Archived decisions

Contact: Stuart Dorward, ext 6110 and Nicola Horsey, ext 5423

1. Summary

1.1. The draft Community Strategy for Hampshire is currently out for consultation with a wide range of partners. The current draft is attached to this report as Appendix A. Ownership of this document lies with the Hampshire Strategic Partnership (HSP), not the County Council. The County Council is a consultee in this process. The views of the Policy Review Committee on the draft document are sought as part of the consultation process.

1. Background

1.1. A draft Community Strategy for Hampshire has been prepared through the Hampshire Strategic Partnership (HSP). The draft strategy has been developed through pulling together information and priorities from:

· all of the partners on the HSP;

· the priorities that have been identified from the work the district Local Strategic Partnerships have done on their community strategies;

· MORI information; and

· Hampshire Cabinet priorities and Corporate Strategy.

1.2. The draft strategy is intended to be a framework within which the key partners will work and from which an action plan will be developed. It is not an amalgamation of existing plans and targets from each of the partners.

1.3. The strategy is aimed at key partners and stakeholders, but also needs to be available to, and accessible by, the public. At present the draft document aims to achieve all this but preliminary feedback indicates the HSP may need to have a separate document for partners and a summary for the public.

2. Structure of the document

2.1. The draft strategy identifies a vision of what the HSP thinks Hampshire should be like in 20 years time. `Hampshire will be a prosperous and attractive county for all, where economic, social and environmental needs are met in the most sustainable way and the quality of life and sense of community of present and future generations is improved'.

2.2. This vision is then broken down into 4 key themes which aim to be cross cutting. They are:

1. Strong and safe communities

2. Health and wellbeing

3. Economic prosperity and lifelong learning

4. Environment, infrastructure and transport

2.3. Each theme has an audit of the issues currently facing Hampshire, an outline of current activities, and the outcomes the HSP would like to see in 10-15 years time. This is supplemented where possible with information from research feedback from the Hampshire community.

2.4. The HSP were keen that individuals in the community could see that they had a part to play. Therefore within each theme there is also a brief section outlining what people can do in their daily lives to contribute to achieving the outcomes. HSP would like to see this section strengthened as a result of the consultation process.

2.5. An important part of the Community Strategy for Hampshire will be its action plan. A key part of the consultation is an invitation to all partners, including Hampshire County Council Members through the PRCs, to identify priorities and suggest appropriate actions for this plan.

3. Principles

3.1. The HSP have a number of clear principles for the Community Strategy:

· It must be supported by clear, tangible, achievable and measurable actions

· There should be no more than 3 or 4 key actions per topic

· The actions should be cross cutting and strategic

· The actions must aim to complement, but not duplicate, the work of the district Local Strategic Partnerships

· The actions must add value and be something that would not happen if the HSP did not exist

· The HSP should help facilitate cross boundary issues and share best practice

· The HSP should play a co-ordinating role for the key issues for all the LSPs in Hampshire and lobby regional and central government to get the best deal for Hampshire

4. Consultation

4.1. The consultation has three main elements:

1. All members of the HSP are being asked to comment on the draft strategy and identify key areas for action. The County Council contributions must be integrated into our planning and budgeting processes for 2004/5.

2. All district Local Strategic Partnerships are being consulted and invited to input and agree shared priorities.

3. A Community Workshop is being commissioned to ensure community engagement.

4.2. CMT has already considered the draft Community Strategy, and their comments on the draft have been incorporated as a result.

4.3. The draft strategy is being taken to PRCs and Departmental Management Team meetings for their comments. These will be fed back to the HSP along with the results of the rest of the consultation and a final draft will be approved by the HSP. The final draft will then be taken through the normal County Council approval process in February 2004.

4.4. A key part of the consultation process is to focus on the action plan and what the HSP is going to do in terms of developing the actions. It is essential therefore that all stakeholders take ownership of the draft Community Strategy in order to achieve the `added value' actions that are needed to make the Community Strategy beneficial for the community of Hampshire.

6. Timescales

7. Recreation and Heritage Services and the Community Strategy

7.1 Recreation and Heritage services have an important role to play in the 4 key themes in the Community Strategy, namely:

· Strong and safe communities

· Health and wellbeing

· Economic prosperity and lifelong learning

· Environment, infrastructure and transport

Whilst the need for more cultural and recreational opportunities is mentioned several times in the `Outcome' boxes (i.e. what local residents have said they would like to see happen), there is no mention of existing cultural and recreational opportunities in the `What is already happening' sections.

7.2 For example, in the section on Health and Wellbeing (p14 - 17) the work of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Sports Partnership and the healthy walking initiative should be mentioned. This particular section also should include mental wellbeing too, and here the extensive provision of libraries, museums, arts centres, events and access to the countryside in Hampshire needs to be highlighted.

7.3 The Committee may wish to look at each of the four themes in turn and discuss how the Recreation and Heritage services have an impact in each area.

7.4 However, arguably the most important part of the Community Strategy is the Action Plan which needs to be short and achievable. The principles for the Action Plan are set out in 4.1. At the moment the Action Plan is sketchy and does not include any Recreation and Heritage services. The Committee may wish to discuss how the Recreation and Heritage services could contribute to the aims of the Strategy

Recommendation

The Committee is invited to comment on the draft Community Strategy for Hampshire, and to suggest appropriate actions as the contribution Recreation and Heritage services can make to the body of the text and to achieving the desired outcomes.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

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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