ICT Partnership Board - Tuesday, 27 June 2006 at Committee Room 1, Town Hall at Chester City Council

Present:

Councillors John Price MBE, Paul Roberts, Graham Fenton and Paul Cheetham.

Keith Sutton and Jenny Cross (Democratic Services – Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council); Jim Cassin (Strategic Director of Resources – Chester City Council), Mair Houlker (E-Government and IT Manager – Chester City Council) and Sue Simpson (Member and Services Support).

Substitutes:

Councillor Ray Westwood was substituting for Councillor John Hatfield.           

1          Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 December 2005 were agreed as a correct record.

2          WORK PROGRAMME UPDATE

Members received a report to update the Board on progress of the various joint initiatives being progressed and to seek approval to proceed further in a number of areas.

Ø      Priority Outcomes/BVPI/IEG5

Progress has taken place to ensure the successful delivery of all of the ODPM’s ‘priority outcomes’ which were required. Chester and Crewe were the only two Cheshire Authorities to declare 100% success in these areas.  These joint achievements reflect the success of working closely in partnership. This was achieved by delivering 100% of the required ‘PIDs’ for P1157, and IEG5 statements, all of which have been circulated locally.

Members were informed of a recent successful event held at Chester, ‘E-Gov Day’, for Members and officers.  Crewe and Nantwich were now staging a similar event on 23 August and Members of the Board would be invited to take part.

Decision

Members noted the achievements made by both authorities.

Ø      Video Conferencing

This facility has proved to be most useful and is becoming a popular method of conducting meetings across the Partnership.  Some technical issues have occurred and would be resolved by the appropriate staff.

Decision

The appropriate technical staff would resolve these issues as soon as practical.

Ø      Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The joint implementation of the LA CRM solution has progressed and County Council (along with Congleton Borough Council) have also decided to go with this product.  This gives the Partnership the ability to widen the scope for progress and to include interactions with County functions as well as the ‘cross District’ Council functions.

At a recent meeting the National LA CRM User Group met to discuss progress with the product which proved to be a successful session with representatives from around the country.  Further meetings were being arranged to consider the way this product can be further enhanced.

Decision

Members to support the continuing progress.

Ø      Joint ICT Strategy Development

A new ‘Joint ICT Strategy Development’ has now commenced following a delay due to some problems with resources early last year.  The Strategy would look at building on some of the successes of this Partnership and identify the future needs of the joint and individual customer.  The major components of the Strategy would cover:

·         Accessibility

·         Service Delivery

·         Communication/Engagement

·         Efficiency and Value for Money

·         Partnerships

Mair Houlker tabled a paper titled ‘Joint Vision Components’ which detailed the methods of delivering the vision to ensure compliance with all Key Corporate Plans and any legislative requirements.

Decision

(1)   Members to support the approach and the process.

(2) Mair Houlker and Keith Sutton to amend the joint vision as recommended by Members.

Ø      Data Centre (s)

There are a number of major building projects planned in the next 18 – 24 months which would affect both partners and the County Council.

Delamere House in Crewe is due for demolition and new offices are likely to be completed circa May 2008.  The Forum redevelopment at Chester is also due for completion approximately circa May 2008.  The County Council are looking to create a new Data Centre within the next 18 months. These 3 major development programmes offer opportunities to consider the potential for sharing and partnering in the area of ‘shared’ Data Centres, setting up cost effective resilience and disaster recovery capabilities.

Work has been carried out on the mainframe at Crewe Computing Suite recently which has created extra space, whilst at Chester the Computing Suite is disappearing.  Cheshire County are creating a new Data Centre and the possibility of sharing a location could be considered along with other options.

Decision

Members to support the approach and the process.

3.         DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday 5 October 2006 at 10.30am at Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council offices.