged for Members.

         Further information was provided on the mod.gov app which allowed users to highlight, comment and write on agenda packs and gave access to the agenda management system currently used by Democratic Services.  Unfortunately, this only gave access to the public agenda packs.  A restricted items version was available and this was being progressed.  This would require some additional assistance from Democratic Services, but users would continue to be prompted for a login and password.

         The Good Reader for Good app was expected to be rolled out shortly.  

         Discussion ensued on the trial of the Good Reader for Good app, the cost elements and the timescales for evaluation of the equipment trial.

(f)      Richard Copley, Corporate ICT Manager, also gave an update on the WiFi system used in the Town Hall and the improvements that were to be made.

The following item is likely to be considered in the absence of the press and public as being exempt under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended March 2006 – information relates to finance and business affairs).

Resolved:-  That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act (as amended March, 2006 (information relates to finance and business affairs).

Consideration was given to a report presented by Stuart Booth, Director of Central Finance, which detailed a request for the Council’s OfficeBase system which was currently undergoing an upgrade to facilitate use of a web based platform and enhanced functionality.  It had been confirmed that the provision of this support and maintenance could only be done by the current supplier and that the annual cost associated with this represented good value for money based on the service being provided.

It was decided initially to only commit to an annual agreement as the future of the entire fee billing process may be reviewed. Should it be appropriate to do so, a longer commitment may secure a reduced annual maintenance cost and even better value for money. This will be considered during 2013.

Resolved:-   That the contract for support and maintenance of the CACI OfficeBase System be approved and be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order 47.6.2 (requirement to obtain at least two oral or written quotations for contracts with a value of between £5k and £20k) and the contract be awarded.

Resolved:-  That a further meeting be held on Monday, 11^th February, 2013 at 9.30 a.m.