Cabinet:

1.    Agreed the implementation of all elements of the Smart Working Plus programme as detailed within this report

2.    Approved and agree to recommend to Full Council the allocation of additional capital funding in the sum of £1,665,500 profiled in 21/22 financial year to deliver the programme

On the invitation of the Leader of the Council, Darren Rose, SmartWorking Manager presented the report to Cabinet building on the information regarding the Asset Rationalisation matter to develop the Council into a modern and agile organisation.

This report progresses SmartWorking Phase One which saw the roll out of 70% of laptops (amounting to around 2500) last March just before Covid which was most fortuitous allowing members of staff to work seamlessly from home following the grip of the Pandemic.  There is further work to do to make Havering a digital first organisation with the full roll out of Office 365.

This is a revised approach to continue the journey forward for a fully digitalised Council where flexibility of approach is embedded as the new norm, achieving more with less.

The Scan it, Scrap it, Store it project (S4) is working towards the Council being paperless or paperlite transferring all analogue records into digital making the way things are stored safe and more secure.  SmartWorking supports this new approach and is imperative for all projects across the Council in pursuit of a resilient and sustainable basis for agile working.

The existing information technology serving the organisation is not sustainable so the roll out of full Office 365, together with S4 will initiate the change needed to support this approach.

Jane West the Council’s s151 Officer noted that this represented a significant investment, which is crucial to the direction of travel of attaining the full gambit of Office 365.  Over time there will be savings coupled with a far greater efficiency for staff and residents.

Ben Plant the Director of Human Resources stated that the HR implications on this approach were significant but the Council were set to reap the rewards of very positive impact across the Council including reduced sickness absences and much improved staff engagement and morale.  These outcomes will be measured and reported back.

The Leader welcomed this change to a much more nimble and efficient Council to the benefit of officers who are the life blood of the Borough and in turn this will empower residents to access vital services as required in a much more proficient way.

Cabinet:

1.    Agreed the implementation of all elements of the Smart Working Plus programme as detailed within this report

2.    Approved and agree to recommend to Full Council the allocation of additional capital funding in the sum of £1,665,500 profiled in 21/22 financial year to deliver the programme