Contact: Duncan Savage, ext 7479

1 Purpose

1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

· Seek Member approval of the scoping reports for the service review of :

· Support for the Voluntary and Community Sector

· Agree the level of Member involvement with the review, and the mechanisms for achieving it.

2 Background

2.1 This review is part of year 2 of the programme of reviews agreed by Best Value and Performance Sub-Committee on 9 October 2000. The review of Support for the Voluntary and Community is a cross-cutting review which encompasses activities across the whole County Council.

2.2 Support for the Voluntary and Community Sector will subject to an inspection by the Best Value Inspection Service as part of their programme for 2001/02.

2.3 The scoping reports consist of the following elements:

· Project brief - identifies where we want to go, and how we get there

· Project plan - a diagrammatic representation of the key elements of the project and the key dates or milestones

· Service specification - a position statement, where the service is now

2.4 Members should consider the scoping report attached within the wider context of the Best Value review programme, particularly when deciding on an appropriate level of member involvement in each review.

3 Challenging the Scoping Report

3.1 Before approving the scoping report for each service review, the Panel must challenge it to ensure that it:

· Meets national and local requirements

· Will address the concerns of the community and members

· Includes appropriate mechanisms for member involvement

· Will deliver real improvements in service outcomes

3.2 In order to do this members may consider the following:

· The aims and objectives of the service and how closely these are aligned to the corporate and departmental objectives

· The definition of the service

· The priority of the service being reviewed

· The analysis of the market in which the service is operating

· The objectivity of the process outlined in the project brief, particularly the level of external challenge that will be sought

· The appropriateness of, for example, the consultation and comparison mechanisms for the service being reviewed

4 Scoping the Review

4.1 Members will also need to consider the scope of the review, for example, by asking:

· Is it clear which services are included within the review and which are not?

· Have the boundaries with other reviews been established, as well as crosscutting issues with other Hampshire County Council reviews and those of other best value authorities in Hampshire?

· Has the significance of the review been established as well as the resource implications? Services which are performing poorly, which are expensive and unpopular with the public will need to be reviewed in greater depth than those with more positive indicators

5 Information provided to support the report

5.1 Some background information on the services under review is provided within the report and is intended to help members form questions about the process and its focus. Member may identify gaps in the information and ask for additional information to be provided.

6 Recommendations

6.1 It is recommended that:

· The scoping report for the review of Support for the Voluntary and Community Sector is approved

· Arrangements for member involvement in the review are agreed.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. the list excludes:

· Published works

· Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information, as defined in the Act.

Documents upon which the scoping report of the Best Value review of Support for the Voluntary and Community Sector is based are held on file by the Chief Executive.