Council and Democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1, Town Hall

Contact: Charlotte Kearsey  01246 345236

Items
No. Item

6.

Declaration of Members' and Officers' Interests relating to items on the Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

7.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Brittain.

8.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General Committee of 4 June, 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

9.

Exclusion of Public

To move “That under Regulation 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2000, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.”

 

Part 2 (Non Public Information)

Minutes:

RESOLVED –

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

10.

Northgate Housing Management System Upgrade

Decision:

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the Northgate Housing Management System upgrade to Software as a Service be agreed.

 

2.   That the three year transformation programme to drive change and ensure systems and working practices are fit for the future be implemented.

 

3.   That the additional revenue costs identified in section 5 of the officer’s report be funded from the HRA working balance.

 

4.   That the proposal to establish the two year fixed term posts of Project Manager, Business Analyst and Project Officer in the ICT Transformation Programme Team be approved.

 

5.   That the proposal to establish the two year fixed term post of Programme Manager using resources from an existing established full-time equivalent Project Manager post plus additional identified budget, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, be approved.

 

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

To ensure that the housing management system is fit for purpose and supports the delivery of a customer focussed housing service.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director – Housing submitted a report seeking approval for the Northgate Housing Management System upgrade.

 

The Northgate Housing Management System had been the integrated system providing estates, repairs, rents, arrears and allocations functionality for Housing Services since 2000. The processes and procedures used had become embedded and integral to current ways of working.

 

The contract to provide support for the Northgate Housing System would be due for renewal at the end of March 2020 but there were risks to business continuity which would result in an unsupported system from January 2020.

 

The option to bring the Northgate Housing System upgrade forward in the ICT improvement programme would mitigate the risk of systems failure. A requirement for additional staffing resources in the ICT Improvement Programme Team had been recognised to ensure delivery.

 

The capital costs to deliver the transformational programme would be met from within the current Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programme. The additional revenue costs would be met from the HRA working balance.

 

A comprehensive information assurance risk assessment had been undertaken.

 

*RESOLVED –

 

1.   That the Northgate Housing Management System upgrade to Software as a Service be agreed.

 

2.   That the three year transformation programme to drive change and ensure systems and working practices are fit for the future be implemented.

 

3.   That the additional revenue costs identified in section 5 of the officer’s report be funded from the HRA working balance.

 

4.   That the proposal to establish the two year fixed term posts of Project Manager, Business Analyst and Project Officer in the ICT Transformation Programme Team be approved.

 

5.   That the proposal to establish the two year fixed term post of Programme Manager using resources from an existing established full-time equivalent Project Manager post plus additional identified budget, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, be approved.

 

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

To ensure that the housing management system is fit for purpose and supports the delivery of a customer focussed housing service.