AGENDA ITEM NO. 9 CABINET. Date 19 December Paperless Office and E-Members

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1 AGENDA ITEM NO. 9 CABINET Date 19 December 2013 Title Paperless Office and E-Members 1. PURPOSE/SUMMARY To update Cabinet on progress of the Paperless Office project and to seek approval to conduct an E-Members pilot whereby a number of Members lead a trial of Tablet computers to replace paper documents at meetings. 2. KEY ISSUES It is important for Local Authorities to regularly review and modernise the way they work and the systems they use to improve productivity and deliver efficiencies using new technology. The Paperless project examines how we manage our information systems and has a number of key aims which are to:- - Identify financial savings, to help protect frontline services. - Reduce the amount of paper records stored, - Manage the data we have in the Council so we can easily find information, - Serve our customers in a more informed way, - Help Members towards a paperless way of working. The project has been split into three work streams. These are:- 1. To focus on a framework for information management, 2. Identifying future system development needs, and 3. To support Members to go paperless. Progress to date has been positive, particularly on work stream 1 which has been the main area of focus. Over 10 tonnes of paper has been recycled, the introduction of Multi-functional print /copy devices (MFDs) has reduced printing costs by 13,000 per annum and over 390GB of space has been saved in the Council s system storage. A pilot is suggested for tablets. Whole Council savings could be realised by ceasing to print paper copies of agendas, minutes and reports for meetings and cease to provide Members with desktop printers and consumables. New devices could then be funded from the savings with a payback period of about one year, based on a 265 Android tablet.

2 3. RECOMMENDATION(S) That Cabinet approve a pilot use of tablet computers, to start in March Wards Affected Forward Plan Reference No Portfolio Holder(s) Report Originator Contact Officer(s) All N/a Councillor David Oliver Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Licensing Geoff Kent, Head of Customer Services gkent@fenland.gov.uk Richard Cassidy, Corporate Director richardcassidy@fenland.gov.uk Carol Pilson, Corporate Director carolpilson@fenland.gov.uk Background Paper(s) N/a 1. AIMS OF THE PROJECT 1.1 Progressive modernisation of the Council s Information Technology (IT) systems and infrastructure can make an important contribution to improving efficiency, customer satisfaction and reducing revenue costs, which in turn helps protect the delivery of frontline services. Many local authorities are currently examining how to embrace new technology to improve future productivity and service transformation. 1.2 The Council has started working on a Paperless Office project. The project has a number of key aims. One is to identify financial savings. Many processes are still heavily reliant upon the use of paper, and in a time of financial austerity it is important that we conserve our resources to work as efficiently as possible. It costs 0.35p to print a page in black and white, and 3p in colour. If over the course of a year each officer printed just 100 unnecessary pages in colour it would cost the council around 1,200. An investment in technology on an Invest to save basis could eliminate the need for much information to be printed at all. 1.3 A second aim is to reduce the amount of paper records stored. It is estimated that over 2.5 million paper sheets of information is stored across the council. Much of this is statutory, and must be retained for a certain period of time or indefinitely. However, over a period of years, we have accumulated a great deal of information, much of which we no longer need.

3 1.4 Part of the project is also to manage the data we have in the Council so information can be found easily. We hold a great deal of data both in paper form and electronically, some of which could be disposed or stored more logically. This is in a number of physical and electronic locations across the Council. This will help us to serve our customers in a more focused way and to work more efficiently. 1.5 A final aim is to help Members towards a paperless way of working. It is estimated that the Council, Cabinet, briefing and Committee process uses 347,000 sheets of paper annually. This is at an annual cost of just under 12,000 in paper, ink and toner; excluding staff time. If these documents could be viewed and stored electronically this would reduce costs significantly, whilst also supporting members to be able to work on the move. 1.6 Savings could be generated if the Council ceased printing paper copies of agendas, minutes and reports for these meetings and no longer provides Members with desktop printers and consumables. Tablet computers could then be funded from the savings with a payback period of about one year, based on a 265 Android tablet. Tablet computers also allow Members the opportunity to view these documents on full colour screens, as opposed to the normally black and white paper documents now used. 1.7 A multi-disciplinary project team has been created to support the delivery of the project and identified objectives. The project has been split into three distinct work streams which focus on a different aspect of the scope. 1.8 Work stream 1 focuses on creating a framework for information management using existing systems. Part of this is to encourage teams across the council to work electronically where possible, which will in turn reduce the amount of paper and associated resources that are being used. Work will also need to be undertaken to understand how we can use shared electronic drives and Outlook more effectively. 1.9 Work stream 2 focuses on identifying future development needs. Part of this is to understand both how the council can maximise the effectiveness of its existing information management systems and whether there is the need to invest in new technology to help manage information. This is particularly important for services such as Planning that must keep a large amount of statutory information Work stream 3 is designed to support Members to go paperless. Part of this will be to provide the appropriate technology for Members to carry out their business without committee papers in hard-copy form. The aim of the work stream is to identifying an approach that can be successfully rolled out to all members by the in due course. Part of this proposal is to pilot the new technology with Cabinet and work to eliminate the need for paper for all scheduled meetings, including Portfolio Holder Briefings.

4 2. KEY PROJECT SUCCESSES TO DATE 2.1 A number of key achievements have been made on the project to date, some of which relate to more than one work stream. Work stream 1 is currently the most advanced, and has been use to raise awareness of the wider project across the council. 2.2 MFDs (Multi-functional Devices) have been introduced across the council, replacing desktop printers and scanners. As a result, the council has realised a 50% saving in toners which equates to 8,000 per annum. Click charges (the amount that the MFD supplier charged the Council for each sheet of paper printed by MFD) have also been reduced by 10%, resulting in a further 5,000 saving per year. 2.3 Our Data Retention Policy has been revised. This reflects the legal requirements of document retention, as some types of documents need to be retained for many years. It also ensures that the Council maintains records that are relevant to its business and are held securely and confidentially in order to meet legislative requirements set out by the Data Protection Act. The Government s Information Commissioner has the power to levy financial penalties on organisations that do not hold data correctly, or misplace that data. 2.4 A regular internal staff communication campaign has been introduced. This has ensured teams are aware of why the project has been commissioned and how they can contribute. Staff are given tips on how to go paperless and are reminded of the existing resources available to help them manage data effectively. 2.5 Two Spring Clean weeks have been held across the council this year. Officers reorganised storage areas to make information easier to find and manage in the future. During these weeks, over 10 tonnes of documents that were not required to be kept were disposed of. 2.6 A Document Management System (DMS) is being investigated within the planning team to reduce paper storage. The team are subject statutory requirements, having to store much historic information. As of 1st December 2013, statutory planning consultation responses are being scanned and placed on the electronic Public Access system s over 4 weeks old in the Deleted Items folder in Outlook are now automatically deleted. This initially saved 242Gb in disk space, approximately 12% of our total database storage. The figure now currently stands at a saving of 390Gb.

5 3. PROPOSED TRIAL OF TABLET COMPUTERS E-MEMBERS 3.1 This project seeks to allow Members to be paperless in meetings and at the same time have easy access to reports, briefing documents, large policy documents (such as the District Plan) as well as Council s and diaries without the need for paper. 3.2 With such a significant change in approach, it is recommended that a pilot is undertaken focussing primarily on Cabinet Members, who as a group use the most paper. 3.3 This proposal would enable Members access information from anywhere there is internet access available. 3.4 Modern tablet computers are easier to use, lighter, less cumbersome, less intrusive in a meeting environment and have significantly increased battery life when compared to a conventional laptop computer. 3.5 This proposal would provide access to new equipment for members to use on council business, allow easy and secure access to corporate s / calendars / etc. 3.6 Security of data and encryption to a high standard is now available on tablet devices. 3.7 Secure remote locking of the unit will also provide assurance in the event of loss / theft of the device. 3.8 Following research, two tablet devices have been identified that could be used by members to work paperlessly. One is the Nexus 10 or similar android tablet, at a cost of about 265 with a 10 inch screen, or an ipad, at a cost of 330 with a 9.7 inch screen. Work has been undertaken to understand the compatibility with existing technology and the need for additional Wi-Fi access points. These costs may change slightly as newer devices become available 3.9 It is also recommended that a number of member e-champions outside Cabinet are involved in the pilot project. The experience the e-champions will gather during the trial will enable them to support other members to adopt the new technology Training will be required for both officers and members surrounding the use of tablet devices. Officers will need to revise the way documents are created for members to view on a tablet in meetings. This is to allow Members to navigate between sections in documents, access web links and other references from within documents and to follow the paper trail in a meeting in the same order as they would using paper reports 3.11 It is proposed to operate the pilot between March and November 2014, with the evaluation results reported, along with future funding recommendations to

6 the Overview and Scrutiny panel prior to a final report to Cabinet in December Should members approve a full rollout of the tablet technology a full scheme could be introduced for the new Council In May A proposed timetable for this project is summarised below: