To receive questions from members of the public who wish to ask a general question in respect of matters within the Council’s area of responsibility or influence.
Subject to the Chair’s discretion, members of the public may ask one question and one supplementary question, which should relate to the original question and answer received.
Councillors may also ask questions under this agenda item.
Minutes:
There was one question from Mr. Ashraf. He
asked why the Council’s Scrutiny Commissions had not
considered the involvement of Palantir in the NHS. He stated that
Palantir had a well-documented contempt for the NHS and had a
documented track record of corporate involvement in the war crimes
and continuing genocide in Palestine committed by Israel. Mr.
Ashraf asked why the Council had allowed the rollout of Palantir
software at Rotherham NHS Trust.
The Leader stated that procuring software for the NHS was not a
decision that Rotherham Council had any authority over and the
Council was not in the business of providing a running commentary
on what other organisations in the Borough did or did not do within
their own rules.
In his supplementary question, Mr. Ashraf stated that Sheffield
City Council had recently passed a motion making it clear that it
would not adopt Palantir technologies and a committee of that
Council was seeking clarification on the matter. He therefore asked
the Leader to find a way of ending the involvement of Palantir in
the NHS. He also asked for evidence relating to the efficacy and
costs associated with the adoption of Palantir software currently
in use in Rotherham. Finally, Mr. Ashraf asked if there had been
any scrutiny of the Palantir software technologies by Rotherham
Council and if any individual Councillors had attempted to stop the
rollout. He asked that he be provided with evidence of this if it
had taken place.
The Leader stated that he did not know if individual Councillors had made representations on the matter and advised Mr. Ashraf to contact individual Councillors if he wanted that information. He also confirmed that it was for each Scrutiny Commission to set its own work programme and it would be up to the Health Select Commission to decide whether it wanted to look into this matter. Finally, the Leader reiterated that there was nothing the Council could do to change the decision. It was a decision for the NHS, not the Council.