Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Anne Cheetham OBE replaced County Councillor Paul Rigby for this meeting.

There were no apologies.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

County Councillor Ged Mirfin declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 4 - The Council's Approach to Data and Analytics, as the former Chief Data Officer at the Northwest Development Agency.

To be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2022 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Peter Buckley, Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services, Glyn Peach, Director of Digital, Mark Greenwood, Head of ICT Architecture and Data, and Donna Talbot, Head of Business Intelligence to the meeting.

The report presented provided the committee with an overview of the county council's current position regarding its use of data and analytics. The committee also considered a presentation, a copy of which is attached to the minutes.

Following the presentation, the committee requested that the following recommendations be shared with the Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services:

• That the council's Audit, Risk and Governance Committee should consider the risks and governance associated with the council's data and analytics.
• That a further report be provided to the committee on the costs associated with reaching each of the milestones as set out in Figure 3 of the report.
• That a list of all the data dashboards developed to date, including the indicative costs of developing each of them, be shared with committee members after the meeting.
• That information on the steps that are taken to develop the council's data tools, and how work in this area for different council services was prioritised, be shared with committee members after the meeting.
• That, when the data dashboards are launched, training be provided to county councillors on how to use the dashboards relevant to their roles and work areas.

Additional comments and queries from the committee were raised as follows:

• Members were informed that data access controls would be in place before the dashboards were made more widely available, including to councillors, and that every dashboard would have a data impact assessment to ensure the data being held had the necessary data protection protocols in place.
• It was also clarified that the dashboards would not be accessed via a software installed to a computer and would instead be accessible via a web browser.
• Members raised concerns about the risks of data duplication and data corruption and were assured that work was ongoing to validate and assure the council's data. Regular testing was carried out manually to ensure the data was accurate. Members requested that consideration be given to utilising AI (Artificial Intelligence) to validate the data and to respond to the current gap in the council's capabilities.
• In relation to data retention, members were informed that the majority of the council's standard software had a built-in, default retention policy. Digital Services were in the process of ensuring the appropriate retention policies were in place for the unstructured data held by the council.
• Members were informed that mandatory training was already in place for staff in relation to information governance and data protection. However, as part of the Data Strategy, Digital Services would be working more closely with different services across the council in order to strengthen their handling of data and knowledge of how it should be stored.
• The committee commended the work of Digital Services to improve the council's use of and approach to data over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Peter Buckley, Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services, County Councillor Alan Cullens, Lead Member for Community and Cultural Services, Steve Lloyd, Head of Cultural Services, and Carolyn Kimmins, Community Engagement Manager to the meeting.

The report presented provided a response to the committee's request to review how the Library Friends' groups supported the county council to deliver library services, and how the council in turn supports them. The committee also considered a presentation, a copy of which is attached to the minutes.

The Chair invited members to share information on the libraries and Library Friends' groups in their areas.

Comments and queries from the committee were raised as follows:

• It was noted that, as long as the library offered a comprehensive and efficient service, there was no minimum population requirement for opening a library in a specific area.
• It was also noted that not all of Lancashire's libraries had affiliated Friends' groups, but the council offered advice and supported the formation of a Friend's groups where there was an interest.
• Members suggested that consideration should be given to how the relationship between Library Friends' groups and local Parish, Town and Borough Councils could be improved.
• It was noted that a county-wide platform for Friends' groups would be beneficial to closer working between different groups and establishing new groups. The committee asked for additional information on establishing Library Friends' groups, to be provided after the meeting, and noted that the council's Warm and Welcome Places project may increase opportunities to establish new Friends' groups.
• Members were informed that constituted Friends' groups could apply for funding through the Local Member Grant Scheme, such as for additional equipment which could be used in the libraries. It was requested that information on constituting Library Friends' groups and the council's Premises Use Policy be circulated to all Friends' Groups.
• The committee was informed that the council's whole Library Service had been awarded Libraries of Sanctuary accreditation, which indicated Lancashire's libraries were places where people felt safe and welcomed. To support the work of the Refugee Integration team too, several libraries offered books in Ukrainian and other languages.
• The work of volunteers to support the Library Service, in many different ways, was exceptional. 

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their responses to the committee's questions, and for their work with Friends' groups to prepare the report and presentation.

Resolved: That the following recommendations be shared with the Cabinet Member for Community and Cultural Services:

1. That consideration be given to how the relationship between Library Friends' Groups and local Parish, Town and Borough Councils could be improved;
2. That additional information on establishing Library Friends' Groups be provided to committee members after the meeting;
3. That information on constituting Library Friends' Groups and the council's Premises Use Policy be circulated to all Friends' Groups; and
4. That the recommendations and plans moving forward, as set out in the report, be endorsed.

The Chair presented a report that provided an overview of the work undertaken by the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces Task Group at its meetings held on 1, 15 and 29 September 2022.

Resolved: That the work of the Warm and Welcome Public Spaces Task Group to date, as set out in the report, be noted.

The committee considered the work programme for the 2022/23 municipal year.

Resolved: That the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny work programme for 2022/23, including the progress relating to the committee's recommendations, be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 13 Decemberat 2.00 pm in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Community, Cultural, and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 13 December 2022 at 2.00pm at County Hall, Preston.</AI10><TRAILER_SECTION>