Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday 21 November, 2002

PRESENT:

    Councillors: J.V. Bryant (Chairman); Mrs. S.E. Allbright; Mrs. E.M. Byrom; K.G. Chapman; P.J. Chegwyn; J. Coles; C.R.H. Davidovitz; R.J. Ellis; E.F. Gale; M.S. Geddes; B.T. Gurden; Mrs. K. Heron; Mrs. P.G.E. Holden-Brown; Jo Kelly; Mrs. C.A. Leversha; P.K. Mason; P.A. Pierce; R.H. Price; A.W. Rice TD; K.P.J. Searle; Mrs. M.D. Snaith; D.F. Wright.

48 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations made.

49 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September, 2002 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

50 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

      (i) Charter Mark

      The Charter Mark had been re-awarded to the Record Office; the Leader would be making a presentation at 4.30 p.m. on 2nd December in the reception area at the Record Office to which all members of the Committee were invited.

      (ii) Discovery Newsletter

      Hard copies of the Discovery Newsletter had been distributed to all members of the County Council and would appear three times a year.

51 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

No questions were raised.

52 DEPUTATIONS

No deputations were made.

53 JOINT WORKING WITH THE EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENTS

The Committee received a presentation on the increasing joint working between the newly created Recreation and Heritage Department and other departments in the County Council, mainly education and social services. This was already leading to new collaborations and more innovative ways of working. Reinforcing this joint working demonstrated that the Recreation and Heritage Department is at the heart of that which the County Council is trying to achieve. In future emphasis would be made on the pump-priming of activities, accessing targeted funds and monitoring and evaluating the results.

54 CONSULTATION ON GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES (GATS) PROPOSALS FOR CULTURAL SERVICES

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the formulation of a response to the consultation exercise by the Department of Trade and Industry on the World Trade Organisation General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations. The report dealt with requests for liberalisation of services in European Community countries coming under the heading of recreation, sporting and cultural services in particular libraries, archives, museums and sporting services. Concerns were expressed in the reports that GATS has the potential to open up all aspects of the national economy to foreign competition including public sector services such as libraries and it was felt that such a development would not accord with the County Council's strategy of providing cultural services, decisions in respect of which are taken through established and publicly accountable democratic procedures.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the following points be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:-

        (i) That Hampshire County Council makes a response to the current government consultation on the GATS negotiations to include reference to the sector for recreation, sporting and cultural services.

        (ii) That this response should include a request to exclude the areas of recreation sporting and cultural services from liberalisation as this might take them out of democratic control.

        (iii) That efforts should be made through the Local Government Association and the Assembly of European Regions to establish an international agreement for the protection of diversity in recreation, sporting and cultural services to include the regional dimension.

      (ii) That copies of the report be sent to the Chief Executives of Hampshire District Councils with a request that they make a response to the Department of Trade and Industry on the subject.

55 CHARGING FOR RECREATION AND HERITAGE SERVICES

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on a review of charging policy for Recreation and Heritage services which would assist the Department in achieving the recently approved set of objectives. The report recommended that in future the Executive Member should be authorised to approve the level of charges for statutory functions with all other charges being determined by service managers. Some members of the Committee felt that such a policy framework would entail dimuniation of the powers of elected members and felt that the Committee should have the opportunity to comment on the principle of charges annually. It was suggested that a seminar be held before the end of 2002 at which departmental managers could give a presentation on their charging policy and members could give more detailed consideration to the general policy and underlying principles.

RESOLVED:

That the framework and rationale for deciding the level of charges within Recreation and Heritage as set out in the report be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for his consideration together with more detailed views emanating from the seminar for Committee members to be held on Tuesday, 3rd December, 2002.

56 CHARGING PRINCIPLES AND FEE LEVELS AT THE HAMPSHIRE AND UNITARY AUTHORITY OUTDOOR CENTRES

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the nature of charging and fee levels at centres provided by the outdoor service of the County Council as they apply to Hampshire's young people. It dealt with directly managed centres and those centres which were once part of the County but are now within a unitary authority. Members expressed support for the principles outlined and in particular for the concept of employing highly experienced and qualified staff at both instructional and management levels within the centres notwithstanding the extra costs which would ensue.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That, as an adjunct to the outdoor service strategy, the principles underlying the charging structures for fees within the Hampshire Outdoor Centres, be supported and be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

      (ii) That the costs and background to the funding of the unitary authority centres be noted and the current position be supported and be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

57 ANNUAL LIBRARY PLAN 2002 (DRAFT)

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the annual library plan which is a statutory requirement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It was stressed that the 2002 plan differed little from the 2001 version but did include significant changes covering external and internal influences, updated information on individual library buildings, public library standards, best values reviews and rolling action plans and targets for the period 2002-2005.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the annual library plan 2002 (draft) be supported and be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

58 RENAISSANCE IN THE REGIONS : DEVELOPMENTS IN GOVERNMENT POLICY FOR MUSEUMS IN THE REGIONS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 11 in the Minute Book) which gave an update on the implementation of proposals recommended by Re:source (The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries), to strengthen support for non-national museums in the regions. The report advised that the Government had responded to Re:source and allocated new funding to start the implementation of the new policy but at a disappointingly low level. It was felt that strong efforts should be made to ensure that the South East Region should be included in the first tranche of "pathfinding hubs".

RESOLVED:

That the following recommendations be commended to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:

      (i) That the acceptance by the Government of the principles of "Renaissance in the Regions" be welcomed, tempered with disappointment that insufficient funding has been provided to allow for its comprehensive implementation in all regions.

      (ii) That the County Council continues to support the conclusions in the "Renaissance in the Regions" report and as "hub leader" makes a robust case for the inclusion, because of its strategic importance, of the South East of England in the first tranche of regional hubs.

59 ITEMS FOR 2003

The Committee received a list of proposed items for the Committee and Executive Member during 2003. Members welcomed the list and suggested that Silchester and Basing House be visited as part of the annual Committee tours during 2003.


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