Issue - meetings

The purpose of this report is to update the committee on progress with the joint Surrey CC and Hampshire CC implementation of the Manhattan Atrium Property Asset Management System (PAMS).

Declarations of interest:

None

Witnesses:

Nigel Jones, Performance Manager, Property Services

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Chairman noted that the appendices had been withdrawn.

2.    The Performance Manager introduced the report.

3.    In response to a query about how far back information is integrated, the Performance Manager stated that the Property Asset Management Asset System (PAMS) has information from April 2013 onwards.  As properties are disposed of, they are being input into the system.  Other earlier information is still available in previous databases.

4.    Partners in Surrey such as health agencies and borough/district councils are listed on the framework so they can use the same system as Surrey County Council, either separately or the Council can provide a service to them.

5.    The Performance Manager clarified that underuse is not recorded on the system at the moment. 

6.    The Performance Manager offered to look into whether the portal could give Members access to high level information about properties and projects in their division (Recommendations tracker ref: A32/15).

7.    The Chairman asked what assurance the Council can have of safeguards in relation to security of data and IT support.  The Performance Manager informed the committee that the system is hosted in the cloud.  The system had passed security tests by both Surrey County Council and Hampshire County Council.  The Service Level Agreement states that the system must be up and running within 24 hours if there is an outage.  The supplier rents space from Rackspace and can move data to another facility if there is a problem.  This is all within the service’s tolerances.

8.    In response to a question about human error or staff not inputting data, the Performance Manager confirmed that all staff have to take responsibility to maintain information.  This is a challenge but as the information goes in, people can see the benefit from the information which can be extracted. 

Action/Further information to note:

      i.        The Performance Manager, Property Services to look into whether the PAMS portal could give Members access to high level information about properties and projects in their division.

     ii.        A further update to be provided in a year (Recommendations tracker ref: A33/15).

RESOLVED:

That the committee:

a)    NOTES the conclusion of the joint implementation project with Hampshire County Council;

b)    NOTES progress made and recognises the achievements of the joint project with Hampshire County Council;

c)    RECOGNISES any further development of PAMS as part of Property Services’ “business as usual” service delivery.

Committee next steps:

None.

The purpose of this report is to update the committee on progress with the joint Surrey CC and Hampshire CC implementation of the Manhattan Atrium Property Asset Management System (PAMS).

Declarations of Interest:

None.

Witnesses:

Nigel Jones, Performance Manager, Property Services

Key Points Raised During the Discussion:

1.    The Performance Manager introduced the report and informed the committee that over time more services would get access to the Property portal.  He stressed that the System was very user-friendly.  He went on to inform the committee that a review of the benefits was scheduled but that each area would be given 6-12 months from go-live before being reviewed.  The Chairman suggested that the review should consider whether staff still felt it necessary to maintain separate spreadsheets outside of the main PAM system.  He requested that the committee be made aware of the results of the reviews through the committee’s information bulletin (Recommendation tracker ref: A17/14).

2.    The Performance Manager informed the committee that it had been estimated that the new system would achieve savings of £100,000 per annum across all areas.  Some of the savings would come from staff time saving and some from contract efficiency.  The return against investment would be far exceeded over five years.

3.    The Performance Manager confirmed that there would need to be a culture shift to get the most benefit out of the new system.  However, if people see what the new system can provide, he believed that they would use it.

4.    The Performance Manager confirmed that Borough and District Councils could buy into the Framework Contract. 

Actions/Further information to be provided:

The committee to be made aware of the results of any evaluation of the delivery of expected benefits through the information bulletin.

RESOLVED:

That the committee now recognises this project and the further development of the PAM System as part of Property Service’s business as usual delivery, therefore this will be the final report to come to this committee.

Committee Next Steps:

None.