Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the LIFELONG LEARNING - BEST VALUE REVIEW PANEL of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at the Castle, Winchester on 8 September 2004

PRESENT:

Councillors: K.G. Chapman (Chairman); Mrs S.E. Allbright; B.D. Dash; R. Kimber

14. 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 debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Councils Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst that matter was discussed.

Councillors Kimber, Dash and Chapman all declared interests; Councillor Kimber as a Governor of Wavell School, Farnborough; Councillor Dash as a Governor of Totton 6^th Form College; and Councillor Chapman as a Governor of Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke.

15. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 26 May 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

16. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUMICATIONS

There were no Chairman's communications.

17. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

18. OUTCOME REPORT - LIFELONG LEARNING BEST VALUE REVIEW

The Panel considered the summary report of the Chief Executive, together with a detailed report by the County Education Officer (item 5 in the Minute Book), setting out the outcomes and service improvement plan emanating from the review.

An additional page (item 5x in the Minute Book) to appendix 5 to the report was circulated at the meeting.

Following a detailed summary of the report the following salient points arose:

(i) There was a consensus that, for completeness, the full Outcome Report and Improvement Plan, together with the accompanying Lifelong Learning Strategy, should go to both the Education and Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committees.

(ii) Members were very supportive of the proposals to establish a `Champion' for lifelong learning and for a senior officer to lead a Corporate Steering Group for Lifelong Learning.

(iii) It was considered that further explanation regarding the `Apprenticeship Scheme and Graduate Programme', referred to in Appendix 2, was needed. If this information was not available in the supporting documents, a description of the scheme would be included in the glossary (appendix 6 to the report).

(iv) Members discussed the importance of Life Long Learning in the global economy; it was suggested that maybe this could be included in the Outcome Report. In conclusion however it was agreed that this issue was implicitly mentioned in the statement of the Economic Development Office (appendix 5 to the report), and that Members could highlight the matter further at the Policy Review Committees meetings.

The Panel thanked all of the officers who had been involved in the Best Value Review for their hard work and for producing a thorough and coherent report on very complex issues. Particular thanks went to John Wilkinson, Sue Sylvester and Suzanne Mitchell.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Outcome Report and Improvement Plan, together with the accompanying Lifelong Learning Strategy and Improvement Plan represents the views of the Lifelong Learning Best Value Review Members Panel;

(ii) That the Outcome Report and Improvement Plan, together with the accompanying Lifelong Learning Strategy and Improvement Plan (after having been `impact assessed') be presented to both the Education and Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committees for their comment;

(iii) That the Cabinet be advised of the outcome of the Best Value review so that they can implement the improvement plans;

(iv) That the Cabinet be advised to nominate a Member to be involved in overseeing the implementation of the Improvement Plans, to be a member of the Corporate Lifelong Learning Steering Group and to act as a `champion' for lifelong learning; and

(v) That a summary of the review is prepared in the standard format for inclusion in the Performance Plan.