Agenda and minutes

To confirm the appointment of the Chair for the meeting.

In accordance with Section 10 of the Joint Committee Terms of Reference the Chair should rotate between the appointed members from each Council at each meeting.  As this meeting is being hosted by the London Borough of Lewisham the practice is for the Chair of the meeting to be appointed from the membership of that authority.

RESOLVED that in accordance with Section 10 of the Joint Committee’s Terms of Reference, Councillor Mili Patel (London Borough of Brent) be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

Members noted the chairing arrangements for the meeting reflected the change in schedule of meeting dates for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Jake Rubin (London Borough of Brent).

No other apologies were received at the meeting.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

There were no declarations of interest declared by Members at the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 26 November 2024 as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Joint Committee of the London Boroughs of Brent, Lewisham and Southwark held on Tuesday 26 November 2024 be approved as a correct record.

No deputations or requests to speak were received at the meeting.

This report provides an update on the performance of the Shared ICT Service.

Fabio Negro (Managing Director Shared Technology Services) introduced the report to the Joint Committee providing an update on key performance areas in relation to the Shared Technology Service (STS).

Members noted the summary of key performance management indicators for the service across all three Council’s, which had been included within the report and in terms of detailed service performance, the Joint Committee were advised of the following:

·            In this reporting period (November 2024 to January 2025), SLA performance for priority 3 (P3) operational incident issues had improved by around 5% and priority 4 (P4) operational request calls SLA had been maintained within the SLAs in the main.

·            STS had achieved the second lowest number of open issues and requests for staff since the inception of the shared service, despite having the largest user base on record.  A slight increase in tickets was seen in February 2025.

·            STS had introduced a new Customer Experience survey to gain improved feedback on customer interactions.

·               Recent Audit reviews had been positive, with the lowest amount of outstanding audit actions remaining.

·               The Laptop project for Brent was now underway with the Southwark Business Case approved.

·            Since April of last year, the STS had seen a growing demand on services with the number of tickets logged into STS queues increasing with it noted that the number of supported users had grown from 10,500 users in 2020 to 12,500 in 2024.

·            Savings had been agreed for 2025/26 with discussions ongoing in relation to further savings requirements for 2026/27.

·            The Shared Service was receiving less P1 issues and P1 incidents continued to reduce.

The Chair thanked Fabio Negro for the service performance update provided and noted that a reduction in P1 incidents was positive.  The Chair enquired whether the additional investment, albeit being a one-off investment, was sustainable given the number of on-site engineers.  Fabio Negro highlighted that the service was undergoing significant change alongside the laptop refresh and this would inevitably cause issues.  In 2020, there were 11,000 users being supported by the Shared Service and currently there were approximately 13,000 users.  However, the Service had seen an increase of staff by 15-20%.  The Service Improvement Team dealt with management and change control with the team working to reduce P1 and P2 incidents resulting in less calls.

The Chair councillor then invited comments from Members with the following issue(s) raised:

·            In regard to the P3 incidents, further details were sought on what measures were being taken to improve these and in regard to the 170 open tickets from 2023-24.  In regard to customer satisfaction, clarification was sought as to what lessons were learnt and what improvements would be made.  In response, Fabio Negro confirmed that P4 incidents were meeting the SLA’s but were an ongoing challenge and there were many projects ongoing that affected the statistics.

·            Members asked for a breakdown on the projects affecting the tickets and what mitigations were being placed.  It was noted that it was difficult to compare call numbers across all 3  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members are asked to note that the provisional list of dates for the Joint Committee during the 2025 – 26 Municipal Year are currently being finalised with an update to be provided at the meeting.  The final dates will then be subject to confirmation by each respective partner borough.

Members NOTED that the provisional list of dates for the Joint Committee during the 2025-26 Municipal Year were currently being finalised and would be circulated following confirmation by each respective partner borough.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Deputy Director Democratic Services (Brent Council) or their representative in advance of the meeting.

None identified.

The following item is not for publication as it relates to the category of exempt information set out below, as specified under Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

Agenda Item 6:       STS Performance Update (Appendix 1 – STS Risk Register)

This appendix has been classified as exempt under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, namely: “Information relating to the financial or business affairs of and particular person (including the authority holding that information).”

The press and public will be excluded from the remainder of the meeting as the following report contains the following category of exempt information as specified in Paragraph 3, Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, namely:

“Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)"

At this stage in proceedings the Chair advised that she intended to move into closed session for the remainder of the meeting in order to consider a separate report for the Joint Committee providing updates on the Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations in relation to the Shared Technology Services (STS).

Given the commercially sensitive nature of the details contained within the update, the Joint Committee were advised that the report would need to be considered in closed session which would require the Joint Committee to pass a formal resolution excluding the press and public for consideration of the item.

It was therefore AGREED that that under Section 100A (4) of the Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for consideration of the following item on the grounds that it would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended).

This report provides an update on the Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations identified in relation to the Shared Technology Services.

Fabio Negro (Managing Director - Shared Technology Services) then introduced the update report in relation to the STS Risk Register.  In considering the report Members noted the update and detail provided on cyber and financial risks, including the deployment of a Security Operation Centre, review of firewall configurations along with work to develop a Third Party supply management tool with LOTI

The Chair thanked Fabio Negro for his update with additional clarification provided for Members in relation to issues raised relating to risks associated with the handling of P3 and P4 incidents and roll out of the Windows 11 laptop refresh programme and benchmarking.

Fabio Negro (Managing Director - Shared Technology Services) then introduced the update report in relation to Cyber Security status, threats, and mitigations for the Shared Technology Service (STS).  In considering the report Members noted the update provided in relation to the monitoring of all user endpoint devices and work with the STS Cyber Security team to mitigate any threat along with further development of Cyber Security controls, including firewalls and third party suppliers and work with Emergency Planning teams across all 3 Councils to share ideas and risks.

The Chair thanked Fabio Negro for his update with additional clarification provided for Members in relation to issues raised relating to costs (including third part suppliers), funding and life cycle of IT equipment:

As no further matters were raised, the Joint Committee completed their consideration of the update report. The Chair thanked Fabio Negro for the details provided and it was RESOLVED to note the update and actions being taken as detailed in the report.