The ICT Unit provides the following services for its customers which include Citizens, Elected Members, Officers and Partners..
a. Telephony
b. Email
c. Web site development
d. Transformational government support
e. Introduction of new technology innovations
f. Internet access
g. PC Desktop support
h. Helpdesk
i. Training, support and guidance
j. Intranet
k. Data Protection
l. Hosted software applications – provision and support
m. External software applications – administration and support
n. Communications network and infrastructure
o. Elected Member ICT provision and support
p. Corporate GIS and gazetteer administration
The ICT Unit team provides and supports the corporate technology infrastructure which enables our Council deliver accessible services to its customers and with the business community.
Corporate Policy
How Policy Implemented
Equality & Diversity
This service unit will carry out the timetabled Equality Impact Assessments as detailed in the Councils Inclusive Equalities Scheme, and where necessary we will assist other Service Units with their Equality Impact Assessments.
· This service unit will engage with equality self-assessment, scrutiny and audit on our service delivery.
· This Service Unit will assist where possible in the development of an information and monitoring system for the Councils work on Equality & Diversity.
· Staff within the unit will comply with Council policy for responding to harassment on the grounds of race, disability and gender.
· The service unit will engage in consultation with designated community, staff and stakeholder groups on its equality impact and needs/requirements assessment and its service delivery.
· In any partnership arrangements that this service unit enters into, we will seek to ensure that the equality policy and objectives are incorporated.
· This service unit will engage in development of service level equality objectives and targets.
· Where necessary, the service unit will establish planning groups for monitoring and information systems.
· Staff in the service unit will be encouraged to participate in equality and diversity training opportunities offered by the Council.
Data Quality
The ICT service is responsible for submitting performance information into the Covalent Performance Management system, this data undergoes independent scrutiny and verification before it is accepted as accurate.
Service Policy
How Policy Implemented
ICT information and Security Policy
The policy is made available to all staff and Members who must accept and comply with the recommendations held within. Staff are reminded annually to ensure they are both aware of the content of the policy as well as agreeing to ensure compliance
Data Protection Policy
This policy is regularly monitored by the Data Protection Officer who ensures that the Council and its officers and Members are registered with the Data Commissioner for compliance with the Act.
Service Partner Providers
How Partner Supports Service Delivery
Northumberland County Council (NCC)
Security, external firewall, network monitoring, internet access, local application hosting, web hosting.
Consilium Technologies
Financial applications delivery through ASP (application service provision) – delivery of Benefits, Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing software.
Gandlake
Provision of software providing customer self services for Council Tax enquiries and Business Rates
Swift LG
Provision of Planning, Building Control, Enforcement services and GIS mapping tools
Serengeti Systems
Document Management systems and workflow provision in Benefits, Council Tax and Business Rates
Civica
Agreement for provision of software – and provider of software for Environmental Services, and CRM
Capita
Provision of Cash Receipting software and self service customer payments
Cadcorp
Provision of on line digital mapping for customer self service
Covalent
Provision of Performance Management systems supporting risk management, project management and tracking systems
EG Consulting
Provision of Corporate Intranet solution
Executel
Provision of Mitel VOIP Telephony solution and telephone performance management toolkit
Strand
Electoral Registration software
Ward Air Communications
Provision of mobile telephony
Alligned Assets
Provision of BS7666 LLPG data systems feeding into NLPG
Intelligent Addressing
Hosting of NLPG data, fed through LLPG
Ordnance Survey
Mapping agreements for use of digitised mapping services
ESD Toolkit
On line support, publishing of performance data, and maintenance of Local e-gov connectivity
Protos
Development of on line user manuals
Lalpac
Licensing software to manage all corporate licensing needs
Top Level Computing
Provision of electronic forms
The Planning Portal
Provides e-planning access
IT Systems
How IT System Supports Service Delivery
NCC
The services procured from NCC assist us in ensuring the Council is kept free of computer viruses, unwanted spam, and maintains access to external systems and internet in a secure and reliable environment
Consilium Technologies
The ICT systems delivered through this contract provide us with a secure and reliable solution for all our financial applications, including Housing, Benefits, Council Tax and Business Rates
Gandlake
Citizens Account delivers an on line service providing customer self service access to their Council Tax an Business Rates accounts
Swift LG
The Planning and Building Control and Enforcement software – APAS – is provided through Swift LG. In addition they provide support for our GIS and local mapping systems which integrate with APAS and Land Charges.
Serengeti Systems
Electronic Document Management systems are provided by Serenget Systems. In addition they have provided a workflow solution for Benefits and Council Tax. They have provided the Public Access Module which will provide customer self service to on line planning enquiries
Civica
Environmental Health systems are delivered by Flare, which also supports limited CRM . Civica are also contracted to supply our software through a select agreement with Microsoft
Capita
Our cash receipting systems at thecash office are provided through Capita. In addition they provide a hosted servive which delivers our on line payments solution which integrates to the cashiers systems. It also provides telephone and MOTO payments solutions and integrates directly with the on line planning sytems to enable payments to be made at time of application
Cadcorp
Digital mapping systems are made available through this company to enable customer self service to maps and local information
Covalent
Performance Management systems are provided to all staff and Members. It also includes risk monitoring, project monitoring and provides a repository of associated material relating to these elements
EG Consulting
Our Intranet is provided through this company.
Executel
The Council’s voice over IP telephone system has been supplied by Executel along with a monitoring tool which provides performance management information. In addition they provide a tailored solution to our telephone billing processes.
Strand
Our Electoral registration software is provided by Strand
Ward Air Communications
Our mobile telephones are provided by Ward Air
Alligned Assets
Alligned Assets have delivered an application that enables us to produce our local land and property gazetteer (LLPG) which in turn allows us to provide regular updates to the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) through Intelligent Addressing. There is a statutory obligation to ensure we continue to improve the accuracy of our LLPG and maintain a weekly update of any changes.
Intelligent Addressing
Intelligent Addressing are the agents charged to ensure an accurate NLPG is available to all services requiring access to it including emergency services.
Ordnance Survey
Our agreement with Ordnance Survey enables the Council to use, and supply under licence, maps and associated information to customers and officers.
ESD Toolkit
This software allows on line access to a large repository of information on all elements of performance within local government. It facilitates on line completion of financial returns.
Protos
Protos will assist the Council in producing on line manuals through the creation of workflow maps associated with the tasks undertaken within each service area.
Lalpac
Licensing procedures of taxis, events, public houses, etc is enabled through Lalpac. An additional feature that has yet to be deployed is the customer self service access to enquire about licensing issues and a secure access for police to make their enquiries.
Top Level
Top Level provide a hosted platform for the deployment of e-forms on our web site.
The Planning Portal
This solution provides a customer self service access to submission of a planning application and is linked to our Capita on line payments system to provide a complete customer service
Achievements: Previous Year & Current Year (to date)
Measure or Milestone
Reference
Target 2006/7
Actual 2006/7
Target 2007/8
Forecast2007/8
Telephony monitoring
X
X
Pid – planning Oce
X
X
Pid CMS
X
X
Roll out of ICT to new Members
X
X
Adoption of GIS administration
X
X
Success
How Achieved
Lessons Learnt
Members ICT roll out
ICT Resources
Early preparation and planning brings rewards
Inventory
ICT Resources
Regular maintenance is better than starting from scratch
Challenge
How Resolved
Outcome
CMS – issues associated with hosting of preferred solution.
Network upgrade – delays due to lack of ICT capacity to deploy
Compromise on initial local hosting and deployment as internal intranet
Through additional training ICT Trainee is able to take on more tasks, freeing up my technical resources
Work in progress
Work in progress
Financial Resources to Deliver Services
Note: This section of the report will be based on information contained in the Budget Book for the current year, in this case 2007/08. The original budget figures for the current financial year will be used as the base line figure for the calculation of cashable and efficiency gains.
Cost Centre
422
Description
Information and Communication Technology
Expense
£
Description of Main Activity & Cost
Employees
132,680
Activities include network and operational support, GIS administration, Elected Member support, telephony support, finance processing
Employees Support
21,330
Support Services
580
Service Management
0
Running Costs
500,790
Running costs include costs for procurement, support and installation of computer hardware, networks and telecommunications infrastructure. It includes costs for 3rd party software and application provision.
Capital Charges
42,930
Gross Expenditure
698,310
Direct Income - Grants
Describe income sources
Direct Income – Fees/Charges
Describe income sources
Recharge Income
650,980
Net Expenditure
47,330
Value for Money Assessment
Efficiency Measure
BBC
Local
National
Primary Indicator 1 – Cost of ICT function as a % of organisational running costs - £154,010 staff costs against £25m expenditure
0.62%
Primary Indicator 3 – ICT spend on infrastructure and systems as (i) a % of organisational running costs and (ii) per user. £534,720 ICT spend, No of users 150 + 29 members
(i) 2.13%
(ii) £2987
Primary Indicator 5 – Project governance – all projects to be conducted using corporate project management methodology, using project sponsors, targets, milestones, monitoring process and signoff
complete
Efficiency Measure
Reason for Difference to Local / National Trend
As yet unable to establish any local or national comparators – still trying! Wansbeck don’t have any (17.8.08)
Please complete the three following tables (if applicable) indicating how partnership working, IT systems or adherence to / achievement of quality standards have contributed to value for money.
Service Partner Providers
How Partner Supports Service VFM
N/A
IT Systems
How IT System Supports VFM
Consilium Technologies
Through the re-negotiation and subsequent extension of the contract a £100,000 pa saving has been achieved for 2008 / 2013
How Service Links to Council Priorities
This section contains the same information as collected in the previous year’s budget setting process. The priorities will be reviewed by the Members and either modified or confirmed as consistent (remaining the same as last year). The data provided on this document will be summarised and challenged at Corporate Management Team for content and consistency.
Priority
Description of how service contributes to Council Priority
1
Demonstrating continuous service improvements through the facilitation of new services based around technology solutions
2
By promoting the local services available within the Borough through the web site
3
None
4
Promoting business growth by providing an IT infrastructure that will encourage investment in our area
5
Seeking sustainable partnerships with both neighbouring Councils as well as our partners in the community
6
Enhancing Tourism through the provision of information on local facilities and activities through the web site
7
Making services more accessible through our networks and via web site and through development of transactional on line services
8
By promoting the Green issues and activities within the Borough through the web site
9
By hosting and supporting the Crime and Reduction Partnership website which provides information for citizens about safer communities
10
None
11
None
12
By promoting the local events occurring within the Borough through the web site
Contribution to Other Five C’s
Outcome Factor
Description of how service contributes to “C” Factor
Customers
ICT contributes to the quality of services delivered to customers, both internal and external.
Communication
It supports and maintains the telephone network, ICT infrastructure, web and transactional services and seeks to facilitate a regional infrastructure that will meet the needs of both business and community.
Cohesion
ICT reaches across the boundaries of the organisation. It enables the disparate parts of the Council to interact and share knowledge, good practice and work as a team
Culture
The services and systems supported and delivered by the ICT Unit have an impact on promoting a positive culture within the organisation
Compliance
Through the provision of on line information about standards, procedures, policies and protocols that can be updated centrally and delivered to all staff and Members – ICT ensures that up to date information is available and offers reminders to staff about their own responsibilities regarding compliance with them
Service Proposals for next 3 Years
Measure / Milestone
Reference
Forecast2007/8
Target 2008/9
Target 2009/10
Target 2010/11
Achieve Equality and Diversity assessment as scheduled for 2008/09 for Accessibility; Data Protection Policy; and ICT Security Policy
X
Deliver high bandwidth access to Berwick public sector locations as part of North Net project.
X
Complete network upgrade and Exchange server
X
Further develop GIS functions
X
These targets will feed directly into the Best Value Performance Plan. Once the targets have been established and agreed (in principle) with the Head of Service or Director, an assessment of resources required should be made in the next table.
Measure / Milestone
Reference
Resources Needed
Less
Same
More
Diversity and Equality
X
North Net project
X
Network upgrade
X
GIS Development
X
The achievements of some of these targets will be achievable within existing or reduced resources.
Where service improvements are linked to more resources a ProjectBrief (template available on the Intranet) should be completed and submitted to the Programme Improvement Board.
Where service improvements are linked to less resources, the proposals for savings should be identified in the Proposals to Achieve Cashable & Efficiency Gains section.
