Case studies

Running a virtual workshop using MS Teams

Ashfield District Council held its Annual Meeting of Council virtually on 23 April. The first testing sessions carried out were to decide which application would best suit a meeting with 35 Elected Members and up to six supporting officers.

Despite these unprecedented times, local authorities still need to deliberate and make decisions about the future of their localities, enable democratic participation from applicants and residents, maintain momentum on major developments in their boundaries while adhering to social distancing and new Government regulations during the COVID-19 emergency.

The Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council team is looking to launch their virtual council meetings through Zoom’s webinar feature.

In response to the COVID-19 emergency Adur and Worthing councils have begun preparing to run council meetings online under new Government regulations to ensure democracy is transparent.

Lancaster and Wyre councils share a Head of ICT and have a vision to share IT services. The current pandemic has highlighted the need to share software and processes between the two authorities.

The Walsall Borough has significant numbers of residents living in fuel poverty (13.7% as at 2017) and in homes which are expensive to heat. The Council were anxious to ensure that as many fuel poor residents as possible qualified for funding.

Norfolk County Council already have processes set up to broadcast Full Council, Cabinet and Scrutiny meetings on YouTube for public viewing.

The team has identified Teams as the suitable portal to deliver online official council meetings. Its versatility allows Cllrs to join meetings either through video or dial in options in a secure setting.

Cyber security managers in local authorities have their hands full trying to ensure their organisation doesn’t become yet another headline-grabbing example of a damaging cyber-attack. It’s an uphill battle and judging from the rapidly growing number of victims, it’s a battle many are not winning. The London Borough of Bexley provides an insight into the cyber security gaps which led them to seek a major change of strategy, and how the team overcame these challenges and significantly raised its level of cyber security.