Contact: Sue Sylvester, Policy and Performance Officer, ext 7493

1 Purpose:

1.1 All departments within the council engage in activities which impact on international relations. These are organised in a number of different ways. The international work in the Policy Unit comprises support for members nominated to represent Hampshire in international political networks, managing corporate partnerships, managing the Brussels office and providing advice, support and coordination for departments' international activities. Departments all have nominated European officers and departments are involved in a wide range of projects and partnerships. The Economic Development Office provides support and advice on external funding including European and international funds.

1.2 The Brussels office is a partnership with the Isle of Wight Unitary Authority and West Sussex County Council and is located in South East England House along with other representative offices for the South East. The office is managed by Hampshire and the staff are employed by the County Council.

1.3 International Relations are discretionary activities and are not constrained by legislation.

1.4 The attached report (paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2) outlines the vision for an excellent international relations function and the issues to be addressed in the course of the review.

1.5 At its meeting on 5 December 2002, the Policy & Resources Policy Review Committee recommended that the Best Value Review Team developed an improvement plan based on Option 2 (develop current service in house) and Option 3 (increase the scale of resources with a dedicated team).

2 Best Value

2.1 The service has worked well to date and has achieved much in relation to influencing policy and generating funding, although work has been carried out separately within departments. Better value for money will be achieved by the adoption of the improvement plan to better coordinate services.

3 Outcomes sought

3.1 The following service outcomes are anticipated to flow or result or emerge? from the improvement plan:

· Corporate ownership directing future activities

· Shared understanding by staff and the wider community of Hampshire of why and how international relations are undertaken by the County Council

· Robust methodology for assessing the value of activities

· Effective corporate and departmental international partnerships that help deliver corporate and service priorities

· Well coordinated activities involving appropriate Members and officers with clear and regular communication.

3.2 It is anticipated that Option 2 will deliver the majority of the desired outcomes within existing resources and within existing levels of staffing. Once these changes have been implemented, consideration can be given to where and what additional resources could be applied to achieve further improvements (Option 3).

4 The review details:

4.1 It was originally estimated that the direct costs of this review would be £4,000. The actual costs associated with the review are £2031.

4.2 The review has taken 79 officer days to complete, compared with the original estimate of 70 officer days. Members have asked that these indirect costs are converted to a financial value. Detailed time recording has not been undertaken to enable accurate figures to be calculated. However, a mid-level salary rate would be £220 per day (allowing for both salary and on-costs) resulting in total estimated staff costs of £17,380.

5 Members

5.1 The following members participated in this review:

· Cllr M Cartwright

· Cllr A Collett

· Cllr P Pierce

· Cllr C Leversha

· Cllr M Roberts

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

1. The attached outcome report and improvement plan be agreed as representing the views of this Committee.

2. Cabinet is advised of the outcome of this Best Value review and is requested to implement the improvement plan

3. Arrangements are made for the Committee to receive annual progress reports until the improvement plan is completed and that the Committee nominates member(s) who will be involved in monitoring the implementation of the improvement plan and ensuring that option 3 is implemented in due course.

4. A summary of the review is prepared in the standard format for inclusion in the Best Value Performance Plan.

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.

NB The list excludes:

1. Published works.

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

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