Agenda item

The Panel received a report of the ICT Client Section Head providing an overview of the ICT service delivery model.

Introducing the report, the ICT Client Section Head provided the context to the current service. The service was now mixed with some aspects outsourced to Amicus and others delivered by an in-house team.  The aim was that Amicus would resolve 80% of reported faults via the Service Desk and  the in-house team would resolve the remainder.  Agreements were in place about which type calls the service desk should be able to resolve.  It had been expected that the figure of 80% would not be reached during the first year.  Following the contract with Capita, the service was missing documentation and Amicus was working with the councils to address this.  The contract was still new and there was a plan in place to increase the numbers of calls dealt with by Amicus. There had been significant investment in hardware including 90% of the desktop estate, installation of Wi-Fi services and improvements in security.  A lot of progress had been made, but there was still much to do.

Responding to questions about timescales, officers reiterated that the contract was still in its infancy and the process of creating the necessary documentation was underway.  It was hoped that by the end of the first year Amicus would be able to deal with the target of 80% of calls. Officers underlined that they were very pleased with the progress made in the service.  Customer satisfaction ratings were very good and the councils were pleased with the contract.

The Portfolio Holder for Resources and Customer Services emphasised the radical transformation that had taken place; the relationship with Amicus was excellent and a significant improvement on the relationship with Capita.

Discussing the nature of the contract, members were advised that it was somewhat open-ended and Amicus were a good fit for the councils.  The service had gone out to tender without the usual documentation and Amicus were happy to work to address this.  They were hoping to grow their business and wanted to take on as many of the calls as possible.

Councillors commented on the improved experiences they had had in dealing with the service desk and the ICT service provision more generally.

Drawing comparisons with the previous contract with Capita, assurance was sought that there would not be a repeat of the situation with a failing service.  It was underlined that this was a very different type of arrangement and the contract was for a relatively short time-two years with the possibility of a further two-year extension.  Officers provided details of the outcome of the exit negotiations of the contract with Capita.  It was emphasised that it was the current ICT service that was under discussion by the Panel, details of the end of the contract with Capita had been discussed at other committees.

Councillor Nelmes referred to a software upgrade that have taken place at Three Rivers which had not gone well and asked whether lessons had been learnt.  The ICT Section Head explained what had happened and assured the Panel that an exercise had taken place to consider the lessons learnt.  The service were ensuring that any future upgrades would be managed as projects and particular attention would be given to communications, rigorous vendor management and user acceptance testing.  It was noted that the upgrade had not been an IT-led project and the service and vendor also had responsibilities.

It was agreed that the ICT service should be added to the work programme for the Panel later in 2017.

RESOLVED -

1.      that the Panel note the report.

2.      that the actions requested be undertaken.