Contact: Duncan Savage, ext 7479

1 Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

· That the outline approach to the production of the Best Value Performance Plan 2002/03 is approved

· That the process for the approval of the Best Value Performance Plan 2002/03 is approved

2 Reason

2.1 To ensure that the County Council meets its obligations under the Local Government Act 1999.

3 Other options considered and rejected

3.1 To be completed

4 Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted - Not applicable

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable

6 Reason for matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable

Approved by: Date:

7 Background

7.1 Under the Local Government Act 1999 the County Council has a duty to publish its Best Value Performance Plan no later than 31 March each year.

7.2 The Best Value Performance Plan is part of the County Council's Strategic and Policy Framework as defined in the Constitution and must be approved by the full Council.

7.3 Previously, the Best Value and Performance Sub Committee has taken responsibility for approving the approach and content of the Best Value Performance Plan.

8 Approach

8.1 It is our intention to build on the successful approach to the production of the Best Value Performance Plan which has been developed over the past two years. This involves adopting a twin track approach to the design / production/ distribution and the content of the plan and working on both aspects in parallel.

8.2 A core project team has been established to drive and co-ordinate work on the plan using a project management approach to ensure that all contributors are aware of their roles, including the timescales for their contributions.

8.3 This years plan will need to change to reflect the following:

· Recommendations made by the District Auditor in last year's Best Value audit

· Any revised guidance from the DTLR and Audit Commission

· A review of best practice in the way other authorities have produced their plans

· Discussions with other Best Value authorities in Hampshire which aim in the medium term to promote greater co-operation in the way we produce and distribute our plans

· Developments in our corporate priorities and performance targets, particularly in relation to the PSA

· Feedback received from the public on last years plan

8.4 Any such changes will need to be considered within the context of the existing budget provision for the plan.

8.5 The content of the plan will include for the first time the results of Best Value Inspections and analysis of our progress in delivering the improvements we promised to the community as a result of Best Value reviews carried out during 2000/01.

9 Approval

9.1 The changes in political structures resulting from the modernisation process mean that we will need to follow a different approach to approval and member involvement in the plan this year. As the plan is listed within the Strategic and Policy Framework of the Constitution it must be approved by full Council, probably at its meeting on 21 February 2002. There are however a number of options for member involvement in the development of the plan prior to its final approval and these are outlined below:

· Option One - Cabinet involvement only - the Cabinet could take responsibility for approving the development of the plan. This would be the least bureaucratic solution, but would not promote ownership of this key plan on either a cross-party basis or amongst backbench members

· Option Two - Cabinet with limited PRC involvement - the Cabinet could lead the development of a full draft of the plan and refer this to the P&R PRC for comment. This would involve the PRC, but only in a limited fashion and may still fail to promote broader ownership of the plan

· Option Three - Cabinet with extensive PRC involvement - the Cabinet could approve the broad principles for the plan (as laid out in the approach above) and delegate involvement in the development of the plan to the PRCs. This would promote wider ownership but is likely to be complicated given the fixed dates of PRC meetings and the timescales involved with the production of the plan.

· Option Four - Cabinet with Working Group - the weaknesses in options 1-3 could be addressed by following the precedent set in previous years of nominating a small cross-party group of members to work with the officers project team on an informal basis as required. Cabinet would approve the development of the plan, the composition of the working group and the final version prior to approval by full council.

9.2 Whatever option is adopted by Executive Members there may need to be some degree of flexibility in the setting of meeting dates given the tight timescales which are inherent in the production of this plan.

10 Timescales

10.1 An outline timetable for the production of the plan is attached as Appendix 1. The timetable and a more detailed project plan are still being developed, so the outline provided is based on the following assumptions:

· The summary version of the plan will be distributed with the Spring edition of Hampshire Now

· The full, summary and web versions of the plan follow the same production timetable to ensure that all can be published and made available by Thursday 28 March 2002 (this is the last working day prior to the statutory deadline of 31 March 2002)

· Outcomes and improvement plans from year 2 Best Value reviews and progress reports on the implementation of improvement plans from year 1 reviews have been approved by the end of January 2002 (this will be a challenging target to meet and draft contributions to the plan may need to be used, in advance of their final approval)

11 Recommendation

11.1 It is recommended that:

· the outline approach to the production of the Best Value Performance Plan 2002/03 is approved

· the process for the approval of and member involvement in the Best Value Performance Plan 2002/03 is approved, using Option 4 with the initial draft of the BVPP approved and with final agreement to the content being a recommendation from the Cabinet to Council

Section 100D - 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.

NONE

N.B. The list excludes:

1. Published works

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

Appendix 1

Best Value Performance Plan 2002/03

Outline timetable