Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th April 2009.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th April 2009 be approved as a correct record.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes)

The Chair admitted the following late item to the agenda as follows:

Update on ICT Developments: Implementing the Collaboration Environment (ICE) and developing a technical solution to assist Members in the management of their casework (minute 54 refers)

To allow urgent consideration of the matter in order that progress can be made in implementing the ICE scheme and developing a technical solution to assist Members in the management of their casework.

To receive a report on Members’ Information Technology.

(Report to follow)

Further to minute 49 of the meeting held on the 14^th April 2009 the Chief Democratic Services Officer and the Chief Officer (ICT) submitted a joint report providing an update on ICT developments including:

·  options for consideration around the transition of Members’ email accounts from Lotus Notes to Microsoft products as part of the Implementing the Collaboration (ICE) project

·  the training which will be available for Members as part of the ICE project

·  the project to deliver a technical solution to assist Members in managing their casework

Detailed discussion on the report ensued and officers responded to comments and queries particularly in relation to:

·  options for transferring Members’ mail files:

- Option 1 – move all email to Microsoft Outlook 2003

- Option 2 – mail archiving

- Option 3 – store old emails in Lotus Notes

·  the delivery by the end of the calendar year of a casework management system with the following core requirements:

- a facility to set reminder dates for pieces of casework

- alert Members to overdue responses

- notify Members when cases need to be resolved

- provide a repository for the electronic storage of associated case documents

·  additional elements of a casework management system that could be introduced at a later stage

·  availability of funding in respect of the project

·  timescales to deliver training in respect of the ICE project

·  reliability of the archiving process

·  email security and accessibility of Members’ email

RESOLVED –

(a)  That option 2 as detailed in the report be supported on the understanding that the requisite funding is available and the archiving provision is a secure and reliable option

(b)  That Members be provided with timescales in respect of training for the ICE project and the provision of a new casework system

(c)  That following the installation of a casework management system discussions should be held with the IT Reference Group to consider what additional facilities could be added to the system to improve the system and at what cost

(d)  That officers from ICT arrange briefings for political groups on the ICE project

(e)  That a report on PDAs be submitted to a future meeting

(f)  That if there are instances of Members emails being accessed by officers in IT then an automated email should be forwarded to the Member concerned and the relevant group whip

(g)  That as a matter of routine a report be submitted to this Committee detailing any occasions when Members email have been accessed by officers in IT