Lead Member – Councillor Rob Gittins – Portfolio Holder for Culture and Digital

Report of James Walton – Executive Director of Resources

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet and Council are recommended to adopt the ICT and Digital strategy (Appendix 1) and endorse the core objectives of the digital county.

The Portfolio Holder for Culture and Digital presented the ICT and Digital Strategy which brings the previous strategy up to date and aligns with the objectives of The Shropshire Plan (agreed by Council in May 2022). It also takes the lessons we learnt from the pandemic about how the council can harness digital technology to enable quicker, safer, and more transparent communication with residents and local businesses.

Members raised concerns regarding digital inequality. Various options were discussed which would provide a method of payment; be it cash, a Shropshire card (pre-paid card), debit cards or a smartphone app.

Concerns were expressed with regards to cash payments in car parks no longer being accepted. It was felt that there should be a link with tourism as it was not just residents who used the county’s car parks and therefore could not use a system such as a Shropshire card. In response, the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Regulatory Services understood these concerns and advised that a full business case would be brought to Cabinet before any changes were made. He also advised that there were on-costs when using multiple services to take payments, and that there were also other issues with cash payments, such as the capacity of the parking machines and cash collection.

Members were informed that the Stepping Stones team had previously reported concerns with slow internet speeds; however the system had now been upgraded to provide a faster internet connection.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet and Council are recommended to adopt the ICT and Digital strategy (Appendix 1) and endorse the core objectives of the digital county.