Agenda and draft minutes

To sign the minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2024

It was proposed by Cllr Palethorpe and seconded by Cllr Arnott that the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

A vote was taken, and all were in favour.

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

None.

A period of up to 15 minutes will be set aside to deal with questions to the Committee from members of the public.

Each individual will be restricted to speaking for a total of 3 minutes.

Where a question does not relate to an agenda item details of questions should be notified to the Proper Officer of the Relevant Council at least two working days prior to the meeting.

None.

To receive questions from Members of the Councils.

Where a question does not relate to an agenda item details of questions should be notified to the Proper Officer of the Relevant Council at least two working days prior to the meeting.

None.

The Director of IT and Digital Transformation introduced the item to the Committee. He highlighted the continuing improvements to IT and systems across the partner councils that were identified in the previously adopted business plan. Improvements in 2025/26 would include enabling a move to the cloud-based systems, which would replace the need for physical server rooms across the council estate. The Business Plan also included information on the Operational Management Plan, the Customer Relationship Management system, and the telephony replacement for Skype and contact centre. Other areas of the plan highlighted were the rollout of systems such as MyAccount to Exeter, which was part of an overall improved customer experience.

In response to a question from a member of the Committee, the Director advised how the cloud-based system would work, and that it would be very secure as evidenced by its use by Central Government and Law Enforcement. Microsoft had spent considerable funds in order to ensure the quality of the system.

Other comments were concerns around the implementation of AI and the interest in a flexible solution for shared services.

It was proposed by Cllr Palethorpe and seconded by Cllr Arnott that the Strata Business Plan 2025-2026 be approved by the Committee and that it be brought to the partners’ Full Council meetings for further approval.

A vote was taken, and all were in favour.

Resolved

that the Strata Business Plan 2025-2026 be approved by the Committee and that it be brought to the partners’ Full Council meetings for further approval.

The Strata Finance Manager introduced the item to the Committee. It was highlighted that an underspend of £305,000 was forecast for the year and that these funds would be used to resource the partner councils’ move to a cloud-based system.

The Head of Business Systems and Business Intelligence informed the Committee that Strata had surpassed its strategic target of completing cases on time, with a 92 percent rating. This was down from its previous rating of 96 percent however this was likely due to an increase of cases in the preceding months. The company would look to increase its service desk officers. The customer satisfaction rating was 4.6 out of a possible 5, and it was noted that if the rating fell considerably that Strata would carry out performance reviews with the partner councils to discuss improvements.

In response to a question regarding Members accessing their Council calendars on external devices, the Director for IT and Transformation informed the Committee that this had been disabled due to security concerns resulting from confidential agendas being attached to calendar invitations. The Director would email members a short statement confirming this. Partner Councils could meet with Strata to discuss a further solution if needed,

It was proposed by Cllr Palethorpe and seconded by Cllr Arnott that the Strata Budget Monitoring and Performance be noted.

A vote was taken, and all were in favour.

Resolved

That the Strata Budget Monitoring and Performance be noted.