Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 4 December 2003.
PRESENT:
Councillors: S.A. Hayes (Chairman); Mrs. P. Banks; I.F.E. Beagley; M.F. Cartwright; P.J. Chegwyn; A.P. Collett; B.D. Dash; A.G. Dowden; R.J. Ellis; W.J. Filer; P.R.C. Hutcheson; M.J. Kendal; Mrs. C.A. Leversha; T. Ludlow; P.A. Pierce; A.W. Rice, TD; M.J. Roberts; J.G.L. Wall; J.K. West, W.H. Wheeler.
Councillors T.K. Thornber, CBE and D.A. Kirk were also in attendance for part of the meeting.
161 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.
162 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matter Arising
IT and The Calendar of Meetings (Minute 151)
Councillor I.F.E. Beagley reported on the Members' Panel visit to the Hart District Council Offices on 13 October 2003 to see their IT diary system in operation. They noted that there was scope to implement further actions to help County Council Members with managing their own Outlook diaries etc and that a further report on this would be made to a future meeting of the Committee.
163 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
Following a written request by Councillor M.J. Roberts for a future item to the Committee about the legality of a Council Tax rebate for Pensioners, the Chairman invited the Chief Executive to update the Committee on recent developments.
It was noted that following further discussions between Hampshire and other County Councils interested in this matter, the legal advice of an eminent Queens Counsellor had been obtained. As a result of this Hampshire and the other County Councils involved had decided not to pursue the matter further.
164 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS
There were no Members' questions.
165 DEPUTATION
Gary Foster and Wendy Ellicock made a deputation to the meeting on behalf of the Hampshire Network of Friends of the Earth. They spoke against Genetically Modified food farming and explained to the Committee the reasons for their views.
166 POLICY OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED GOODS
[Councillors A.P. Collett; A.R. Ludlow; M.J. Roberts and W.H. Wheeler registered a personal prejudicial interest on this item. Councillor Collett, being a Member of Greenpeace, Councillor Roberts a Member of Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, Councillor Ludlow a Member of Friends of the Earth and Councillor Wheeler, a Member of Friends of the Earth and a Director of Southern Coops]. The Chief Executive reminded the Committee that it was for individual Members to determine what might or might not be deemed by the general public as a prejudicial interest within the County Council's Code of Conduct.
The Committee considered the report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services and Director of Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on recent developments concerning the GM debate and the outcome of a recent conference hosted by the County Council. It also referred to two notices of motion to County Council and proposed an updated County Council policy, prior to the matter being considered by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 11 December 2003.
In introducing the report, the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services and Director of Environment reported on several proposed changes to the recommendations proposed by the Leader of the Council. These related to bullet point one of recommendation one and to substitute the new wording "being in line with the latest EU legal standards" and to separating bullet point four of recommendation one into two parts. Also, the Committee noted a proposed further recommendation by the Director of Environment seeking the Government's agreement to consult on any proposed trialling or commercial growing of any GM crops in Hampshire.
During a full discussion, officers were complemented on the way they had handled the item, in particular the consultation with the public via the GM conference in October 2003.
In fully supporting the conclusions of the report and the recommendations as amended by the Leader and Officers, the Committee also felt that there ought to be a reference seeking to keep Hampshire free from GM crops and to including a direct reference to "Article 19" as a means of lobbying Government. Also, they wished to encourage district and unitary authorities in Hampshire to adopt a similar GM policy to the County Council.
Accordingly, it was
RESOLVED:
That the Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that:
(i) The County Council updates its precautionary GM policy to reflect recent changes in EU Law, the findings of the latest Government reports and crop trials and feedback from the County Council's GM Debate as follows:
That the County Council will:
· not provide meals containing detectable genetically modified ingredients, in line with the latest EU legal standards.
· advise Hampshire food businesses on the requirements of the new EU Regulations on GM Food Labelling and enforce the new rules via Trading Standards inspections, traceability checks, sampling and analysis.
· not permit the growing of GM crops on County Council land and, as far as possible, keep Hampshire free from GM crops through the consenting process of Article 19 of EU Directive 2001/18/EC.
· encourage District and Unitary Councils in Hampshire to adopt this or a similar policy.
· carry out research to identify non-GM alternatives to permitted GM ingredients and urge the UK Government to invest in further independent scientific research on the effects of GM.
· request that the Government consult Hampshire County Council on any proposed trialling or commercial growing of any GM crops in the County before any consents are given.
· request the UK Government to keep the UK GM free until it has scientific evidence that there are no significant risks to human health or the environment.
167 BEST VALUE REVIEW OF SUPPORT FOR THE VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR - UPDATE
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 7 in the Minute Book) giving an update on the implementation of the revised improvement programme resulting from the review of support for the voluntary and community sector and subsequent Best Value Inspection considered by this Committee and approved by the Cabinet in July 2003.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee welcome the progress in implementation of the improvement programme for the review of support for the voluntary and community sector.
168 DRAFT COMMUNITY STRATEGY FOR HAMPSHIRE
[Councillor A.R. Ludlow declared a non-pecuniary interest as Chairman of North Hampshire Primary Care Trust]
The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the draft Community Strategy for Hampshire.
RESOLVED:
That the draft community strategy for Hampshire be supported and that the comments of each of the other Policy Review Committees now be sought, prior to an updated version being presented to this Committee next March and before the strategy is considered by the County Council itself on 1 April 2004.
169 THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY FOR FAREHAM
Due to the need of further work on the Action Plan in respect of the draft Community Strategy for Fareham, it was
RESOLVED:
That this item be withdrawn from the meeting.
170 PROCUREMENT INITIATIVES
Pursuant to Minute 160(iii), the Committee received and noted the report of the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on a review of current procurement initiatives which had been approved by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 25 July 2003.
171 SOUTH HAMPSHIRE RAPID TRANSIT - A3 PORTSMOUTH - WATERLOOVILLE - HORNDEAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT PRIORITY CORRIDOR - PROGRESS REPORT AND CURRENT PROJECT APPRAISALS
The Committee received and noted the report of the Director of Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on progress and the future programme for the South Hampshire Rapid Transit A3 Corridor Scheme.
172 DELAYED TRANSFERS OF CARE AND THE RELEASE OF THE £3.5M CONTINGENCY FUNDS
[Councillor A.R. Ludlow declared a non-pecuniary interest as Chairman of North Hampshire Primary Care Trust]
Pursuant to Minute 160(iii), The Committee received and noted the report of the Director of Social Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the Social Services Department's work and resource needs related to delayed transfers of care. Also, they commended the work of staff and the effective partnership with the Health Authorities.
173 ITEMS REQUESTED BY COUNCILLOR M.J. ROBERTS FOR POSSIBLE FUTURE REPORTS
The Committee considered the requests by Councillor M.J. Roberts that reports be requested on:-
(i) Rural Delivery Review - Lord C. Haskins; an evaluation of the report and its
conclusions.
(ii) Revenue Support Grant Settlement 2004/05.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Director of Environment prepare a report for a future meeting on Defra's Rural Strategy once it is published next year, together with a summary of the Rural Delivery Review by Lord C. Haskins.
(ii) That the County Treasurer report to the next meeting of the Committee on the Rate Support Grant Settlement 2004/05 and related matters.
174 COMMITTEE'S TIMETABLE AND FUTURE DECISIONS
The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Executive (Item 14 in the Minute Book) on forthcoming key-decisions which may be made by the Leader and on the Committee's timetable of future items. Members reiterated their earlier requests to receive reports on the Alton Material Recovery Facility and on the Little Bushy Warren Composting Site prior, if possible, prior to the matters being considered by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.
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