Agenda and draft minutes

It was moved by Councillor L Haysey and seconded by Councillor M Stevenson that Ms J Bruce (UNISON) be appointed Chairman for the Civic Year 2019/20.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED and Ms J Bruce was appointed Chairman of the Local Joint Panel for the civic year 2019/20.

It was moved by Ms J Bruce and seconded by Councillor L Haysey that Councillor J Dumont be appointed Vice Chairman for the civic year 2019/20.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED and Councillor J Dumont was appointed Vice Chairman of the Local Joint Panel for the civic year 2019/20.

RESOLVED – that (A) Ms J Bruce be appointed Chairman for 2019/20; and

(B)   Councillor J Dumont be appointed Vice Chairman for 2019/20.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Simon Russell (ICT Strategic Partnership Manager), Jenny Francis (Unison) and Steve Ellis  (Unison).

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2018

It was moved by Councillor E Buckmaster and seconded by Ms N Munro that the Minutes of the meeting be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development presented a report on behalf of the ICT Strategic Partnership Manager regarding a new Acceptable Use Policy for IT.  The Head of HR explained that processes would be introduced which required existing staff and new staff to sign up to the Policy with their log in credentials.  This new Policy applied both to Officers, Members and to any contractors.  In response to a query by Councillor L Haysey, the Head of HR explained that it would apply to any piece of personal IT kit which accessed and used the Council’s network (including the new laptops) provided to Members.

Councillor E Buckmaster referred to external sites such as drop box and Facebook and queried whether this included “The Cloud” and referred to instances where he would occasionally cut and paste information for dissemination purposes.  The Head of HR confirmed that the Policy implied that it referred to any external site and that the best advice would be to contact IT before using.  Councillor E Buckmaster queried if this applied to extracts from files rather than a whole file, the Head of HR said he would get this clarified and amend the policy accordingly in relation to clause 6.5 by the ICT Strategic Partnership Manager.

The Chairman referred to the use of Herts FX, a secure server when sending large files.  

Councillor L Haysey supported the Policy and suggested that for ease of reference, the report should have an appendix of authorised sites, including the Herts FX Secure Server.  She also suggested that the ICT Strategic Partnership Manager should prepare an item for inclusion in the Members’ Information Bulletin so that all Members be made aware of the Policy and that the Policy be included as part of a Member Induction Pack.  These proposals were supported.

For the benefit of new Members, the Head of HR explained to the Panel the process for submission of  reports for determination by Human Resources.

It was proposed by Councillor L Haysey and seconded by Ms N Munro (Unison) that the Human Resources Committee be advised that the Local Joint Panel supports the approval of the Acceptable Use Policy, subject to the amendments as detailed above.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the Motion was declared CARRIED. 

RESOLVED- that (A) the Human Resources Committee be advised that the Local Joint Panel supports approval of the Acceptable Use Policy as amended by:

·       the inclusion within the report of an appendix of authorised sites, including the Herts FX Secure Server. 

·       the ICT Strategic Partnership Manager prepare an entry for inclusion in the Members’ Information Bulletin about the Policy; and

·       the Policy be included as part of a Member Induction Pack.