General

133 Information Systems

• Any changes made to agreed procedures by Officers to meet specific service needs should be agreed with the Section 151 Officer.
• Officers must be made aware of their responsibilities under freedom of information legislation.
• Officers must receive relevant financial training as approved by the Section 151 Officer.
• The Council’s ICT strategy must be followed at all times. 
• All purchases of computer hardware/software, excluding consumables, must be requested via the I.T. Services. 
• There must be no conflict concerning Officers conducting private work.
• All passwords must remain confidential.
• A complete management trail, allowing financial transactions to be traced from the accounting records to the original document, and vice versa, must be maintained.
• To incorporate appropriate controls to ensure that, where relevant,

• All input is genuine, complete, accurate, timely and not previously processed
• All processing is carried out in an accurate, complete and timely manner
• Output from the system is complete, accurate and timely

• Appropriate segregation of duties providing for adequate internal controls and to minimise the risk of fraud or other malpractice must be employed.
• Lists of authorised officers, with specimen signatures and delegated limits will be provided to the Section 151 Officer, together with any subsequent variations.
• Contingency arrangements, including back-up procedures, must be maintained for computer systems by the officers responsible for the systems.  Wherever possible, back-up information should be securely retained in a fireproof location, preferably off site or at an alternative location within the building.
• Computer systems where appropriate must be registered in accordance with Data Protection legislation.  Officers must be made aware of their responsibilities under the legislation.
• To comply with the copyright, designs and patents legislation and, in particular, to ensure that
• Only software legally acquired and installed by the Authority is used on its computers
• Staff are aware of legislative provisions
• In developing systems, due regard is given to the issue of intellectual property rights.