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

This covering report is intended to provide an `at-a-glance' summary for Members and leads into the option report which has been drafted by the core review team

1 Purpose of the service

1.1 All departments contribute to the County Council's Democratic Services. Their fundamental purpose is to support County Councillors in decision making as they strive to achieve the County Council's corporate aims and to encourage and facilitate community access and involvement in the work of the County Council.

1.2 At a formal level, the County Council's Democratic Services operate within the requirements of the Local Government Act 2000 and other requirements imposed by way of subsequent Regulations. The County Council's new constitution has operated since September 2001. The Chief Executive's Democratic Services team play a leading role with support from departments.

1.3 Although the review considered democratic services provided across the County Council, this scope was refined to focus on how these services are seamlessly delivered, rather than to provide a challenge to the current approach. Therefore, the following related issues have `emerged' during the timescale of the review, which would benefit from further consideration:

- the development of the scrutiny function within the revised constitution.

- engagement of residents in County Council affairs.

As the Improvement Plan is developed it will identify how these issues may be taken forward, either in other Best Value reviews or in other appropriate projects.

2 Performance

2.1 Comparison with similar sized County Councils has showed that Democratic Services within Hampshire compare favourably with those of other Councils both in respect of cost and the overall quality and range of services provided. Consultation exercises have shown high levels of satisfaction from both members and officers for the largely centrally based democratic support services, alongside a variety of suggestions for improvement.

2.2 Democratic Services across the County Council have responded flexibly to the changing requirements of recent years, absorbing new requirements within existing resources. Ensuring the continued capacity of the services to adapt to the constantly changing environment is of key importance. New technology may offer some solutions. Other innovative approaches to the current arrangements have also be examined.

3 Outcomes sought

3.1 The attached report identifies service delivery options to deliver the following desired outcomes, which have been clustered under 2 key headings:

Decision Making & Policy:

· Reliable, electronic accessibility of County Council, Cabinet, committee reports and other key documents and information

· Increased local involvement and interest in the work of the County Council from all sections of the community

· Continued provision of support, training, services and facilities for members, enhanced where possible so that members are effective in all their many roles.

Elections:

· Above average turnout for County Council elections

· Easy access to information and voting

· Targeted information for groups who traditionally may not vote

3.2 Democratic Services: of the five options for service delivery identified (see paragraph 9.1 of the attached report) option (e) is the preferred option of the review team because it retains the present well regarded organisational arrangements and expertise, whilst maintaining and developing the capacity of democratic services to respond to the constantly changing external environment.

3.3 Elections: of the three options for service delivery identified (see paragraph 9.2 of the attached report) option (b) is the preferred option of the review team because it allows for the continuation of the well regarded and cost effective partnership arrangements with the districts.

3.4 Service improvements - a number of service improvements were identified in the course of the review (see paragraph 10 of the attached report) that will facilitate the achievement of the service outcomes identified in paragraph 3.1 above. The improvements will be maximised if the preferred options of the review team are implemented. In general, it is anticipated that the cost of these service improvements will be met from within existing resources.

4 Member involvement

4.1 The following members participated in this phase of the review:

· Cllr R J Baulk

· Cllr M F Cartwright

· Cllr S A Hayes

· Cllr A W Rice

· Cllr J G L Wall

5 Review detail

5.1 The direct costs of the review, for activities such as visits to other organisations and local authorities and the costs of surveys, have been minimal (less than £200). These costs have been contained by carrying out a number of exercises `in-house'.

5.2 The total officer time for the review to date is estimated to be 100 days in comparison with the original estimate for the review of 80 officer days. Members have asked that these indirect costs are converted to a financial value. A mid-level salary rate would be £220 per day (allowing for basic on-costs) resulting in total estimated staff costs of £22,000.

Recommendation:

That the Democratic Services Best Value review team develops an improvement plan based on the recommended service delivery options:-

· Option (e) for Democratic Services - maintaining the current organisational arrangements, supporting the County Council, the Hampshire Police Authority and the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority, fine tuned to minimise non-core support as described in paragraph 7.6, developed in departments as outlined in paragraphs 4.4 and 5.13 and also to support the evolution of the scrutiny role within the County Council.

· Option (b) for Elections - maintaining the current organisational arrangements allowing the long term and effective partnership arrangements between the County Council and Hampshire District Councils to continue.

and the service improvements listed in paragraphs 10 of the attached report.

N.B. The list excludes:

1. Published works

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