IT service and infrastructure

Our ICT services are provided by an in house team with some external contractual support and maintenance.

Download the North East Lincolnshire Council IT and Digital Strategy (PDF, 42MB)

Cyber security and incidents

We sometimes receive requests for information about our cyber security arrangements and the number and details of any incidents we have experienced. Disclosing information about the arrangements we have in place or the incidents we have experienced would potentially weaken our security position. Providing this information would increase the risk posed to the council’s network and systems by:

providing potential attackers with the opportunity to assess our effectiveness in detecting and responding to such incidents
compromising the security measures we have in place
assisting the targeting of future attacks
prejudicing law enforcement activities

Requests for information about our IT security arrangements, including dedicated budgets, training and associated ICT processes, will be exempt from disclosure by virtue of section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. In applying this exemption we have considered the public interest test, and determine the balance of public interest is to ensure the council’s network and systems and the data they hold including personal information are effectively protected.

Requests for information about individual incidents (including the number, type, impact, if reported etc.) will be refused by virtue of section 31 (3) of the Freedom of Information Act. As the release of this information would provide potential attackers with awareness of which incidents were successful or not detected and would inform future attacks, we will neither confirm nor deny whether we hold any information in relation to attacks, as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Again, in applying this exemption we have considered the public interest test and determine that the balance of public interest is to ensure the council’s network and systems and the data they hold, including personal information, are effectively protected.

ICT spending

Details of payments made by the council are published every month on our Spending data section of our Council spending page. This includes payments made to suppliers for ICT services. We also publish details of contracts awarded on our Contracts and tenders page.

Any procurement enquiries should be directed to our Procurement Team who can be contacted by email at procurement@nelincs.gov.uk.

Depending on value, ICT requirements will be advertised through the regional (Yorkshire and Humber) procurement portal YOR Tender.

North East Lincolnshire Council’s approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

We use artificial intelligence (AI) to help our staff work more efficiently and spend more time on the things that matter most to residents. AI supports our people. It does not replace their professional judgement and it does not make decisions about you. We follow a principles-based approach in line with UK Government guidance on the safe and responsible use of AI in public services.

How we use it

We only use AI tools for council work once they have been assessed and approved. New tools are tested in small, controlled pilots first.

We use AI to help staff with everyday tasks, such as drafting and summarising documents and to support some council services. Where AI is used in a service, it supports the work of our staff. It does not replace them.

People stay in control: Anything AI produces is treated as a draft. A member of staff checks it for accuracy and fairness before it is used and stays responsible for it. Every AI tool we use has a named senior officer who is accountable for it.

What we will not use AI for

AI will not make final decisions about you, your family or the services you receive. A member of staff will always make those decisions.
We will not let council data be used to train AI models.
Staff must not put personal or sensitive information into an AI tool unless that tool and the specific way it is being used, have been approved.

More about our use of AI

Some of our staff, including social workers, may ask whether they can use an AI tool to help write up draft notes from a conversation with you. They will explain what this means and ask for your agreement first. You can say no and it will not affect the service you receive.

Before we approve any AI tool, we check:

how it will use and protect your personal information (a Data Protection Impact Assessment)
whether it could treat some people less fairly than others (a Equality Impact Assessment)
what risks the AI itself could create, and how we will manage them
the security of the application meets our security standards
whether the supplier keeps data secure.

We use AI in line with UK Data Protection law and our existing information security policies.

AI can work better for some groups of people than others. We check every AI tool to make sure it does not create or widen inequality and we keep reviewing this once the tool is in use.

All new uses of AI are reviewed by our Information Security and Assurance Board, which reports to the council’s senior leadership. We keep monitoring them afterwards.

If you have a question about how we use AI, or want to challenge something where AI was involved, contact transparency@nelincs.gov.uk.

Public Service Network – Yorkshire and Humber

A regional procurement was carried out to provide a Call-Off Framework for the delivery of managed IT network infrastructure providing connectivity to the Public Services Network (PSN) and Health Social Care Network (HSCN) services.

Redcentric have been awarded the framework contract for the Yorkshire and Humber PSN (YHPSN). Under the framework Redcentric are providing connectivity services on an initial 5-year term.