Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023, for confirmation

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Joint report of Director of Finance (NCC) and Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (LCC).

Jill Turner, Business Development Manager for East Midlands Shared Services (EMSS) delivered the report into the EMSS Business Continuity Plan (BCP). The following points were highlighted:

(a)  the BCP was designed to ensure that EMSS can still operate, and payroll and payments to suppliers can be made, in the event of a major incident, such as the loss of the Oracle full system, emails, or servers;

(b)  work has begun on devising a new digital format for the BCP which will be easier to use. This new format is based on Microsoft Lists and is currently being tested to ensure that it will be available even if Leicestershire County Council (LCC) suffers a major IT outage;

(c)  the LCC Resilience Planning Group, which includes the Head of EMSS, has approved new mandatory training and exercise programme for on-call senior managers to be trained on the statutory requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004; 

During the discussion and in response from questions from the Committee, the following points were raised:

(d)  the timescales for the move to a digital format for the BCP was revised three months ago;

(e)  the last test of the BCP was in November 2019. A test was due in 2020, but this was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic;

(f)  the tests were carried out on all IT equipment, including the work devices of senior managers;

(g)  cyber-crime and cyber-attack defences are being built into the plan with support from LCC and Nottingham City Council’s (NCC) IT departments.

Resolved to approve the plan.

This decision is not subject to call-in.

Reasons for recommendations

o  To reassure Joint Committee that EMSS has robust business continuity arrangements.

Other options considered

o  None.

Joint report of Director of Finance (NCC) and Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (LCC)  

Jill Turner, Business Development Manager for EMSS delivered the report which provided advice and amendments to the data processing agreement between LCC and NCC. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  the data processing agreement was presented to the Committee on 24 September 2018 in response to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into force in May that year;

(b)  this agreement has been reviewed to ensure it reflects the law as it stands as well as best practice.  Both partners’ Information Governance Teams have been approached for comments and changes;

(c)  the two main changes are to ensure that the agreement will incorporate any future changes to UK GDPR legislation and to reflect the transfer of Nottingham City Homes staff to Nottingham City Council. 

Resolved to:

(1)  approve the amendments;

(2)  authorise the EMSS Sponsors to sign the amended document.

This decision is not subject to call-in.

Reasons for recommendations

o  To ensure that EMSS and the partners have robust information governance arrangements in place.

Other options considered

o  None.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, under Schedule 12A, Part 1, on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

Resolved to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, under Schedule 12A, Part 1, on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023, for confirmation.

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Joint report of Director of Finance (NCC) and Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (LCC)  

Lucy Littlefair, Head of EMSS, delivered the report which outlined the operational performance for EMSS during the Quarter 2 period.

Resolved to approve the recommendations as set out in the report.

This decision is not subject to call-in.

Reasons for recommendations

o  As set out in the exempt report

Other options considered

o  As set out in the exempt report.

Joint report of Director of Finance (NCC) and Assistant Director of Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (LCC)  

Lucy Littlefair, Head of EMSS, Susan Baum, Finance Business Partner (LCC) and Simone Hines, Assistant Director Finance, Strategic Property and Commissioning (LCC), delivered the report to update the Committee on the 2023/24 financial performance and the draft proposed budget for EMSS for 2024/25 to 2027/28.

Resolved to approve the recommendations as set out in the report.

This decision is not subject to call-in.

Reasons for recommendations

o  As set out in the exempt report.

Other options considered

o  As set out in the exempt report.