Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday 13th March, 2003.

PRESENT:

Councillors J.V. Bryant (Chairman); Mrs S.E. Allbright; K.G. Chapman; P.J. Chegwyn;

J.E. Coles; C.R.H Davidovitz; R.J. Ellis; E.F. Gale; M.S. Geddes (Vice-Chairman);

B.T. Gurden; Jo Kelly; Mrs C.A. Leversha; P. K. Mason; P.A. Pierce; A.W. Rice;

K.P.J. Searle; Mrs M.D. Snaith; D.F. Wright

68 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations made.

69 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 January, 2003 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

70 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

      (a) Audit of the Library Service

      Following the audit of the Library Service in October, 2001 there had recently been another audit which had indicated steady progress; the verdict was that it was now a good 2 star service with promising prospects for improvement. The Committee offered their congratulations to the Director of Recreation and Heritage, the Head of Library and Information Services and all the library staff.

      (b) The Hampshire Wood Fayre and the Hampshire Woodland Week

      Members were reminded that the Hampshire Wood Fayre was to be held during 14th and 15th June at the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke and that the Hampshire Woodland week was to be held between 7th and 15th June at various libraries, country parks, museums and outdoor centres.

71 DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT "FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE"

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the long awaited statement on the future of public libraries published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The document set out the government's long-term strategic vision for the role of public libraries and it was interesting to note that the County Council's discovery centre concept was mentioned several times. The key areas of activity, namely promotion of reading, access to digital skills and e-government and measures to tackle social inclusion had been known about in time to influence the shape of the County's library service restructuring proposals. Particular attention was drawn to the involvement of the service in the sure start programme which provides co-ordinated and integrated support to young families and their children in disadvantaged areas and which aims to increase the use of libraries by parents with young children.

RESOLVED:

That the input of the County Council into the "Framework for the Future" document be welcomed and its findings be endorsed.

72 LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the reorganisation of the Library and Information Services. The scheme had been prepared following extensive consultation with the staff of the service and followed the best value report of 2001 which had concluded that the service was good but unlikely to improve without change and innovation. The resultant reorganisation was part of the progress being made to ensure that the service is able to grow and develop the services it provides and builds on existing quality and aims to harness the abilities, commitment and enthusiasm of the staff in a more effective way. The reorganised structure would be based on providing a customer focussed locally based management of the library buildings and mobile libraries together with teams of professional librarians freed from day to day administration and a strong strategic management for the service. Attention was drawn to the proposed links with district councils with the aim of becoming involved in community enhancing projects.

RESOLVED:

That the changes to the Library and Information Services set out in the report be welcomed.

73 LICENSING BILL - IMPLICATIONS FOR LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the licensing bill which was currently before Parliament which was primarily intended to reform the law controlling the sale of alcohol and the licensing of public entertainment. The proposals included the transfer of the responsibility for the licensing of alcohol sales from magistrates courts to local authorities and also, inter alia, changes to the licensing provisions for churches, church halls, village halls, community buildings and public houses. As regards the latter the bill would remove the exemption whereby up to two people can perform in premises licensed for the sale of alcohol without needing a public entertainment licence, whilst the other venues mentioned would have to be licensed although exempted from fees.

Members welcomed the transfer of the responsibility for the licensing of alcohol sales from magistrates courts to local authorities but expressed concern at the licensing proposals which would place a bureaucratic burden on many secretaries of local community facilities.



RESOLVED:

      (a) That the Government's intention of reforming licensing laws in England and Wales and the giving of responsibility for administration to local authorities be noted and welcomed.

      (b) That the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be urged to make the Government and Hampshire Members of Parliament aware that the County Council shares the concerns of artists, performers and communities concerning the drafting of the legislation and guidance and urges that the law on licensing supports and does not inhibit the strong culture of small scale public performances in a wide range of venues.

74 DRAFT CULTURAL STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on a cultural strategy for the administrative county of Hampshire. It had been felt that there was still considerable merit in having such a strategy notwithstanding the fact that the County Council is not required to produce one having been deemed to be an excellent performing local authority. The document stressed the rich inheritance in the County and set out the framework for the future which would enable the inheritance to be built on. It was proposed to launch the document at the New Forest Show in the Summer and it could then be used as a working document.

In discussing the document Members stressed the importance of giving support to young musicians and agreed that full consultation should be undertaken with district councils including the submission of this draft to them for their views.

RESOLVED:

      (a) That the draft cultural strategy be welcomed and its circulation for wider consultation prior to being submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration be supported.

      (b) That congratulations be extended to the author of the report.

4aM1000303