Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

The Chief Officer (Governance) provided results of the consultation with schools on reconfiguring the Education Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Service.

            As part of Phase 1 of the ICT review and the adoption of the new operating model it was agreed that:

·         Education ICT should be merged with Corporate ICT;

·         A review of the service should be undertaken to seek to improve its capacity to meet customer demands; and

·         The service would be remodelled to make the 30% savings required of all services.

A period of intense consultation and engagement was undertaken with the school community between January and March 2015.  Officers attended the primary and secondary heads federations on several occasions, the Schools Budget Forum, drop in sessions and one to one discussions with headteachers.  These resulted in 81% of primary schools and 83% of secondary schools expressing formal support for the proposals.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance asked if the report would be submitted to Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that it would be considered at their meeting on 16 July 2015 which allowed implementation to begin prior to the school holidays, subject to any comments that might arise at the Scrutiny Committee meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the proposed new model for the Education ICT service be approved with a start date of April 2016; and

(b)       That delegated authority be given to the Chief Officer (Governance) in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Corporate Management and Education and Youth to revise the scheme to take account of comments made at the Education and Youth Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.