REPORT OF THE

CABINET/LEADER

PART II

HAMPSHIRE NATURAL RESOURCES INITIATIVE - BUSINESS PLAN

1. There has been substantial support for the concept of the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative (HNRI) and for the principle of developing a multi-sector network that would make a real difference to the use of natural resources in Hampshire. The Initiative has been developed through an 18 month engagement programme with key stakeholders, which focuses on improving performance in dealing with waste by changing the emphasis from waste management to resource management in both the wider community and internally within the County Council. It aims to work across networks and boundaries, to ensure that businesses, charities, community groups and local authorities work together to achieve more sustainable natural resource use.

2. The County Council has two roles to play in this area, namely

(i) to influence, lead and facilitate actions and outcomes with others for the Hampshire community and


(ii) to ensure that its own activities follow sustainable principles


and it is against this background that the Cabinet has approved the County Council Business Plan for the NRI. The Plan contains a vision and goals for a 10 year period, but focuses upon the short term to ensure that the necessary structures, awareness levels and networks are in place, whilst ensuring that the building blocks for the medium term objectives are laid. There are a set of specific objectives which outline the main priorities for NRI, and associated key tasks as follows:-


· Identifying Priorities;


· Maximising the role of commerce and industry in driving forward the more efficient and cost effective use of natural resources;


· Promoting the concept of consumer responsibility by ensuring that people have the opportunity to make informed lifestyle choices;


· Reducing the impact of natural resource consumption on Hampshire's environment;


· Establishing the public sector as an example of best practice;


· Influencing change at EU and UK Government and regional levels;


· Facilitating and enabling external projects that meet NRI objectives;


· Implementing new infrastructure projects to facilitate reducing the impact of resource use;


· Developing and supporting the local HNRI network;


· Developing and maintaining a strategic overview and managing delivery of objectives;


· Research and development to maximise resource management potential.

3. Copies of the Plan are available on the County Council's website or from the Director of Environment.

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BUDGET 2003/04 - BUSINESS PLANS AND PERFORMANCE TARGETS - DOMICILIARY CARE OF OLDER PEOPLE AND REPAIR OF LOCAL ROADS AND FOOTWAYS

1. Members will recall that the 2003/04 budget set aside an additional £10.5m for delayed discharges of older people from hospital, domiciliary care of older people, and for repairs of local roads and footways. These additional resources were allocated on the basis that the Cabinet would approve the business plans and performance targets associated with their use. This requirement is part of the process of linking budgets more closely with performance management and ensuring that proposals for additional spending should indicate measurable improvements in performance anticipated. The Cabinet has now examined in considerable detail, and approved, the business plans and performance targets for domiciliary care of older people and for the repair of local roads and footways; the delay in the introduction of fines for delayed discharges from hospital means that the detailed business plan for this additional budget will be presented at a future date.

2. As regards domiciliary care for older people, the Cabinet has noted that current activity levels are well below the required trajectory to achieve the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target of 18 households receiving intensive care per thousand older people. It is satisfied that the use of the £3.5m as described could improve performance to 10-12 against the target of 18 for the 2003/04 outturn and contribute to longer term service improvements. Likewise, on repairs to local roads and footways, the performance outcomes, as described in the business plan, are regarded as reasonable and representing a logical use of resources in an area which tops the MORI poll in Hampshire in terms of priorities for additional spending on County Council services. The additional £3.5m here will be split in the proportions of £1m on rural unclassified carriageways, £2m on footway special maintenance schemes and £0.5m on footway surface dressing. Members have been able to give their views with regard to scheme priorities through the medium of the twice yearly Highway Management Advisory Panel meetings. A further report on progress will be made in the Autumn.

3. Copies of these business plans are available on the County Council's website or from the Director of Social Services and the Director of Environment respectively.

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IT AND e-GOVERNMENT

1. The Cabinet has approved the IT and E-Government Annual Performance Report setting out the County Council's progress and planned developments. These issues are key to many of the County Council's aims and objectives and represent a major investment.

2. The year 2002 was, to some extent, a turning point. The County Council's IT2000 strategy has been implemented as planned and within budget and a new, in many ways, more ambitious programme is now underway, the main elements of which are:

· delivering the new technologies to the "hard to reach" parts of the County Council - the small and remote sites where the economics and technology are most challenging;


· extending the reach and range of IT services to other public service organisations, breaking down traditional organisational barriers and demonstrating the value of collaboration across boundaries;


· making e-Government a reality for the public and front line services, helping to re-engineer traditional service methods and processes and harnessing new technologies to deliver better services to the public.


Good progress is being made in these areas but much remains to be done. At the same time, critical legacy applications need to be maintained and the transition from older technologies managed. In addition, infrastructure needs to be developed to support the implementation of e-Government plans, the range and reach of new facilities needs to be extended to all parts of the Council and its partners, organisational change programmes need to be supported and responses given to the growing demands of users for new technology.

3. Priority will be given to those areas where the most significant benefits to public service or organisational effectiveness can be achieved. Some desirable developments may, therefore, need to wait to enable the return on investment to be maximised. Corporate commitment and support are crucial to success as in all other areas of the County Council's activities.

4. With particular reference to e-Government, for the past two years the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has required every local authority to produce an Implementing e-Government Statement (IEG) as to how they intend to deliver services electronically by 2005. The County Council's statement was accepted as submitted. It is hoped that the County Council's "excellent" status will lead to a lighter touch next year. In the context of the IEG, the County Council's new ICT strategy is being developed to replace the IT2000 approach. The broad priorities and direction are to:

· show how the e-government programme contributes to the County Council's corporate aims, especially the close links to the community strategy;


· show how the main IT priorities support the e-government programme;


· provide a clear link between technology infrastructure investments which need to be made and the requirements for core business systems for departments and front line services;


· include a plan and resource model for implementation.

5. Every effort is being made to deliver all services electronically by 2005 where possible and all concerned will need to make a consistent and sustained effort in the remaining 2/3 years to achieve the targets they will be setting in their own
e-government/IT plans. The Cabinet has welcomed the progress being made and is confident that this will continue.

6. The full report presented to the Cabinet on 28 April 2003 can be found on the County Council's website, and a hard copy is in the Members' Room.

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OUTCOME REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BEST VALUE REVIEW

1. Although the promotion of international relations is a discretionary activity, the County Council has always regarded it as an important element of its work. All departments within the County Council engage in activities which impact on international relations including involvement in a wide range of projects and partnerships, and each has a nominated European officer. The international work in the Chief Executive's 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 co-ordination for departments' international activities. The Economic Development Office provides support and advice on external funding including European and international funds.

2. The service has worked well to date and achieved much and this has been recognised by the joint team of County Council Members and officers which undertook the Best Value Review of International Relations. Nonetheless the team felt that there was scope for improvement in terms of strategic direction, clarity of objectives, and inter-departmental consistency. Accordingly an Improvement Plan has been prepared which seeks to develop a corporate vision for international relations. The Plan contains a range of actions which address the key themes of developing a vision and strategy, enhancing communication, improving monitoring and evaluation, maximising partnership opportunities and improving internal engagement. The Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee has endorsed the Improvement Plan.

3. The Cabinet has now approved the Plan for implementation and is confident that it will deliver the required enhancements to the current service. Initially the Plan has been developed for implementation from within existing resources but it is proposed later, and as it develops, to examine the opportunities for additional improvements with increased resource input.

T.K. THORNBER, CBE

Leader

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