Formal channels of communication
33. The PICT Forum is a new development that aims
to help improve understanding between PICT and its main clients
within the services of the two Houses. This customer forum is
made up of senior managers from departments and offices across
Parliament, and is intended to coordinate the future development
of thinking about electronic information management in Parliament,
by concentrating on defining a 'vision' for ICT services and developing
a single programme of activity to implement this vision. The House
Services are large corporate-style structures and the services
they need are very different and more 'corporate' in feel from
those services needed by Members and their staff. It would not
necessarily make sense for the latter to be closely involved in
the PICT Forum.
34. There seem, however, to be no formal channels,
other than through occasional meetings with us, by which PICT
makes itself aware of Members' evolving use of ICT and discusses
possible improvements to their existing service. In previous Parliaments,
the Information Committee served as a regular dedicated sounding
board of Members. We replaced the Information Committee in 2005,
but our responsibilities extend across the whole of the House
Administration. The Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances also
has an interest in this area, but it too has responsibilities
which mean that it is less specialised in the provision of Members'
ICT services than the Information Committee was.
35. There is a clear need for a more regular formal
channel of communication between PICT on the one hand and Members
and their staff on the other. We recommend the establishment
of a Members' ICT customer forum to discuss the development of
Members' ICT services. The forum should be made up predominantly
of Members' staff working both at Westminster and in the constituency,
but should be chaired by a Member of this Committee and should
report to us. The Advisory Panel on Members' Allowances may also
wish to nominate a Member to the forum. The forum should meet
at least every two months, but it may also be appropriate for
some of its business to be carried out virtually.
36. Neither we nor a formal customer forum should
be the only sources of feedback to PICT on the services it provides.
Structured processes for gathering feedback from a wide range
of customers are crucial to provide adequate information on the
quality and development of these services. We recommend that
a small number of dedicated PICT staff should be responsible for
communicating with Members and their staff, gathering feedback
on existing services, and understanding how services might be
improved. This should involve a rolling programme of visits
to Members' offices in the constituency as well as at Westminster.
These staff should also attend the Members' ICT customer forum.
37. We and the customer forum would benefit from
being able to consider key statistical information which PICT
should collect on its work with Members. This information
might include the number of 'trouble tickets' raised per week,
the percentage resolved to the customer's satisfaction, and the
mean time to resolve.
Strategy and roadmap
38. The idea of a Members' ICT strategy has existed
for some time. A draft strategy was brought to and endorsed by
the Information Committee in March 2005.[10]
In the light of the creation of PICT, a revised Members' ICT
strategy now needs to be developed in consultation with us and
other relevant bodies, together with a roadmap for delivery. This
roadmap needs to be tested against Members' genuine needs and
expectations, then overlaid with clear deliverables with dates
and milestones. Appropriate service levels should be agreed with
us, widely communicated, and regularly measured. There must be
a process of regular reporting back to us on achievements and
failures.
39. A highly disciplined process will be needed to
keep the roadmap up-to-date, as needs and circumstances change.
The Members' ICT customer forum is likely to have an important
role in identifying these changing needs. It is important that
only genuinely essential changes to the roadmap should be agreed,
with impacts on resources and timescales fully recognised and
budgeted. Changes to the roadmap should be agreed by us; if they
have resource implications they will also have to be considered
by the Finance and Services Committee.
9 Annex pp 42- (Discussions with Chris Montagnon, Richard
Allan, Andrew Hardie) Back
10
Information Committee, Minutes of Proceedings for Session 2004-05,
HC 526 Back
