Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the agenda report which detailed the results of a Councillor survey undertaken during late March and early April 2021. Strata and the Democratic Services Teams from East Devon District Council and Exeter City Council undertook the survey of Councillors in relation to the current and future IT requirements. The outcomes of the survey would act to inform and guide a potential redesign of the IT solution that it delivered to Councillors to enable them to perform their important role in supporting the citizens of Devon.

The report present the findings of the survey which would enable a discussion to be entered into between Strata, the authorities and representative Councillors. It was hoped that 60% of Councillors would complete the survey and this was achieved.

The conclusions of the survey were:

1) There is no single solution that will address all of the identified needs of the Councillors who responded.

2) That having a single device/screen for Virtual Council meetings is very challenging.

3) That devices need to be refreshed (replaced after a period of time) to ensure they do not go end of life, and budgets need to be set by the Councils to support this.

4) EDDC and ECC are not maximising or realising the benefits of ModernGov and a refresher exercise is required for Councillors.

5) Security restrictions need reviewing to improve usability, especially around calendar appointments, email attachments and application installs.

RECOMMENDED

The report be noted and the finding be discussed with the Client Leads and Democratic Service Leads of the two authorities being East Devon District and Exeter City Councils, to identify potential solutions to the requirements.

The conclusions of the discussions be presented to the Councillor representatives for consideration.