Agenda item

Ms Kennard (Chief Analyst, Strategic Commissioning Analytics) was in attendance for this item

(1)      Ms Kennard introduced the report which set out progress made against targets set for Key Performance Indicators.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

(a)    Mr Watts referred to the significant amount of activity expected of the Council in relation to Freedom of Information Governance since the implementation of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and the prioritisation of various activities to deliver performance targets within the financial year.

(b)    Mr Watts referred to the Council’s Technology project which aimed to change the way in which both information and responses were provided. He added that Kent County Council would be working alongside the Council's technology partner, Microsoft, to create a mechanism that published responses onto the Council's website at the same time as sending out information to the individual requester, which in turn would provide Members with the opportunity to access information that had been responded to in relation to any other query on the Council's website.

(c)    Mr Watts said that two Information Governance graduates had been appointed to look at ways in which Strategic and Corporate Services use and work with data. He added that part of their activity for the next year would involve conversations with Members to understand the types of data that Members were interested to see to aid in the design of the future technology platform.

(d)    Mr Watts referred to the ever-increasing number of Freedom of Information requests that the Council received and confirmed that he would circulate further information to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting in relation to the matter. He emphasised the importance and value of discussions relating to GDPR and thanked officers and Members for their engagement in discussions and for continuing to meet statutory GDPR duties. He confirmed that regular update reports on the matter would be submitted to future meetings of the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee, Members generally supported this.

(e)    Mrs Spore referred to the increase in the number of calls to the ICT Helpdesk and confirmed that she would circulate a detailed breakdown of the ICT Helpdesk’s call trends outside of the meeting. She specifically referred to the implementation of a number of key change programmes during the last year, for example, the Windows 10 upgrade and roll out, which had significantly impacted the number of calls received by the ICT Helpdesk. Mr Watts confirmed that he would be attending a meeting with Microsoft on 24^th January 2020 to devise an action plan which would be circulated to Committee Members once completed.

(f)      Mr Watts confirmed that he would liaise with the Council’s Corporate Management Team in relation to the information projected onto the Council’s website.

(g)    Mr Watts emphasised the importance of ensuring that data contained within the Council’s website was easily accessible.

(h)    Mr Watts referred to the variation in FOI requests and said that many of the requests received over the last year had been driven by specific, local issues. He added that a Monitoring Officer group had been established between Kent County Council and like-sized authorities to share best practice and expertise in relation to Freedom of Information Governance.

(i)      Mrs Prendergast (Cabinet Member for Communications, Engagement and People) referred to the nature and complexity of some of the FOI requests received which contributed to response delays and reiterated comments made by Mr Watts in relation to next steps.

(j)      Mrs Spore referred to the ‘Percentage of rent due to KCC outstanding over 60 days’ indicator within the performance dashboard and confirmed that she could provide a trend breakdown to Committee Members outside of the meeting.

(2)      A Member commended the ICT Helpdesk for the excellent, seamless service that they provided to Members.

(3)      RESOLVED that the report be noted.