Contact: Frances Martin, Community Strategy Manager, Ext: 5122

E-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

The draft Community Strategy for Hampshire was sent out for consultation for a 3 month period beginning in November 2003.

The other County Council PRC's were also invited to comment on the draft and these comments, along with the results of the rest of the consultation, should be reported back to this PRC.

This consultation is now finished and the Hampshire Strategic Partnership (HSP) steering group met on the 9^th February to discuss the comments and feedback made and agree a way forward.

PRC is asked to note the results of the consultation and note the revised timescale for the publication of the Community Strategy

The draft Community Strategy supports Aim 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Building Strong and Safe Communities) by working together with local people to build strong and safe communities for everyone and to improve their quality of life.

2. Summary of consultation

The HSP agreed to circulate the draft Community Strategy without any action plans attached in order to give partner organisations and interested parties a chance to help identify what the added value actions of the HSP should be.

The draft Community Strategy underwent consultation with the following:

· HSP members, district LSP's and district councils

· Over 700 organisations across Hampshire

· A community workshop was held with a representative sample of residents across Hampshire

· The HSP held an annual conference in October 2003 with 120 attendees, at which the draft strategy was a focus for discussion

· The Youth Council also considered the draft strategy and provided feedback through a small working party

· All PRC's have considered the draft

80 responses have been received to date from the following:

· 10 from members of the HSP steering group

· 7 district councils and LSP's

· 33 voluntary and community sector

· 6 businesses

· 15 HCC

· 9 other

3. PRC comments

The draft Community Strategy was presented at all PRCs for their comments. In general the draft was fairly well received and the specific comments and changes have been taken into account in the redrafting of the document. The following specific comments were made:

Social Care PRC

- A potential action point which looks at bringing together all of the agencies who provide transport for example hospital visits, in order to achieve a more holistic approach

- To include the promotion of healthy walking

- The document needs strengthening up on the subject of independence of

older people

Environment PRC

- Not all the key issues facing the County have been identified, for example the strategy fails to address the problems and opportunities arising from demographic changes in the population, the impact of lifestyle changes and the challenges facing the countryside

- The PRC welcomed the cross cutting actions and offered 3 actions that the Environment Department could commit itself to:

· A spatial strategy for Hampshire that interprets the vision in terms of the needs of existing and future communities

· An agreed approach to accessibility that all partners can follow when devising plans and policies

· A definition of environmental wellbeing and the highlighting of the contribution it can make towards achieving social and economic wellbeing

4. Key Messages from the Consultation

The overall key messages from the consultation were:

Positives

· The draft community strategy covers the main pressures likely to be placed on Hampshire

· The 4 themes match key priorities for communities and other stakeholders

· Support for a separate executive summary

· Needs targeted objectives for achieving outcomes that are linked to evidence and can be measurable

· Identify shared quality of life indicators that LSP's can use

· Sharing information across partners

· Tackles larger strategic issues

· Like the focus on individual responsibilities

· Good balance of issues - economic; social; environmental

· Logical and coherent

· Succinct and well laid out

· Good summary of issues, structure and role of HSP

Areas for improvement

· Needs to take into account general/national and district priorities

· Must link with Portsmouth and Southampton and show how it fits in with district LSP's and Parish Plans

· A lot of repetition and government jargon

· Concept of sustainability needs to be stressed

· Environmental issues not being given the same attention as economic and social

· Needs to be more balanced in terms of what the HSP will do rather than what the community can do

· Inconsistent statistics

· Too long

· Too patronising

· 10-15 years timescale too long and not stretching enough

· Needs more challenges - recognising real gaps and promoting other partnerships

· Issues and outcomes too local for HSP

· `What you can do to help' points too patronising

· Explain more clearly link between LSPs and HSP and the added value of the HSP

5. Action Planning

As the responses were being compiled during the consultation period, it was clear that the focus of those responses was on the framework and not on identifying actions as we had hoped.

Where actions were listed they were generic headline actions such as affordable housing or transport, not what the HSP should be doing about these issues. Some of the priority areas for action identified include:

· Deprivation including rural areas

· Social inclusion

· Address affordable housing

· Healthy Living

· Coordination of transport including rural

· Accessibility issues

· Map provision for older people

· Reducing inequalities and discrimination

· Working arrangements with district LSPs

· Priority actions: tackling anti-social behaviour; transport infrastructure; affordable housing; accessible and affordable services; waste/recycling and protection of natural resources

6. HSP meeting 9^th February

The HSP steering group met on Monday 9^th February to review the results of the consultation and agree a more detailed action plan.

The main outcomes of the meeting were;

· The steering group welcomed the feedback from the consultation and thought there were some key issues which need to be incorporated in any re-draft of the strategy

· The re-draft of the community strategy shouldn't just fall to the County Council but should also involve a few other key agencies with expertise that can help to `tighten up' some of the statistics, evidence and action. To this end a meeting of a small working group will be established to take the redrafting forward. This is likely to have implications for the previously agreed timetable by delaying publication by approximately a month

· Work was carried out in smaller groups on tightening the action plan and getting rid of some of the proposed actions that were considered to be too `local'. This information is currently being incorporated into a revised action plan.

· The steering group approved that a small Co-ordinating Group, of approximately 6 to 8 people, be set up to help drive the process forward between the bigger steering group meetings. This group would take forward proposals from the HSP steering group but would start by reviewing the structures and membership of the HSP and agreeing protocols for working

7. Conclusions

Overall, the results tell us that the consultation was welcomed, that we are going in the right direction. They also tell us that the strategy reflects well what the County Council wants. There are some textual changes to be made as well as tightening up the action plan and overall the HSP steering group is happy with the way things are progressing.

The HSP steering group want more time to redraft the document and agree the actions within their own organisations before it is published .It is therefore felt to be worth spending longer on it and getting the HSP to do the work they want to before taking it through our approvals process.

We will circulate the revised draft Community Strategy and associated action plan to all members of the P&R PRC before it is submitted to Cabinet on the 26^th April. This will ensure that you have the opportunity to raise any issues in advance of the Cabinet meeting.

The original timetable for approving the Community Strategy was Cabinet approval in March and then full Council on April 1^st. The approach recommended by the HSP steering group means that this is no longer feasible. It is therefore proposed that the revised document is submitted to Cabinet on the 26^th April and then to full Council on the 20^th May.

Recommendation

That PRC notes the responses to the consultation, and notes the revised timescale for taking the Community Strategy for Hampshire through the County Council approval processes.

Background Information

Section 100D - 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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