Contact : Laura Hoskins/Stephanie Garfield Ext: 5122

1. Summary

1.1. The following decisions are sought:

1) That Councillor Kirk is endorsed as the County Council's representative on each district Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) and the countywide LSP, and to note the backbencher support arrangements and the briefing session to be held for them on
31 October.


2) That approval be given to the establishment of a countywide LSP as a prerequisite for the creation of a countywide Community Strategy, to be chaired by Councillor Kirk.

3) That approval be given to the role of the corporate officer group for

community strategy to support the activity of the portfolio holder for Community Strategy and to support the district LSPs.

4) That consideration be given to the list of organisations suggested as

partners for a countywide LSP and to make recommendations where necessary in particular how to engage with the business sector.


5) That the existing budget for Community Strategy of £65,000 in 2001/02 be included as a budget proposal for 2002/03 as a continuing commitment.


6) That the arrangements for approval of district community strategies as set out in paragraph 4.3 of the report be approved.

2. Other Options considered and rejected - Not applicable

3. Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted - Not applicable

4. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable

5. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable

Approved by: Date:

Councillor T.K.Thornber

Contact : Laura Hoskins/Stephanie Garfield Ext: 5122

1. Summary

1.1 To advise Cabinet on the current state of play on the development of a community strategy in Hampshire and to seek approval for the proposed County wide arrangements and the role of backbenchers and Executive Members in the process.

2. Introduction

2.1 The Local Government Act 2000 places a duty upon `principal local authorities' (county councils, district councils and unitary authorities) to prepare a community strategy for their area. The community strategy must `promote or improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area' as per the power vested in local authorities by the same Act, in partnership with other public, private, voluntary and community agencies and based on community needs. No timescale is imposed for the preparation of these strategies and the Government Guidance emphasises that the process whereby the strategy is achieved is as important as the strategy itself.

3. A Hampshire approach to Community Strategy

3.1 The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association (HIOWLA) meeting in March 2001 agreed a framework for developing community strategies in Hampshire. This focuses on a bottom-up approach whereby strategies and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) are developed at district level and county wide arrangements drawn from these, focusing on strategic issues which cannot be adequately addressed at district level. The actions and plans of the LSPs will be implemented by an executive or steering group appointed or agreed by the wider LSP. The HIOWLA paper recommends the creation of an annual county wide standing conference and this paper, whilst endorsing that approach, also recommends that a county-wide LSP be established.

3.2 A series of member workshops involving County and District Executive Members to agree a joint approach to community strategy development at individual district level has been scheduled and is underway. This meets the requirement of section 32 of the Government Guidance on preparing community strategies whereby `the various tiers [of local government] work out a joint approach to the preparation of community strategies before they involve other partners in the process'. It is intended that this stage of the process should be completed in all the districts by the end of 2001. Chief officers or their nominees have also attended these meetings. Further details on the content of sessions held to date is available from the Chief Executive's Policy Unit, and a summary of progress with each district is appended at `A'. Meetings with the unitary authorities and adjacent authorities will also take place to discuss cross-boundary issues.

4. Creation of District Local Strategic Partnerships - role of Executive Member and Back-benchers

4.1 Following on from the executive member workshops, the district local strategic partnerships (LSPs) are now being established, with the County Council represented by Councillor David Kirk, portfolio holder for Community Strategy, sitting on each executive or steering group. Councillor Kirk will be supported at each district LSP by a backbench councillor nominated to this role by the Leader of the County Council. The nominated backbencher may be required to deputise for the portfolio holder if necessary. A list of backbenchers nominated by the Leader is appended at `B'.

4.2 In light of the wide ranging business of the LSP in improving the economic, social and environmental well being of its area, it will be necessary for Councillor Kirk to link closely to all Members of the Cabinet as agenda issues arise from the District or County LSP. Cabinet is asked to consider how these links might be best operated and to note the potential implications of LSPs on other portfolio holders' areas of responsibility and how this might be properly addressed.

4.3 The district LSPs are responsible for producing and delivering the district community strategies, in which the County Council will be a key partner agency both as a service provider and as a community leader with an equivalent duty to prepare a community strategy for the area. Cabinet is asked to note that Hampshire County Council will be asked to sign up to each District Community Strategy in the same way as all the other partners on the particular district LSP. However it is not proposed that each individual community strategy will be taken to full Council. It is suggested that the Portfolio Holder will sign up to each District strategy after consideration and endorsement by Cabinet.

4.4 Work on creation of LSPs and drafting of strategies is developing at a varying pace across the county and attention now needs to be focused on :

_ ensuring adequate officer support for the portfolio holder at LSP meetings

_ ensuring adequate and appropriate interface with other Cabinet Members ( the `social economic and environmental' brief of community strategy impacts upon other portfolio holders' areas of responsibility)

_ confirming the level of County Council support for district level strategies and LSPs

_ agreeing the arrangements to begin producing and delivering a countywide strategy and for servicing a countywide LSP

5. Officer Support for Portfolio holder at LSP meetings

5.1 At present the Community Strategy Co-ordinator (job share, in the Chief Executive's Policy Unit) is accompanying Councillor Kirk to LSP meetings whilst these are still effectively focusing on initial arrangements. This is a short-term secondment which has no budgetary allocation beyond this financial year and it is recommended that this be included in the base budget as a continuing commitment.

5.2 In light of the scope of the LSPs as described at 4.2 above, the need for wide ranging appropriate involvement of officers from the various service departments of the County Council is crucial. To that end, a corporate community strategy group comprising representatives from all departments and chaired by the Head of Policy Unit has been established. The next meeting of this group on 16 October will draw up its terms of reference to reflect the necessity for wide ranging support for the Community Strategy Portfolio Holder, if Cabinet considers this to be an appropriate role.

6. County Council support for the district LSPs

6.1 Effective support arrangements will also be needed for the administration and efficient running of each LSP. Given the equal statutory responsibility of the district and county councils to produce community strategies, initial member level discussions have, in some cases, suggested that this support should be on a 50/50 basis between the District and County Council at least in the short-term, seeking to achieve contribution from within the wider membership of the LSPs in the medium to longer term.

7. County level arrangements for Community Strategy and LSP

7.1 Following the framework adopted by HIOWLA in March this year (as referred to in 3.1) there will be 11 District Community Strategies and an overarching County Community Strategy, which will have a strategic focus on matters which do not sit appropriately in any one District.

7.2 It has become clear that the Countywide Community Strategy dictates the need for a Countywide LSP. To this end, initial contact at officer level has been undertaken with some of the key countywide agencies - the Health Authorities, Police, Fire, Probation, the Hampshire Association of Parish and Town Councils and part of the voluntary sector at a meeting about the Voluntary Sector Compact. To date all these agencies have agreed that they cannot resource sitting at eleven district LSPs and would expect to sit at a county wide LSP (in the case of some they wish to be involved at both County and District level). One of the sectors remaining is the business sector. Cabinet is asked to consider how best to approach this sector given that there are cross-cutting issues involving the Cabinet members for Community Strategy and Economic Prosperity and this sector may not have the empathy and understanding for Local Authority business seen in other sectors.

7.3 Whilst the HIOWLA paper refers to a county wide standing conference, we are of the increasing view that a county wide LSP is also required, for the following reasons:

_ To fulfil the county's community leadership role in order to promote or improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of Hampshire


_ To be the owner/driver of the county-wide Community Strategy


_ To be responsible for monitoring and reviewing the county Community Strategy


_ To ensure there is a county level partnership which can secure GOSE accreditation for future funding


_ To deal with issues arising from district LSPs which go beyond individual district boundaries


_ To look at the long-term impact on the county of decisions/consultation papers from other agencies


_ To have direct dealings with county-wide/regional agencies who will not be able to resource interface with district LSPs (eg LSC, Health Authorities etc)


_ To provide an initial delivery mechanism for the Hampshire PSA


_ To liaise with other LSPs and agencies beyond county boundaries, where appropriate


_ To ensure the county continues to operate at a strategic and long-term level

7.4 Cabinet are therefore asked to approve the establishing of a countywide LSP with the following potential membership.

7.5 The list is not exhaustive but the types of agencies would be as follows:

Hampshire County Council Probation

Health Authorities Learning and Skills Council

Hampshire Police Hampshire Economic Partnership

Hampshire Fire Community Action Hampshire

Ambulance Service

1/2 representatives from the Standing Conference

Hampshire Association of Town and Parish Councils

SEEDA GOSE

Higher Education Faith Groups

Transport providers/operators/consultative bodies

Youth Council representatives

Community participation ( suggest 1/2 residents associations geographically split and the citizens' panel

Hampshire Council for Voluntary Services ( convener of county wide group)

7.6 The county-wide arrangement differs from the standing conference (HIOWLA paper 3/01) in that it will only comprise strategic partners who have a role in the delivery of the county Community Strategy and whose own operations impact on the Community Strategy countywide.

7.7 To ensure adequate liaison with the district LSPs, it is proposed that one or two representatives from the standing conference be involved in the Hampshire LSP and that there be the option to co-opt other members of district LSPs as appropriate.

7.8 If Cabinet agree, a meeting of countywide partners will be convened by Councillor Kirk.

7.9 Councillor Kirk will also meet with the unitaries to consider Community Strategy cross-boundary issues.

8. Resource Implications for Hampshire County Council

8.1 Community Strategy requires a new approach to working on social, economic and environment issues and to partnership working across Hampshire County Council at Cabinet, backbench and officer level. In summary the human resource issues are:

_ At Cabinet level there is a designated portfolio holder who will sit on each district LSP executive/steering group. Nominated backbenchers will be involved in district LSPs in their capacity as local Members. Arrangements will need to be set up for other portfolio holders to link into the Community Strategy portfolio holder.

_ Officers across departments will be required to support the portfolio holder depending on the issues being considered by individual LSPs. It is proposed that this role be carried out by the corporate group bringing in other relevant officers as and when required.

_ In addition each LSP will need a degree of resourcing from Hampshire County Council as has already been discussed at some Members' workshops. A county-wide LSP might well require equivalent officer support but this would not necessarily be jointly funded by the other partners (unlike at district level). Therefore resourcing of 11 district LSPs plus a county LSP could amount to a minimum of 6.5 FTE posts at a senior enough level to drive the partnerships and negotiate at an appropriate level with leading players from other agencies. It is too early to make firm proposals of the final likely need for resources, but cabinet may wish to note the potential resources issues.

_ So far as existing resources are concerned, the Community Strategy Co-ordinator post (job share) located in the Chief Executive's Policy Unit is a fixed term contract for which no budgetary provision exists beyond this financial year. The current budget for this post - in 2001/02 - and assorted costs of developing the Community Strategy is £65,000. It is recommended that this sum be included as a budget proposal for 2002/03 as a continuing commitment.

9. Briefing Session for Members

9.1 It is proposed to hold a briefing session for back bencher members nominated to LSPs on Wednesday 31 October 1400 -1600, the venue to be confirmed.

10. Conclusion

10.1 This paper sets out the current state of the development of community strategies across Hampshire and the simultaneous establishing of LSPs.

10.2 Cabinet is asked to note or consider

1) The backbencher support arrangements for the Community Strategy Portfolio Holder.


2) The requirement for links between Cabinet Members in light of the scope of LSP business, and how this might operate.


3) The wide ranging support needs of the Portfolio Holder at officer level.


4) The need for officer support for the administration and running of the LSPs.


5) The fact that no financial resources have been earmarked for the purposes of Community Strategy beyond this financial year.


6) How to engage the business sector in this process

Recommendations

1. That Councillor Kirk be endorsed as the County Council's representative on each district LSP and the countywide LSP, and to note the backbencher support arrangements, and the briefing session to be held for them on 31 October.

2. That approval be given to the establishment of a countywide LSP as a prerequisite for the creation of a countywide Community Strategy

3. That approval be given to the role of the corporate group to support the activity of the portfolio holder for Community Strategy and to support district LSPs.

4. That consideration be given to the list of organisations suggested as partners for a countywide LSP and to make recommendations where necessary.

5. That the existing budget for Community Strategy of £65,000 in 2001/02 be included as a budget proposal for 2002/03 as a continuing commitment.

6. That the arrangements for approval of district community strategies as set out in paragraph 4.3 of the report be approved.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

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.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

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

File Location

Letter from Councillor Thornber Chief Executive's Department

1 August 2001

Appendix A

Progress on Community Strategy at District Level ( as at 21/8/01)

1, Basingstoke

A Member workshop was held on 7 March. Several officer level meetings (including CXs) have been held since. BDBC have also held unilateral meetings with their partners who confirmed that they wanted BDBC/HCC to produce terms of reference etc before any LSP meeting is set up. Sectoral events involving all BDBC partners were planned for mid-August to discuss arrangements for the LSP. BDBC Executive has called for these to be postponed pending a Cabinet Away Day for BDBC members on 3 September.

2. Winchester

A Member workshop was held on 17 May. WCC had previously produced a draft strategy following a Planning for Partnership meeting in March involving a range of partners (officer level). The resultant draft strategy was circulated for comment to all partners and was also discussed at the workshop. It was agreed that WCC would revise the draft and produce a new draft for comment. (draft received 21 August)

3. East Hants

A Member workshop was held on 16 May. Subsequently a Community Planning Steering Group meeting was held on 26 July attended by Councillor Kirk and officers from the Policy Unit at which it was agreed to run a one-day event on 27 September for the partners of the LSP with the aim of producing a list of priority actions for the LSP to work on. This will be attended by Councillor Kirk, Community Strategy Co-ordinator and Chief Officers.

4. New Forest

A Member workshop was held on 23 May. Several Community Strategy steering group meetings have been held with Hampshire County Council officer level representation and other agencies. Draft terms of reference and action plan for the New Forest LSP have been issued for consultation ( return date mid-September). The next steering group meeting fixed for 2 October will involve Member representation.

5. Rushmoor

A Member workshop was held on 19 July. It was agreed to set up a joint working group to progress matters. An Officer meeting is scheduled for
26 September.

6. Test Valley

A Member workshop was held on 30 July. Several meetings of the Test Valley Partnership Steering Group have taken place and a draft strategy and terms of reference for the LSP have been produced. A meeting between Councillor Kirk and relevant TVBC member/s to progress issues arising from the workshop (particularly the composition of the partnership) is fixed for 6 September.

7. Havant

A Member workshop is fixed for 6 September. Havant has recently produced a community strategy following consultation with a range of partner agencies over the past year or so. It has not yet set up an LSP to deliver the strategy targets and this is what the workshop will focus on. The Havant strategy will require portfolio-holder endorsement in due course.

8. Fareham

A Member workshop is scheduled for 2 October. No work in Fareham has started on community strategy pending this meeting.

9. Eastleigh

A Member workshop is fixed for 29 November.

10. Hart

An Officer level meeting too place in late July. A Member level workshop is scheduled for 15 October

11. Gosport

An Officer meeting is scheduled for 19 September to discuss arrangements for a members meeting ( they have requested that this take place towards the end of the year).

Appendix B

List of nominations to support Councillor Kirk at LSPs

Councillor R Baulk Rushmoor Borough Council

Councillor P Heath Hart District Council

Councillor Mrs J Kelly Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Councillor Sir JJ Scott East Hampshire District Council

Councillor C Leversha Winchester City Council

Councillor Mrs D Harrison Eastleigh Borough Council

Councillor P Pierce Test Valley Borough Council

Councillor Mrs P Banks New Forest District Council

Councillor Mrs M Snaith Fareham Borough Council

Councillor M Geddes Gosport Borough Council

Councillor Mrs V Steele Havant Borough Council