Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record and note any outstanding actions.

Councillor Brocklebank-Fowler noted that some of the actions from the previous meeting were still pending and asked officers to follow-up.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

This report provides a brief overview of the current state and future implications of generative AI technologies.

The Chair outlined the theme of the discussion and noted that the item was intended to support the early exploration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its uses.

The Chair welcomed the following guests to the meeting:

• Jeremy Tolmie (Microsoft)
• Stelios Zarras (Microsoft)
• Darius Toomer (Agilisys)
• Eugene O'Driscoll (Agilisys)
• Professor Aldo Faisal (Professor of AI & Neuroscience at Imperial)

Tina Akpogheneta (Chief Digital Officer) addressed the meeting and noted that the Council had been working on the issue of generative AI since last summer. Digital Services had set up a working group to look at the implications and how to safely leverage the technology. The Council wanted to explore carefully and had taken a measured approach. For ‘tech week’ (10-14 June 2024) speakers from Microsoft and Gartner had been invited to discuss potential use cases. Digital Services had recently unlocked starter licences to Microsoft Copilot (a generative AI chatbot) for staff and was gathering feedback from technology champions across departments. Microsoft had also established a forum for local authorities to help them learn together and share knowledge and best practices.

Jeremy Tolmie and Stelios Zarras from Microsoft gave a presentation covering the following:

• An overview of the history of machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI.
• The key uses of generative AI – content generation, summarisation, code generation, and semantic search.
• Applying generative AI to business problems to increase productivity, automate processes, improve the customer experience, and build creative content.
• Responsible AI principles – privacy and security, inclusiveness, accountability, transparency, fairness, and reliability.

Darius Toomer and Eugene O'Driscoll from Agilisys addressed the meeting and covered the following points:

• Agilysis had been working with the Council to identify use cases such as personal productivity and handling complex processes and applications.
• The importance of a learning and development culture that requires new teaching and learning.
• A culture of innovation and continuous improvement, which Agilisys provides to local councils.
• The need for strong data governance and infrastructure as an enabler for AI services.
• AI being used to search and make use of unstructured data – which offered the public sector an array of new opportunities, for example using predictive analytics in social care services.

Professor Aldo Faisal (Professor of AI & Neuroscience at Imperial) said AI technologies represented a revolution that would transform white collar work. In local government he saw a number of opportunities given the large datasets available and various types of decisions that lent themselves to AI. Regarding risks and opportunities he noted the risk of manipulation, but also the benefits of better, more granular decision-making and messaging.

Councillor Rowbottom noted she was supportive of the agenda but had the following questions:

• What was the timeline for implementation of the Council’s AI working group?
• Regarding use cases, what was the approach to complex cases in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services where the majority of spend goes?
• What were the Council’s thoughts on improving the interoperability of data through genuine co-commissioning with the NHS other local services?

Tina Akpogheneta said the Digital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides an update on the Council’s Cost of Living response programme and work underway to develop a strategy for 2024/25, given the government’s late decision to extend the Household Support Fund.

Matthew Sales (Assistant Director, Programmes, Assurance and Analytics) and Bathsheba Mall (Programme Lead) introduced the report which provided an update on the Council’s Cost of Living response programme and work underway to develop a strategy for 2024/25, given the government’s late decision to extend the Household Support Fund.

Councillor Helen Rowbottom asked what the most impactful intervention had been. Matthew Sales said it was hard to pick one scheme but highlighted the Crisis Prevention Fund, a cash first approach and one of the first times the Council had done that. He noted that officers were tracking a range of different indicators and had responded to that data – for example increasing housing support in response to rent rises. He also highlighted the Winter Support Fund, £340,000 of grants to third sector organisations that helped over 4,200 households.

Councillor Rowbottom noted there were now three Family Hubs in the borough but they couldn’t keep pace with the number of referrals. She asked how the Council was monitoring that and how they could be supported to meet the demand. Matthew Sales said they needed to make connections with the hubs to see how to work better on referrals as a council and with partners.

The Chair noted that one of the positive aspects of this had been the Cost of Living Alliance and the relationships built with third sector partners.

Councillor Rebecca Harvey (Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety) addressed the meeting and discussed the new winter booklet targeted at schools, GPs, and libraries with information about income maximisation, housing, debt, and more. She noted the Council was investing a lot into the advice service and the third sector. She also echoed the Chair’s comments about stronger partnerships and the importance of the Alliance steering group who had worked together on delivering the signposting tool.

Councillor Natalia Perez asked who was coordinating the signposting tool and referrals. Bathsheba Mall said she was leading the work on the signposting tool internally, supported by a project team from different service areas.

Councillor Perez asked about the likelihood of the Household Support Fund being extended further and the impact of its withdrawal. Matthew Sales said it had been extended until 30 September but there was no clarity beyond that. It was an important source of funding which the Council added to from its own funds. Without it there would be significant pressure on the Council to either end the support or find money from elsewhere to continue it. He said it was difficult to plan without permanent funding in place.

Councillor Vaughan asked for more information on building economic resilience and supporting the local economy. Matthew Sales said he would come back on those questions.

ACTION: Matthew Sales

Councillor Daly thanked officers for their work in this area. She asked if officers had found a way of capturing what had been achieved so the lessons could be applied in other areas. Matthew Sales said the team was keen to evaluate what had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

For the Board to discuss items for inclusion in the work programme.

Councillor Brocklebank-Fowler proposed an item on the level of traffic and parking fines in the borough. Members suggested that should be considered as a potential item for the work programme of the relevant Policy and Accountability Committee, rather than the Board.

RESOLVED

1. The Board noted the draft work programme for 2024.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       1 July 2024

·       9 September 2024

·       25 November 2024

·       5 February 2025

·       6 May 2025

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

• 1 July 2024
• 9 September 2024
• 25 November 2024
• 5 February 2025
• 6 May 2025