Note of a Meeting of the SCRUTINY PANEL 3 of the POLICY AND RESOURCES SCRUTINY AND SELECT COMMITTEE to consider ICT held on 31 October 2005.

Councillors

p R. Baulk (Chairman)

Councillors:

a A.P. Collett a S James

p K. Evans p A Weeks

The Chairman welcomed Jos Creese, Head of IT Services who responded to questions on the following topics:

· Forward Plan for IT Projects

· Staff Recruitment/Retention

· Structure of IT in the organisation

The Chairman then welcomed Ken Howard, County Manager, Information Services and Julie Tite, Programme Manager, Social Care from the Social Services Department, who answered questions about the SWIFT system and mobile working.

The salient points emerging from the Panel's sessions held on 6 and 31 October are attached as an appendix to this note.

SCRUTINY PANEL 3 - ICT

Main themes from witness sessions

6 and 31 October 2005

Witnesses

Jos Creese, Head of IT Services, and Members of the IT Services Management Team.

Emergency Planning and Business Continuity

· Anything more than a one day shutdown causes serious dislocation and risk to the County Council's services.

· The risk of long-term shutdown is remote, but there needs to be a resilient plan in place to cover that eventuality.

· There is data back-up at a remote location.

· In the event of fire or flood, there are dual servers and split zones to enable a progressive shutdown of the computer centre which gives time for essential data to be backed up.

· Water detection systems and pumps are in place and conditions in the computer centre are regularly monitored.

· Business case for a generator being prepared to cover the risks posed by loss of electrical power supply.

· In the longer term, it is planned to relocate the computer suite, either as part of the Ashburton Court refurbishment or to an alternative site not part of the Castle complex.

· Possible case for a reciprocal arrangement with computer services for another large Local Authority being investigated.

The Panel also had evidence in the form of a paragraph from the audit report to Governance Committee:

"There is still no back up power supply to the computer suite. However, a new UPS has been installed which will make a controlled shut down possible in the event of problems with the power supply. After consultation with the Property, Business and Regulatory Services Department, it has been determined that a full back up power supply is not feasible in the current accommodation. Consideration is being given to relocating the computer suite, however, the earliest timescale for this is likely to be two years. Relocation would also potentially provide an opportunity to enter into a reciprocal arrangement with another Local Authority for the provision of IT Services in an emergency."

The Panel indicated that this area was their main concern as they felt the County Council was the subject of very substantial risk in the event of a long term breakdown of the computer system. The Panel were attracted by the idea of reciprocal arrangements with another large Local Authority as a means of providing emergency cover and business continuity.

Hampshire Public Service Network (HPSN)

· A partnership covering all HCC locations and other authorities in the public services

· Contract with UNISYS is flexible, can be expanded or adapted

· Also the SYNETRIX partnership with schools

· Could the two be synchronised in future to integrate the services and get better value

· Usage of the HPSN system is up and unit costs are down

· The market is competitive, it would be possible to transfer to another provider if that was advantageous

· Some problems with incompatible printer-drivers.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

· Development of the system still needed to integrate the data and improve the presentation of information, for example by district/parish/electoral division

· We need to learn how to apply the system effectively by linking financial, social and geographical data

· As with HPSN, partnership with other local authorities and within the public sector is the way forward, by way of collaborative working and pooled resources/budgets

· There are economies of scale and efficiencies if we can provide services jointly and seamlessly

· We can share the technology, but sharing the information may be more difficult

Customer Relationship Management

· Business case being made for a corporate approach to customer contact/call centres

· Another case where collaboration with partners, for example other local authorities, is needed so that the public have access to seamless services

· Customer focus needed to ensure quality of service

· Efficiency improvements and financial savings - up to £1m per annum - could be achieved if the County Council makes the investment in a system which is secure and reliable

· The key to success will be the ability to track customers across service and authority boundaries and provide them with the information/service they need in a form which suits them

SAP

· Will be extended into the area of property management

· SAP can be reconfigured to an extent to suit our requirements - external consultancy and training needed to exploit fully areas outside of our current expertise although skills transfer to Hampshire County Council is key to be delivered from the chosen external organisations

· Some areas need to be simplified to make the system easier to use and make data entry more straight forward

· New initiative - SAP managers' self service to replace managers' desktop

· System needs to generate more efficiency savings, for example similar to those already being achieved through e-procurement

· Possible scope to rationalise IT training and use of consultants across the Secure Accommodation Order public sector

Desk Top Support

· It is a cost-effective service which provides quality for some 9,000 IT devices used by staff

· Some more access in remote locations needed, perhaps low cost shared access points

· IT Services go for lowest cost consistent with quality

· Grand total of about 14,000 IT devices, some of them rather outdated.

Benchmarking

· Comparisons are done with other comparable local authorities and the private sector

· County Council desk top costs are low, but their network costs are high; taken overall the costs are modest

· IT satisfaction surveys sent out once a month, randomly, about 35% response rate - any chance of taking action to boost response rates to get a fuller picture of customer satisfaction?

· These is a regular independent survey of IT satisfaction

· Possible further ideas - to follow up specific issues raised by users; to include members in the random survey; and to provide an incentive to encourage more replies

Mobile Working

· Some staff have the capacity to work at home occasionally using the passport system

· More fundamentally, home working and/or mobile working can be used by staff, e.g. Social Workers - to enable them to work more efficiently and also to enable the County Council to make savings on office space/costs

· To this end, there is currently a trial in progress, and if successful a business case will be developed based on cost savings, changed working practices, improved services and increased efficiency

· With regard to wireless technology, there are security concerns with home PCs using a wireless network, which are in turn connected via passport to the Council's network. Passport is, however, usable as a means of connecting any non-Council owned machine into the network, as long as users undertake not to access it via an insecure local wireless system

· Business case likely to go to CMT and Cabinet early in the New Year

Forward Plan for IT Projects

· The key document is "Transforming through Technology", the County Council's e-Government and ICT Strategy. Copies were circulated to Members. This is due to be updated in April 2006

· The aim is to make the best and most cost effective use of investment in technology

· More member level ownership and endorsement of IT Strategy desirable

· Each IT project has a checklist to ensure all costs and benefits are taken into account (example was circulated)

· Balance between IT Services, the corporate dimension, and departments' own individual IT plans which set out the local applications which meet their needs

Staff Recruitment/Retention

· Overall staff turnover in IT Services - 9%

· Higher rates of change occur in more senior management positions

· County Council's senior management positions in IT have recently slipped below the median level

· This disparity in salaries to be addressed as part of the Pay and Benefits project

· The County Council needs to position itself so that it is competitive within the public sector for skilled and experienced staff - there is no real prospect of competing with the high salaries paid in the private sector

· Improved career progression for IT consultants needed

· Market salary supplements may still be appropriate in some cases to ensure the County Council can recruit and retain the staff it needs

Structure of ICT in the organisation

· A balance between central systems and local ownership

· Some departmental systems are very large, for example, education EDICT, a total support package for computers in schools

· With other departments, maybe there could be gains in terms of cost effectiveness by more effectively integrating systems

Witnesses

Ken Howard and Julie Tite, Social Services Department

The SWIFT System

· Implementation plan on schedule. First three phases complete, rebuilt interface due for 19/20 November

· The main problem has been the interface between SWIFT and SAP, with the result that items ordered by Social Workers have got stuck in the system. The technical queries are being sorted out to prevent orders or notes on providers and services from being sidelined.

· These problems have had an impact on staff morale and confidence, since they only find out later that what should have happened did not happen

· Performance issues with the system are being stabilised, and SWIFT version 18 should be transformed into version 19 by February 2006

· Significant reduction in the number of rejected orders expected

· There may be issues with the third party provider over version control

· Extensive testing being done to ensure the upgraded SWIFT system and SAP interface are fully functional and fit for purpose

· Total of 1,900 authorised users, of whom 800 may be using the SWIFT system concurrently

· The NHS have a separate IT system from that used by Social Services - so much for joined-up working

LIKELY KEY ISSUES FOR THE PANEL

1. The arrangements for Emergency Planning and business continuity

2. Inter-operability and seamless working across boundaries - between services, between local authorities and within the public sector

3. Seamless service for the public

4. Cost effectiveness and savings - financial, property and procurement

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