REPORT OF THE

CABINET/LEADER

PART II

HOUSING AND PLANNING IN THE REGIONS

1 On 8 September 2004, as part of a phased response to the recommendations made by Kate Barker in her review of housing supply, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) issued a consultation on proposals to strengthen the link between housing and planning strategies at the regional level. The consultation set out plans to merge the Regional Housing Boards with the Regional Planning Bodies and sought views on proposals for a new independent unit which, it was claimed, would provide all English regions with advice to inform local decisions on housing needs. Whilst the Cabinet supports the proposal for closer integration of housing and planning policies, it is sceptical that the proposed new arrangements will be able to balance regional, sub-regional and local priorities adequately for the following reasons:-

· the consultation document fails to address adequately the proper engagement of front line housing providers and other stakeholders which is critical to the success of housing policy;


· the consultation document fails to recognise the role of elected local authorities as community leaders and in doing so undermines the democratic process and is concerned that powers are increasingly being given by Government to voluntary, unelected regional authorities which do not have democratic accountability or legitimacy;


· the proposals will do nothing to address the imbalance of housing growth inter-regionally throughout the country and the County Council is also concerned at the failure within the document to link into key issues such as quality of life, support for infrastructure investment, and employment generation.

2 In addition the Cabinet, on behalf of the County Council, supports the decision of the Regional Planning Committee of SEERA to reject the notion that a new national independent advice unit on housing would bring greater transparency to the decision making process, or would help to expose and challenge attitudes towards the provision of new housing. Finally, the Cabinet is of the opinion that the timetable set by Government to implement the new arrangements is too ambitious given the committed programme for developing and submitting the South East Plan.

3 The above have been submitted to the ODPM as representing the views of the County Council.

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VALUE FOR MONEY AND EFFICIENCY SAVINGS

1 Value for money may be defined as achieving economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Those in turn may be defined as:

· Economy - minimising the cost of resources acquired or used, having regard to appropriate quality


· Efficiency - maximising the agreed outputs obtained from a given level of input, again having regard to appropriate quality


· Effectiveness - ensuring that the outputs lead to the intended results of the activity.

2 The Audit Commission's strategic plan has a clear commitment to make value for money a more significant priority in its assessment and assurance activities. This was reflected in its recent consultation on the revised framework for Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) for 2005. With this in mind, and having regard also to the 2.5% efficiency savings target built into the Spending Review 2004, and the implication of Gershon's independent review of public sector efficiency, the Cabinet has developed a series of measures designed to ensure that value for money is at the forefront of decision making. These are detailed in nature, but in summary the Cabinet requires:

· value for money considerations to be formally built into procurement decisions and into the annual budget setting process


· Cabinet Members and Executive Members routinely and explicitly to consider value for money considerations in their decision making


· Best Value and other reviews to demonstrate improvements in value for money and competitiveness


· mechanisms to be built into the three year budget cycle in line with the definition of value for money improvements, as set out in paragraph 1.

3 It is understood that the Audit Commission is piloting its new approach to value for money and will publish a consultation paper on the topic soon. The measures put in place, as outlined above, are partly in anticipation of this, and can be refined in the light of the consultation documents when budget guidelines are set in December.

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CONSTRUCTION RELATED PROCUREMENTS

1 The Cabinet has reviewed the costs and benefits of its earlier decision to move away from traditional lowest cost competitive tendering to a more balanced Best Value regime including the evaluation of contractors' bids on criteria other than cost. It is readily apparent from, in particular, key performance indicators that best value procurement with its key theme of seeking strategic partnering alliances, which involve the same partnering team on a series of projects or preferred contractors offered repeat opportunities, has had significant advances over the more traditional approach in terms of the integration of key players and enhanced working relationships. Accordingly, the Cabinet has decided to increase the level of best value procurement from the existing 60% of the capital programme to 70%, with the remaining 30% subject to selective competitive tendering. This will enable the progress and development of a number of key areas over the next two years as highlighted in the model for procurement now approved by Cabinet and set out as Appendix 1. This approach is fully in line with the latest advice from the Local Government Taskforce, set up to deliver the Government's "Rethinking Construction" agenda which strongly advocates a strategic partnering approach with best value selection criteria used, including price, to choose contractors.

2 The Hampshire procurement model will be reviewed by Cabinet in two years' time.

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CORPORATE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PERFORMANCE

1 The principle of sustainability is now being firmly embedded into the management of the County Council, and the Cabinet continues to monitor closely progress against the Sustainable Development Action Plan.

2 In 2003/04 good progress has been achieved with encouraging year-on-year progress in some specific topic areas. Nonetheless the Cabinet feels that there is scope to make greater progress more quickly with more emphasis on cross-cutting opportunities, and the compilation of relevant performance data through refinements to corporate IT systems.

3 The Action Plan 2004/05 now approved by the Cabinet (Appendix 2) will have regard to these views and is underpinned by the Cabinet's strong support for the principle of incorporating sustainable development into the County Council's Corporate Strategy and Performance Plan and the local strategic partnership process.

T.K. THORNBER, CBE

LEADER

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