Agenda item

The Chair invited Rebekah Wilson (RW), Programme Manager, to introduce the update.

RW gave a presentation on the work of the LGA’s 3 Cyber, Digital and Technology Programme teams – Bespoke Support, General Support, and Policy Improvement. Following the presentation, RW asked members to share 3 particular LGA resources with colleagues – (i) 10 Questions on Cyber Security; (ii) Demystifying Digitalisation Councillor Masterclasses; and (iii) the new Local Government Digitalisation Almanac.

Members’ comments and questions:

·       Feedback was provided on the Digitalisation Masterclass with a plea for greater consistency and capability. Officers were asked to reflect on the level at which the training was pitched and whether this deterred members from signing up. Would it be more effective if cyber training was integrated more generally within CPC for example? RW emphasised that the Masterclass was a pilot programme and so all feedback was gratefully received. She welcomed the opportunity to have discussions offline with members to address the issues raised.

·       The importance of all local government staff, members and partners understanding and being alive to the threats facing council systems was emphasised. Was a presentation available that could be circulated to all councillors to highlight the threats? Mandatory council-led training for all members was also suggested as a way to raise awareness.

·       Given the ubiquity of Microsoft products in local government, it was considered important to seek regular assurance that they were doing everything possible to address security threats. RW urged members to visit the LGA website for video content on E3 and E5 licences with Microsoft partners.

·       Most spending on IT by councils was revenue based. Was there an opportunity to lobby government to enable capital spending on larger IT projects, which would promote greater investment?

·       Could a ‘jargon buster’ be provided as part of the Almanac? This would help build confidence amongst stakeholders. RW confirmed that this was one of the key aims of the Almanac.

·       To what degree was the LGA’s support offer tailored to new and emerging threats and was learning from councils’ experiences being built into the programme?

·       Could more case studies be built into the programme to demonstrate the positive practical outcomes of all the support and training provided? RW pointed members to case studies on the LGA’s Resource Hub and also flagged up that any Pathfinder projects funded by the programme had to produce reports for sharing as case studies.

·       It was considered important to ensure that IT equipment remained as user-friendly as possible in spite of all the security additions. Making it over-complicated could prove counterproductive.

Decision:

Improvement & Innovation Board noted the progress of the Programme.