Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting through Microsoft Teams

Contact: Christine Rothwell  Tel. 01302 735682

Items
No. Item

11.

Apologies for absence.

12.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

None.

13.

Declarations of Interest, if any.

Minutes:

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

14.

Public Statements.

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up

to 5 members of the public on matters within the

Committee’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be

considered or contribute towards the future development of

the Committee’s work programme].

 

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

15.

Digital Recovery and Renewal Strategy pdf icon PDF 351 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Assistant Director for Customers, Digital and ICT presented the Committee with a report outlining the Council’s digital response, recovery and renewal activities that had continued to be progressed through the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

Members acknowledged that the world environment was continually changing particularly since March 2020, and the Local Authority’s investment in technology enabled the Council, St Leger Homes and Doncaster Children’s Services Trust to continue to deliver their services whilst the majority of officers were working from home.

 

The Committee welcomed the information provided in the report and addressed the following areas in detail:

 

Cloud Hosted – in response to concern expressed relating to the security of and access to information stored by the Council, it was explained that cloud hosted meant that the Local Authority’s data was stored differently.  Rather than data being stored on Council premises, it could be stored elsewhere.  It was stressed that this would not always be used and would not compromise the security of information stored.  Cloud hosted would remain GDPR compliant.  Access to certain data would only be allowed to those who had the approval, as was currently the case.  It was also stated that the Council takes its information security arrangements very seriously undertaking independent health checks and the required accreditation annually.  The Committee acknowledged that the Local Authority would continue to seek the most secure and best value for money when looking at data storage solutions.

 

IT Security:  in response to Members’ concerns it was stressed that IT would not be delivered by the Authority unless security was in place, and that it was the key foundation of any implementation.  The following areas were specifically raised:

 

·                security concerns relating to the use of the social media tool,“WhatsApp” - it was explained that it was not used to process or transfer any Council data.  It was a tool that could be used in an emergency to quickly contact someone, when staff were out on site.

 

·                Mobiles - Staff have the option to use either their own Mobile phone or ones issued by the Local Authority but it was noted whichever preference, the devices were encrypted.  If personal mobiles were used, there were additional security measures including several layers of encryption and requirements by the officer that must be adhered, to including signing a security policy.  It was also noted that the use of personal devices was minimal and if a security breach was reported, access to Council information could be removed immediately.

 

·                Council laptops – these were all encrypted.  All staff and Councillors were requested to undergo regular training with regard to security and that was monitored.  Everyone was also made aware of the Acceptable Use Policy with regard to what they could use a Council device for.

·                Home connectivity – the Council had always supported homeworking with staff providing their own connectivity.  It was acknowledged that home working had to be increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic and bearing this in mind, the organisation was planning to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 705 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairs provided an update on work being undertaken.  The Senior Governance Officer reminded Members that the work plan was flexible and should respond to changes in reprioritisation of work.

 

RESOLVED that:  The Work Plan and Council’s Forward Plan of Key decision, be noted.