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Contact: Julie Armstrong, Scrutiny Officer 

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9/23

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    Purpose of the item: To receive any apologies for absence and substitutions.

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    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Robert King.

     

10/23

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 2 FEBRUARY 2023 pdf icon PDF 312 KB

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    Purpose of the item: To agree the minutes of the Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 2 February 2023 as a true and accurate record of proceedings.

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    Minutes:

    The minutes of the Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 2 February 2023 were formally agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

     

11/23

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    Purpose of the item: All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:

     

          I.        Any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or

     

        II.        Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting.

     

    NOTES:

     

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

     

    ·         As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner).

     

    ·         Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    None received.

     

12/23

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

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    Purpose of the item: To receive any questions or petitions.

     

    NOTES:

     

    1.    The deadline for Members’ questions is 12:00pm four working days before the meeting (18 April 2023).

     

    2.    The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (17 April 2023).

     

    3.    The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    None received.

     

13/23

PERFORMANCE MONITORING SESSION NOTES 21 FEBRUARY 2023 pdf icon PDF 204 KB

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    Purpose of the item: To publish the notes of the Performance Monitoring session conducted on 21 February 2023.

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    Minutes:

    The Performance Montioring report was noted.

14/23

DIGITAL INCLUSION pdf icon PDF 320 KB

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    Purpose of the report: To provide an overview of the Digital Inclusion journey that Surrey County Council has been on over the past few years and to update on new activity that will enable the development and alignment of a strategic approach to Digital Inclusion. In addition, to seek input and suggestions from the Committee on how best to shape this important work to ensure it meets the needs of Surrey residents.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    David Lewis, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

    Leigh Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources

    Marie Snelling, Executive Director of Customer and Communities

    Sarah E.M Bogunovic, Assistant Director, Registrations, Coroner’s Service & Customer Strategy

    Jo Blount, Portfolio Lead, Digital, Data, Technology & Culture

    Helen Dobson, Managing Director, Citizens Online

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The Chairman asked for the greatest challenges to digital inclusion. The Executive Director of Customer and Communities said ensuring it was embedded as an organisational wide priority and forming an accurate picture despite a range of data, insight and intelligence information being available. The Assistant Director, Registrations, Coroner’s Service & Customer Strategy noted the possibility that for those at risk of digital exclusion, the divide would grow due to the impact of cost of living pressures, and noted the importance of providing other channels to ensure services were accessible.

     

    2.    The Chairman questioned how people already digitally excluded would be included in plans to encourage more people to access more services online. The Assistant Director confirmed that the move to digital would not result in a closure of other contact channels, but would help free up those channels e.g., the telephone, for people who needed to contact the council in other ways.   The Chairman asked if any residents had been excluded as a result of efficiencies, particularly with regards to highways reporting via the contact centre. The Executive Director of Customer and Communities explained that whilst residents were encouraged to report issues online, a telephony service remained, and issues could also be reported through their local Member.

     

    3.    A Member asked for slides presented at the beginning of the discussion to be circulated to Committee Members, queried the deliverables, targets and expected timescale, and questioned if the programme was aligned to the Data Strategy Transformation provided to the Committee in December 2022 as this was not evident in the papers. The Portfolio Lead, Digital, Data, Technology & Culture said that deliverables would be determined by engagement with all stakeholders, benchmarking and the sharing of best practice with other local authorities. Citizens Online Managing Director added that recommendations arising from this information would result in an action plan to acknowledge the short term gains and longer term work for the Council to take forward. The Member expressed concerns at the lack of structure to the work being undertaken, with no information provided about the budget, resources, what would be delivered, how it would be delivered and by when. The Portfolio Lead, Digital, Data, Technology & Culture said recommendations would be available at the end of the four-month piece of work, which had started in early March 2023. The Executive Director of Customer and Communities said that the piece of research work undertaken in 2018 had been responded to and included a range of deliverables, some of which had been outlined in the current paper. It was being revisited to refresh the approach post pandemic and presented early to Committee to enable Members to help shape the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14/23

15/23

IT & DIGITAL UPDATE pdf icon PDF 203 KB

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    Purpose of the report: This report has been written to support the review and consideration of the IT & Digital Service by the Select Committee. This report provides an update to the overview provided to the Select Committee in 2021.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    David Lewis, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

    Leigh Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources

    Matt Scott, Chief Digital Information Officer, IT & Digital

    Jo Blount, Portfolio Lead – Digital, Data, Technology & Culture

    Lorraine Juniper, Head of Engagement and Innovation

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    A Member, referring to the performance monitoring report included in Annex 10, asked what had caused the spikes in work time lost due to IT problems in September and December 2022. The Chief Digital Information Officer, IT & Digital explained that the September spike was because of an increase in password resetting requests and additional support calls regarding devices at the beginning of the academic year. The December peak related to an isolated issue where an individual recorded disruption lasting 40 hours. The Chief Digital Information Officer added that peaks were monitored and built into the continuous improvement plan.

     

    2.    A Member asked if any system issues had been reported in relation to the recent renewal of parking permits as some residents had reported IT problems, such as addresses not appearing in the drop-down list. The Chief Digital Information Officer would report back to the Committee following further investigation of these issues. The Chairman questioned the testing and checking of such systems to ensure they work in advance. The Chief Digital Information Officer said that testing should be carried out in advance but could not currently comment on this issue as it had not been raised within the support channel. The Chairman requested further information to include an explanation of what went wrong and an overview of the testing that took place. Action - The Chief Digital Information Officer, IT & Digital

     

    David Harmer left the meeting at 12:25pm

     

    3.    A Member, in reference to paragraph 31, was concerned that transform projects were not currently reported to Cabinet in the way that Run projects were and asked how Cabinet was monitoring such projects. The Chief Digital Information Officer explained that reporting of transform projects took place through the Transformation Assurance Board in addition to IT & Digital briefings to the Cabinet Member, who would disseminate updates to Cabinet Member colleagues. There had been recent focus on methods to enhance oversight to all projects and ensure all reports would transition through the new mechanism to ensure Cabinet engagement. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resourcesconfirmed that whilst not yet at an advanced stage, work had been taking place to ensure that each portfolio holder had visibility of all projects within their areas of responsibility.

     

    4.    The Chairman queried how the ‘global average’ customer satisfaction referenced in paragraph 29 was defined. The Chief Digital Information Officer said that a benchmarking exercise had taken place using the global average of a global benchmark software tool.

     

    5.    The Chairman queried the percentage of unsuccessfully blocked cyber-attacks. The Chief Digital Information Officer confirmed that to date, any attempts at cyber disruption had been successfully prevented. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources noted that cyber-attacks remained the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15/23

16/23

PROCUREMENT MODERNISATION pdf icon PDF 1 MB

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    Purpose of report: To update committee members on the progress of the modernisation of the procurement service.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

    David Lewis – Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources

    Leigh Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources

    Anne Epsom, Head of Policy and Improvement, Orbis Procurement

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The Chairman noted that the service’s approach to environmentally sustainable procurement had been shortlisted for a Local Government Association (LGA) award and queried what had made Orbis stand out and if there was confidence that the service was now an example of best practice. The Head of Policy and Improvement, Orbis Procurement explained that whilst the judges had not provided feedback it was believed that the Council had stood out as a result of the collaborative effect of the three councils working together, the provision of a dedicated policy team, the baselining of supply chain emissions ahead of other local authorities and the level of engagement with stakeholders.

     

    2.    The Chairman asked if the weaknesses in four areas noted in paragraph 3 had been addressed and how was this measured. The Head of Policy and Improvement confirmed a number of weaknesses had been addressed. A focus on certain areas remained, particularly around the quality of data.

     

    3.    The Chairman requested examples of where the focus area of governance had, and had not, worked well in practice. The Head of Policy and Improvement said governance had been successful within portfolio reviews, which had received positive feedback and engagement. Steps had been taken to resolve issues around project banding methodology which had not been as successful; as a result work was underway to return to the more streamlined self-assessment banding.

     

    4.    The Chairman asked for an example of the lessons learned referenced in paragraph 7. The Head of Policy and Improvement noted the output of quality assurance reviews as an example which identified the quality of feedback and evaluation as an area for consideration and the need for a platform providing equal access to all.

     

    5.    The Chairman, with regard to paragraph 25, questioned the benefit of training non-procurement staff in procurement. The Head of Policy and Improvement said training would help staff understand the potential for procurement.

     

    6.    A Member asked if the £4.2 million Orbis saving across the three councils had been what was anticipated and queried why, following this saving, some of the budget was transferred back to the Council after the 2021 review. The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources confirmed that the Orbis targets had been set out in 2018 for delivery during the three years that followed. An overspill resulted from some outstanding targets that remained in the fourth year, an extension had been given to meet these targets and they had now been completed.

     

    7.    A Member queried the proportion of samples in the inaugural review undertaken in March 2023 noted in paragraph 12e, and asked what proportion of the projects were in sample and how many complied with organisational requirements and procurement regulations. The Head of Policy and Improvement explained that nine populations of potential projects were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/23

17/23

FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKER pdf icon PDF 94 KB

18/23

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

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    The next meeting of the Resources and Performance Select Committee will be held on 22 June at 10:00am.

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    Minutes:

    The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on 22 June 2023.