Archived decisions
REPORT OF THE
EXECUTIVE MEMBER
RECREATION AND HERITAGE
PART II
PARTNERSHIP FUNDING AND SUPPORT IN RECREATION AND HERITAGE
1. The Recreation and Heritage Services currently provide support to a wide range of organisations and individuals in Hampshire through grants and other indirect means. The total value of this support is approximately £2.3 million per year which in 2003/04 helped 180 organisations and 70 individuals. The current pattern of partnership funding and support originates from the different strands of activity within the Recreation and Heritage Department and has developed over time. Each has its own processes for receiving, assessing and approving grant applications and subsequently administering, monitoring and evaluating grant awards. With the formation of the Department it was felt appropriate to reassess these arrangements in terms of their contribution to County Council, Departmental and service objectives and in the light of the findings of the corporate best value review of support for the voluntary and community sector.
2. Accordingly an internal review was undertaken and the matter was discussed with members of the Policy Review Committee at a seminar in February and then initial proposals for improving the overall management of Recreation and Heritage partnership funding and support arrangements were the subject of a wider consultation with partner organisations and other interested parties; this consultation took place between June and September this year.
3. The consultation established that there is general agreement that the majority of the proposals put forward have benefits for the County Council, the organisations it supports and the people they serve. The Executive Member has approved firm recommendations on changes which will be implemented over the course of the next year. These changes include more formal, longer term agreements in respect of grants and other support for strategic partners, where possible, the seeking of understandings with other major funding providers on joint approaches to the funding of key partners, wider publicity being given to the availability of grant support from the Recreation and Heritage services and greater standardisation in grant administration processes and documentation.
4. This supports Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy.
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THE MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE - FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
1. The mobile library fleet in Hampshire currently consists of 20 vehicles which are all in urgent need of replacement and are becoming more difficult to keep on the road. Although book issues have fallen over the last decade the fleet is still an important part of the Library and Information service.
2. Accordingly a replacement programme for the fleet has been put into operation and the new vehicles will need to be flexible and able to adapt to future demands. They should reflect modern technology and initiatives and provide a pleasant environment for both public and staff and should be able to be operated by one person if circumstances permit.
3. It is envisaged that the replacement programme will be completed by the Spring of 2006 and will entail a reduction of the fleet by one with the current 12 traditional mobile libraries being reduced to 9 in number and the number of housebound vans being increased from 1 to 3. Housebound vans visit residential homes and some customers need to be helped onto the van or those who cannot visit the van are provided with books direct to their rooms.
4. As part of the exercise all routes and stops of the vehicles will be assessed as to viability and the pattern reorganised to reflect current demands and future needs; evenings and weekend services will need to be investigated as a possible means of extending the service to meet changing lifestyles and social inclusion agendas. A pilot scheme is underway in the north of the County with a three hour stop every Sunday which has proved successful and is well attended with a high percentage of use by children.
5. This supports Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy.
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THE OFSTED INSPECTOR'S REPORT ON OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRES
1. The Hampshire Outdoor Service was very pleased to have contributed to a recent OfSTED report into the quality of teaching and learning in outdoor centres across England and Wales and when the inquiry was announced the service immediately put forward Calshot Activities Centre as one of the 15 centres nationwide that would be visited and inspected in order to generate the evidence for the report.
2. The inspector's report stated that "outdoor learning makes an important contribution to students' physical, personal and social development" and the quality of teaching in such centres was found to be good or better in 80% of sessions and very good in 32%; the quality of resources and facilities in outdoor centres was generally good in the majority of centres and very good in many. It was also noted that the quality of outdoor teaching was generally far better when carried out by specialist staff in outdoor centres.
3. In the report none of the centres involved were singled out. However, in an earlier feedback report the inspector who visited Calshot commented on the high quality of equipment, facilities, teaching and management that he had encountered during his inspection.
4. The Executive Member has recognised and welcomed the recent OfSTED report and has reaffirmed the commitment of the Recreation and Heritage Department, in partnership with the Education Department, to the vision of the Hampshire Outdoor Service to provide high quality and safe outdoor learning to young people across Hampshire.
5. This supports Aims 1 and 5 of the Corporate Strategy.
4IR1041104THE COUNTY COUNCIL'S APPROACH TOWARDS THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NEW RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO OPEN ACCESS LAND
1. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (Part I) created new rights of access on foot to areas of land which had been mapped as "open country" or registered common land and which are not subject to existing rights of access or which are not exempt because of the use of the land. December 14th, 2004 has been set as the date for the commencement of these new rights in central Southern England which includes Hampshire. The County Council, as the access authority for the area, has new powers, although significantly not duties, in relation to the implementation and management of the new rights of access.
2. The County Council is advised on matters relating to access to the countryside by the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum which is a statutory body whose members represent landowning and farming interests, recreational user groups and other countryside interests.
3. In drawing up a policy in respect of the new rights of access the County Council asked the Forum for advice on such matters as how detailed and prescriptive the County Council approach should be and also sought their views on how the County Council can best work with landowners to try and ease their concerns and how best to promote responsible use of these new rights.
4. The Executive Member has considered a detailed report on the matter which covered such elements as the extent of the new rights of access in Hampshire, the access management grant scheme (the only source of government funding to access authorities to exercise the new powers relating to the management of access land) the assessment of public benefits, the agreement of standards of access, landowner consultation and public information and education. The intention throughout the report was to keep a high degree of flexibility in the Council's approach towards the management of and the promotion of the responsible use of, these new rights; being too prescriptive at this stage might present difficulties later as it is impossible to know as yet the interest that these new rights will generate and the value they will have to the access network. It is also important for the County Council to retain the ability to respond to the issues raised by landowners and managers and ensure that the rights are implemented in a spirit of cooperation.
5. The Executive Member has endorsed the flexible approach towards the management of the new rights of access as set out in the report and which was also supported by the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum.
6. This supports Aim 2 of the Corporate Strategy.
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