Agenda item

Amendments to the Terms of Reference for the Shared ICT and Digital Joint Committee

[Report of the Chief Digital and Information Officer. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources.] To consider and agree the recommendation of the Shared ICT and Digital Joint Committee that amendments should be made  to the terms of reference for that Committee.

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources introduced the report which set out the revisions to the Terms of Reference of the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee for approval by Cabinet.

 

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources further referred to the legal comments in the report, which highlighted that the Council’s Constitution has set a threshold of £500,000 or above where decisions to award contracts or expenditure on a service would be a key decision, which our constitution prohibits an officer from taking.

 

This meant that awards of contracts related to the Shared Digital IT spend, where Haringey’s contribution is estimated to be £500,000 or above, that would be taken by the Chief Digital and Information Officer on behalf of Camden and Islington, would be taken in parallel by a Cabinet Member for Haringey.

 

This was for an intermediate period until a more detailed review of the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee Terms of Reference is carried out as part of the Governance Model review which will include a review of the current Joint Committee model.

 

RESOLVED

 

To agree the revised Terms of Reference for the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee attached to this report as Appendix A to come into effect from 1 October 2017. The main changes to its Terms of Reference recommended by the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee meeting on 19 June 2017 were as follows:

 

  • To change the name of the joint committee from ‘Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee’ to the ‘Shared Digital Joint Committee’ to reflect the name of the shared service.

 

  • To state that each Council nominates a substitute Member rather than for this to be optional.

 

  • To ensure the ‘Joint Committee Model’ is included in the Terms of Reference as a model to review along with other company models as part of the Shared Digital Governance Options review.

 

  • To be explicit about the frequency of the meetings; the intention being that the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee meets at least three times a year.

 

  • To clarify when the Chair will be rotated and that this should be in alphabetical order by Borough.

 

  • To clarify that all ‘Executive’ decisions of the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee will be deemed ‘key decisions’. This is to avoid administrative decisions being treated as key decisions and added to the councils’ Forward Plans

 

  • To change the way, the councils are listed in the Terms of Reference so that they are always listed in alphabetical order

 

  • To undertake a tidy up of the language in the Terms of Reference, for example using ‘Shared Digital’ as the name of the joint service and making clear how decisions on procurement should be taken [please see legal comments]

 

That the following be added to the Committee’s procedure note:

  • The Chief Digital and Information Officer consults all members of the Committee on reports.

 

Reasons for decision

 

The Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee Terms of Reference forms part of the legal agreement, for the Shared Service. Elements of the Terms of Reference need to be changed to reflect the evolution of the service.

 

The Terms of Reference is currently not clear around how the role of the Chair will be rotated; frequency and order. The rotation of the venue is also unclear.

 

To avoid administrative decisions being treated as key decisions and added to the councils’ Forward Plans.

 

The Terms of Reference currently does not state that the ‘Joint Committee model’ will also be assessed along with other company models during the Shared Digital Governance Model Review. There has been a request that we should explicitly list that the Joint Committee model will be reviewed along with other company models. The Shared Digital Governance Model review is taking place from May – September 2017.

 

 

Alternative options considered

 

There is an option to ‘do nothing’ and keep the current terms of reference in place for the Shared ICT and Digital Service Joint Committee. In adopting the ‘do nothing’ option the requests made for changes will not be addressed; clarifying the number of meetings per year, how the Chair and venue will rotate and ensuring the Joint Committee model is included in the governance model review along with other company models.

 

Supporting documents: