Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the CABINET of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on Monday, 28 April 2003.
PRESENT:
Councillors: T.K. Thornber, CBE (In the Chair); D.G. Allen; Mrs S.M. Glasspool, DL; P.A. Heath; Felicity Hindson, MBE; D.A. Kirk; J. Waddington; M.J. Woodhall.
Also in attendance: Councillors A.P. Collett and J.K. Glen
193 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.
194 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 March 2003 were confirmed as a correct record.
195 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
There were no communications.
196 2002/03 BUDGET MONITORING
The Cabinet considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 4 in the Minute Book) which set out the current projection of the outturn for 2002/03, prior to work commencing on producing final accounts for that year. During the course of the ensuing discussion, particular attention was directed towards the County Council's insurance arrangements, and the Chief Executive assured Members that the County Council's risk management strategy was intended to align with corporate policy making though all the necessary links would take time to develop and implement. The Cabinet noted that a detailed report on insurance issues would be submitted to the meeting in September. The Cabinet adopted the recommendation contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 1 to these minutes.
197 2003/04 AND LATER YEARS - UPDATE
The Cabinet considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on a number of issues which had affected both the revenue budget and the capital programme since the Council approved the budget for 2003/04, but which did not require significant action at this stage.
Members expressed considerable concern that the County Council's share of additional Education grant from the Government was only £278,000 as compared with many smaller authorities which had received far larger amounts despite in many cases, unlike Hampshire, not increasing their budgets in line with the Government's spending plans on Formula Spending Share (FSS). The extra grant in Hampshire would fail to cover the significant funding gap between the total grant support that the County Council had, and the increase it had to give to its total schools budget. The Cabinet adopted the recommendation contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 2 to these Minutes.
198 PRUDENTIAL CODE FOR CAPITAL FINANCE
The Cabinet considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which summarised the new draft prudential code for capital finance and set out a proposed response to the consultation from CIPFA. In approving the consultation response, the Cabinet expressed concern at the difficulty of making long term forecasts of Council tax when the Government currently only published three year spending plans every two years meaning that every other year councils did not have any information on the Government's proposals for the third year. The Cabinet adopted the recommendation contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 3 to these Minutes.
199 BUDGET CONSULTATION 2004/05
The Cabinet considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on a suggested revised budget consultation process for 2004/05. On a point of clarification, the County Treasurer confirmed that the reference in paragraph 2.9 of the report to the voluntary sector would include the Compact Development Group. The Cabinet adopted the recommendations contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 4 to these Minutes.
200 IT AND E-GOVERNMENT ANNUAL REPORT
The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of It Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on progress to date on the Council's e-Government and IT Plans. The Head of IT Services amplified his report and answered Member questions. At the request of the Cabinet he undertook to provide Members with a diagram showing how the various internal IT systems linked with each other, as part of the documentation material for the forthcoming IT Seminar in May. The Cabinet adopted the recommendation contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 5 to these Minutes.
201 OUTCOME REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BEST VALUE REVIEW
The Cabinet considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the International Relations Best Value Review. In approving the Improvement Plan resulting from the Best Value Review, the Cabinet stressed the crucial importance of maximising the funding opportunities available through the tripartite arrangements (European Commission/National Government/individual region) introduced recently by the European Union, and asked the Chief Executive to coordinate more work on this aspect. It was also agreed that a representative of the Brussels Office should attend the June meeting of Cabinet to present an update on the work of the Office. A copy of the substantive decision sheet is set out as Appendix 6 to these Minutes.
AT THIS JUNCTURE COUNCILLOR T.K. THORNBER, CBE, THE CHAIRMAN, LEFT THE MEETING AND THE VICE-CHAIRMAN, COUNCILLOR M.J. WOODHALL TOOK THE CHAIR
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COUNCILLOR M.J. WOODHALL IN THE CHAIR
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193 NATURAL RESOURCES INITIATIVE BUSINESS PLAN
The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which sought approval to the County Council's Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative Business Plan. During the course of the detailed discussion which ensued, particular attention was drawn to the need to adopt robust measures regarding waste minimization, the current problems resulting from the non-regulation of agricultural waste, and the importance of recycling furniture. The Cabinet adopted the recommendation contained in the report and a copy of the decision sheet is set out as Appendix 7 to these minutes.
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