Contact : Frances Martin, Ext 5122

1. Introduction

1.1 Hampshire County Council is a key partner on the Test Valley Local Strategic Partnership which has prepared ` Your Test Valley- A community plan for the future' (see Appendix A) Hampshire County Council approval is necessary for the strategy to be implemented.

2. Background

2.1 The Local Government Act 2000 (LGA 2000) imposed a statutory duty on principal local authorities to produce Community Strategies with the aim of improving the social economic and environmental well-being of the area. These strategies must be prepared by a range of partners who agree to work together in a Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The LSP for Test Valley is known as the `Test Valley Partnership' and is administered by the Borough Council. Hampshire County Council is represented by the Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration who supports approval of the strategy.

2.2.1 Community Strategy documents are usually submitted to the P&R PRC for consideration, however on this occasion the document has been circulated to the PRC Members by letter for their comments, due to time constraints and the timings of the PRC meeting.

2.2.2 Test Valley Partnership is planning to publish its Community Strategy at the beginning on December after the steering group have agreed the final document following the consultation period. The Community Strategy needs to be taken through Hampshire County Council's approval processes before this date. Any comments from the PRC members will be tabled at this meeting and it is recommended that approval is given subject to the final version being available in December.

3. Your Test Valley - A Community Plan for the Future

3.1 The document sets out areas of activity which have been highlighted as being important to the community through various methods of research and significant consultation events with the wider community of Test Valley.

3.1.2 The strategy sets out the aims, objectives and targets that the partnership are working to under the following priority areas:

A safe community

A clean and attractive community

Meeting transport needs in your area

A community that values education and lifelong learning

A community that encourages healthy lifestyles

A community with a thriving local economy

A place with strong communities

A community that knows how to enjoy itself

3.1.3 Hampshire County Council has allocated £3,700 to the LSP to support the consultation process of the draft Community Strategy, which involved community exhibitions, community meetings, distribution of the draft Community Strategy and meetings with existing groups.

3.1.4 Hampshire County Council as a key partner has had input to the development of the Strategy through involvement of officers and Members. There are several priority areas where Hampshire County Council may be expected to commit to the development of a number of the actions set out in the document, which are listed below for example.

Priority 1- A Safe Community

Providing a range of constructive activities and facilities, which will enable young people to make better use of time.

Providing young people with advice, support and education on alcohol misuse.

Priority 2- A Clean and Attractive Community

Identifying ways of reducing household and business waste

Improving uneven pavements to reduce trips and falls

Preparing for climate change by supporting the national target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2010.

Priority 3- Meeting Transport Needs in your Area

Developing in partnership with Hampshire County Council, existing demand responsive bus services (e.g. Cango in Northern Test Valley)

Encouraging transport schemes to meet all community needs

Encourage the integration of transport services so that users can easily move from different modes of transport ( e.g. bus to train to walk)

Providing information on new and existing transport services in order that they are used and remain economically viable

Priority 4- A Community that values Education and Lifelong Learning

Engaging the non-learner by removing barriers to participation and creating more locally based environments for learning.

Encouraging an increase in child care and other school places.

Working with established lifelong partnerships to promote projects like the Family Learning Weekend and Adult Learner's Week.

Priority 5- A Community that encourages Healthy Lifestyles

Identifying the main mental health issues that affect children and families in order to make recommendations for action to the relevant agencies.

Promoting awareness of issues relating to unwanted teenage pregnancy and sexual health.

Priority 6- A Community with a Thriving Local Economy

Encouraging business activity and employment in the rural area.

Ensuring that all regulatory authorities, including the Borough Council, perform their jobs in a timely fashion in order for local businesses to thrive.

Priority 7- A Place with Strong Local Communities

Sharing good practice between agencies and community groups.

Enable at least 100 new affordable homes to be provided per year by attracting public funding into the Borough and securing land and funding from developers.

Priority 8- A Community that knows how to enjoy itself

Develop bus links, particularly from the rural communities, to the Borough's main leisure facilities.

Increase the use of innovative library and museum resources.

3.1.5 The draft Community Strategy for Test Valley `Your Test Valley' has been circulated internally to the Corporate Community Strategy group for their comments. The main comments about the strategy as a whole are listed below:

A generally impressive document, however it would be improved if the cross cutting elements were highlighted across the themes e.g. cycling to help with health as well as transport etc

The strategy relates the aims to the research and gives clear success measures. However many of the actions are already being implemented by the partners. As a result the document does not clearly demonstrate the added value that the Partnership is aiming for.

The section 'how will we show our progress' element after each priority works well but the weakness is that there are no benchmarks against which success is measured or any timescale for achieving the actions.

Many of the key messages are well made in the opening chapter, e.g. only some of those objectives are readily achievable in the short term. In places however the impression is given that it is a Borough Council rather than a partnership document: for example references to " we and our" are usually in the context of Borough Council plans and activities and most of the contacts appear to be Borough people.

3.1.6 Overall the draft Community Strategy for Test Valley has been well received, however at this stage there are no comments from the other partners of the LSP. It may be that some operational issues arise as a result of the consultation exercise, and if these are of a significant nature future reports will be made to both the Executive Member for Community Development and Regeneration and the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.

Recommendation

That `Your Test Valley- A Community Plan for the Future' be recommended to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources for approval, subject to the comments from the Policy Review Committee and those registered in paragraph 3.1.5 above.

Section 100 D - 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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