Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday 13 November, 2003

PRESENT:

    Councillors M.S. Geddes (Chairman); Mrs. S.E. Allbright; R.J. Baulk; J.V. Bryant;

Mrs. E.M. Byrom; K.G. Chapman; P.J. Chegwyn; J.E. Coles; C.R.H. Davidovitz; Dr. R.J. Ellis; E.F. Gale; B.T. Gurden; P.A. Pierce; R.H. Price; A.W. Rice, TD.

    Councillors J. Waddington and D.F. Wright were also in attendance.

103 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.

104 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 September, 2003 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman, subject to the amendment of the tenth line of Minute 99 (Capital Programme 2003/04 to 2006/07) to read, ".... whilst other matters covered work on community buildings ...."

Matters arising:-

      (i) East Hampshire Resource Project : Connection to Hampshire Public Services Network (HPSN)

      Further to Minute 101, the Committee was advised that the whole of the ICT set up was to be considered on a countywide basis rather than this Committee considering the ICT needs of bodies in rural areas separately. The Director of Recreation and Heritage agreed to circulate a short report on the matter to all Members of the Committee.

      (ii) Income Generation within the Recreation and Heritage Field

      It was reported that Councillor Jo Kelly would be the Labour representative on the small panel of Members which had been established.

105 THE SOLENT WAY

Councillor Coles advised that efforts were being made in conjunction with New Forest District Council to erect a gate which would prevent vehicles proceeding along the Solent Way on Hardley Lane; it was agreed that the Rights of Way Section should contact Councillor Coles on the matter.

106 COUNTRYSIDE SERVICE REVIEW - A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and the County Personnel and Training Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the reorganisation of the Countryside Service. The report informed the Committee of the key outcomes arising from the review of the service and the impact that this would have on its structure and direction.

The review process had been facilitated by two external consultants, namely Professor Robin Thompson who spoke at the Committee and Angela Gamble. Professor Thompson had made a strategic assessment on the current organisational arrangements and the management structure of the service whilst Angela Gamble had involved Countryside Service staff in the exercise. Professor Thompson's report had highlighted 11 key recommendations such as the establishment of a formal internal coordination mechanism to oversee the countryside Strategy and ensure consistent implementation of its Countryside policies, increasing access to the country, especially for those who find it difficult to gain such access, the strengthening by the service of its promotional capacity and the rationalisation of its holdings by cutting back to a grouping of sites of strategic importance for protection, conservation or access. As a result of the work undertaken by Angela Gamble, a set of guiding principles had been established which would be applicable to all staff and volunteers and the staff themselves had helped develop a positive frame for taking the service forward.

In response to the outcomes of the review, a series of actions were underway, the key ones being the reorganisation of the management structure and the redirecting of resources to respond to needs identified by the consultants, and to strengthen roles in business development, marketing and education work across the service. Urgent action had been taken to fill a number of senior management posts this being crucial in sustaining momentum and taking the service forward at a difficult time. A new access development team had been created to secure a positive, innovative and focused approach to access to the countryside in its wider sense.

In the ensuing discussion Members expressed concern at the possible adverse impact of the review of land holdings and requested a further report on the matter; they stressed that local Members should be fully consulted. They were also concerned about the financial implications of the new management structure and in response were advised that the funding of the structure would be accommodated within the present budget.

RESOLVED:

      (i) That the new direction adopted by the Countryside Service be welcomed.

      (ii) That the changes in structure and management arrangements identified in the report be supported.

      (iii) That the report be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

107 REVIEW OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICE STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on a review of the community support strategy which had recently taken place; it was intended that the document be sent out for consultation to those organisations and interested parties which might be affected by the changes. There are over 100 community associations and 300 village halls in the county which provide facilities and services to support local communities and it is the County Council's strategy in respect of them to maintain the quality of Hampshire's cultural assets and to facilitate new development opportunities to enable local communities access to the services and facilities they need. The importance of the County Council working in partnership with community associations and village hall trusts was stressed in the report and it was felt that the strategy could be enhanced in the future by continuing to provide financial support through both capital and revenue programme and increasing the provision of advice and support through increased staffing. The major change from the previous strategy was the greater emphasis on staff support.

RESOLVED:

      That Members support the following proposal and the proposal be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:- That the document "Expanding and Strengthening our Support to Community Organisations" which contains proposals for a new community support strategy, be consulted upon in preparation for its adoption in April 2004.

108 RECREATION AND HERITAGE BUDGET MONITORING 2003/04

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the position in respect of the Recreation and Heritage budget since September. The report set out the summary cash limits, actual to date and forecast outturn for each service and showed that the overall cash limit for the department had increased by £72,000. It was stressed that the three main areas of pressure on the budget are the transitional costs of the library review, challenging income targets and Milestones and the Museum Service. A small overspend was being predicted and the management of the department would be identifying further action that can be taken to eliminate this potential overspend.

RESOLVED:

      That the position on the 2003/04 budget be noted and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

109 GOSPORT DISCOVERY CENTRE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the progress being made with the Gosport Discovery Centre. The full project appraisal/feasibility study for the scheme would be ready for consideration by the Committee and the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage in January/February, 2004 and it was envisaged that the Discovery Centre would open in March 2005; in order to meet the timetable the existing library would close in February 2004 and a temporary alternative service would be established to cover the period before the Centre opens.

RESOLVED:

That the preparatory work for Gosport Discovery Centre be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

110 DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT "FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE" TURNING VISION INTO ACTION FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on an action plan for 2003- 2006 which had been prepared following the publication by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport of the "Framework for the Future" which set out the Government's 10 year vision for public libraries. The action plan was divided into 4 work packages, namely building capacity to deliver transformation, books, reading and learning, digital citizenship and community and civic values. It was felt that the action plan proposed some sensible ways forward although the level of investment which had been earmarked for the plan was felt to be disappointing.

RESOLVED:

That the Resource Framework for the future Action Plan 2003 - 2006 be supported.

111 PROPOSED ITEMS FOR POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE AND EXECUTIVE MEMBER MEETINGS IN 2004

The Committee received a list of proposed items for the Committee and the Executive Member meetings in 2004 (Item 11 in the Minute Book) and were requested to contact the Chairman and/or the Director of Recreation and Heritage via e-mail if they had further suggestions for areas to be looked at.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

112 SPECIAL MEETING ON PARTNERSHIP FUNDING

RESOLVED:

That a special meeting of the Committee be held in February 2004 to discuss the policy on partnership funding in the Recreation and Heritage Department.


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