Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 16 January 2003.

PRESENT:

    Councillors: S.A. Hayes (Chairman); I.F.E. Beagley; J.V. Bryant; M.F. Cartwright; P.J. Chegwyn; B.D. Dash; C. Davidovitz; A.G. Dowden; R.J. Ellis; J.K. Glen; M.J. Kendal; Mrs. C.A. Leversha; P. Luffman; P.A. Pierce; A.W. Rice, TD; M.J. Roberts; Mrs. M.D. Snaith; J.G.L. Wall; J.K. West, W.H. Wheeler.

Also in attendance: Councillors P.A. Heath and T.K. Thornber, CBE

92 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

93 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2002 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matter Arising:

Vehicular Access Over Registered Common Land Etc (Minute 89)

The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services was asked to prepare a further report to the Committee about the method of monitoring the use of access routes across Commons etc, as referred to in Minute 89 of the 15 December 2002 meeting.

94 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no Chairman's Communications to this meeting.

95 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

Councillor T.K. Thornber, CBE answered a question raised at the meeting by Councillor J.G.L. Wall about possible ways of facilitating the take-up of the Broadband Internet in Hampshire. It was noted that the matter would be brought to the attention of SEEDA and the appropriate County Officers.

96 DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

97 BEST VALUE OPTIONS ON REGULATORY SERVICES

The Committee considered the report of the Best Value Review Team (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the options report of the Regulatory Services Best Value Review.

During a full discussion Members commended the report, together with the five delivery options considered to address the vision for the service. They highlighted various issues including tackling under-age drinking and solvent abuse and felt there needed to be a greater public awareness of the work of trading standards. In noting the costs of this review, the Committee wished to have further information (including the costs of officer time) of this and future best value reviews.

RESOLVED:

    (i) That the Best Value Review Team develops an improvement plan based on:

      · implementing the service improvements that can be achieved within existing resources as identified in option two of the report.

      · refocusing the resources within the wider organisation of Regulatory Services, so that they meet the greatest priorities for improvement identified in option three of the report.

      · developing effective partnerships to explore further improvements, as identified in option four of the report.

    (ii) That the Chief Executive arrange for a report to be made to a future meeting on the overall costs of carrying out the Best Value programme and, for all future Best Value reports to the Committee to include an estimate of the indirect costs of officer time.

98 2003/04 PROVISIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE SETTLEMENT AND BUDGET GUIDELINES

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 7(i) in the Minute Book) on this settlement and budget guidelines.

In introducing the item, the County Treasurer gave a detailed presentation on the main features of the settlement with particular regard to its impact on Hampshire and other County Councils. A copy of the presentation material was circulated at the meeting and appears as Item 7(ii) in the Minute Book.

Councillor T.K. Thornber, CBE outlined the present position concerning the County Council's likely budget and highlighted the strong representations being made to the Government by this and other County Councils in the south-east over their settlements. It was noted that the Local Government Association was also involved in making such representations.

In generally supporting the recommendations in the report which had already been adopted by Cabinet, the Committee felt that the logistical constraints imposed by the Government's revised timetable and approach effectively precluded any meaningful public consultation in the time available over the projected Council tax rise. Also, they noted an amendment made by Cabinet to recommendation 12 involving the deletion of the words `to provide some flexibility in making final budget decisions'.

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the comments made in discussion, the Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee advise the Cabinet that it supports the way forward for the County Council in responding to its grant settlement and budget for 2003/04 in the terms adopted by the Cabinet at its meeting on the 6 January 2003.

99 REVENUE BUDGET 2003/04

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) setting out the proposed Policy and Resources revenue budget for 2003/04 and the revised budget for 2002/03.

During a full discussion a number of individual points on the report were raised by the Committee and a reference was made to possible future changes to the existing Local Government Pension Scheme. It was noted that the Pension Fund Panel was due to consider a consultation paper on the Local Government Pension Scheme later in the year and the Committee asked to consider this report prior to its consideration by the Panel.

RESOLVED:

    (i) That the Executive Member for Policy and Resources be advised to recommend a submission to the Cabinet covering:-

      · the base budget for 2003/04 as set out in Appendices 1 and 4.

      · the proposals for efficiency improvements and for savings of 1% or 1.5%, as set out in Appendix 2.

      · proposals for additional spending on Policy and Resources services benefiting schools and Social Services to be accommodated within the proposed passported Government increases for those services amounting to £550,000.

      · comments from Chief Officers on budget pressures not accommodated within the base budget.

      · the annual review of income and charges as set out in Appendix 3.

      · the summarised trading accounts of business units as set out in Appendix 5.

      · the revised budget for 2002/03 as set out in Appendices 4 and 6.

    (ii) That the Committee be given the opportunity to comment upon the report being prepared for the Pension Fund Panel regarding Government consultation over the Local Government Pension Scheme.

100 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2003/04 TO 2006/07

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 8(ii) in the Minute Book) on a proposed capital programme for 2003/04 to 2006/07 for Policy and Resources within the guidelines set by the Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Policy and Resources be advised to recommend:-

    (i) That the capital programme for 2003/04 to 2006/07, as set out in Appendix 1, be approved for submission to the Cabinet.

    (ii) That the capital programme provision in 2002/03 for New Deal for Schools Conditions Funding be reduced from £12.111m to £11.998m, as a result of the change in funding arrangements for voluntary aided schools.

    (iii) That the provision for the County Council's capital contributions to Sir George Staunton Country Park be transferred to Recreation and Heritage.

    (iv) That the potential PFI proposals for Nursing Care investment and for the redevelopment of sites in Winchester be noted.

101 COMMITTEE'S TIMETABLE OF FUTURE DECISIONS

The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on forthcoming key-decisions which may be made by the Leader and the Committee's timetable of future activity which had been updated since the last meeting.

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