Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester, on Thursday, 20 January 2005.

PRESENT:

Councillors: M.S. Geddes (Chairman); Mrs S.E. Allbright; Mrs E.M. Byrom; K.G. Chapman; P.J. Chegwyn; Dr. R.J. Ellis; E.F.Gale; P.A.Heath; Jo Kelly; P.K. Mason R.H. Price; A.W.Rice; K.P.J. Searle.

Also in attendance: Councillor J. Waddington, Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage.

191 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or a personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally declare at the time of the debate their interest, and having regards to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter is discussed.

    No such interests were declared.

192 MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2004 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

193 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman announced that four new health walks were launched on 19 January 2005 by Councillor Waddington, the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage, to over 40 people at the Cornerways Medical Centre, Ringwood. The walks form part of a series of walks developed by the Countryside Service in Marchwood and Hythe and Dibden along with Fordingbridge, which will be launched soon and contribute to the County's Healthy Hampshire campaign.

194 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

There were none.

195 DEPUTATIONS

No requests to make deputations were received.

196 SEABRITAIN AND THE VE/VJ 60TH COMMEMORATIONS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the County Council's Recreation and Heritage Department's involvement in events to be held for SeaBritain 2005, a year long celebration of Britain's maritime heritage, and the VE/VJ 60th anniversary commemorations, which would include a national week of remembrance to be held during 3-10 July 2005 and a programme of activities to promote commemoration and remembrance.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage expanded on the report and explained that

    the Tourism section had developed a SeaBritain group to co-ordinate and promote activities and events across Hampshire. £15,000 had been earmarked from next year's events budget to help services with their activities.

    Members were pleased with the plans and in particular those for the VE/VJ commemoration.

    RESOLVED:

    (i) That the involvement in SeaBritain 2005 and the VE/VJ 60th Anniversary commemorations by the Recreation and Heritage Department be supported.

    (ii) That the report be considered by the Executive Member for Economic Development.

197 ARTS OFFICE REVIEW

    The Committee considered the joint report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and the Director of Human Resources (Item 7 in the Minute Book) which considered the Arts Office Review and the suggested re-organisation of the Arts Office.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage introduced Mr Alun Bond of Artservice, the consultant appointed to undertake the Arts Office Review to the Committee. Mr Bond apprised the Members of the main aims and findings of the review.

    Members agreed that a Special Members' Panel should be set up to look in details at the review recommendations and to report back to the committee. After much discussion it was agreed by a majority vote that the Special Members' Panel should be appointed after the May 2005 County Council elections.

    RESOLVED:

    That the proposals set out below be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:

    (i) that the recommendations of the Consultant and the comments of the Arts Office be noted;

    (ii) that the changes in the structure and the management arrangements identified in the report be supported; and

    (iii) that a Special Members' Panel to look in detail at the Review recommendations be set up after the May 2005 County Council elections and to report back to the Policy Review Committee as soon as possible;

198 MUSEUMS SERVICE REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the Museums Service Review, which set out the conclusions of the Review of the Museum Service and the proposed changes.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage introduced the report and explained the key features of the proposed changes. The review had focused mainly on the organisation and activities of the Museum Service, except where the interests of both the Museum and Archive Services coincided. It was noted that in the past funding had concentrated on staff and fixed costs with very little change in other areas of the service. It was proposed to create more flexibility by critically reviewing posts as they became vacant, and to apply savings to a create a development fund to concentrate on high priority areas. One of the aims was to redefine the roles of the curators so that they could concentrate on professional and outreach activities by helping them reduce their administrative duties. Attention was drawn to the significant contribution of £866,500 made by District Councils, without which it was considered would make the service difficult to run, and to funding by other partners. Visitor figures were continuing to rise and details of the admission numbers were circulated at the meeting. Members recognised that difficult decisions would have to be made in the future. They considered the report to be excellent.

    RESOLVED:

    That the conclusions of the Museum Service Review be accepted and the proposed changes endorsed and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

199 REVENUE BUDGET 2005/06

    The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the proposed Revenue budget for 2005/06 and the revised budget for 2004/05. In respect of the Revised Budget Members noted that the potential net overspending of £404,000 against the revised budget of £28.2 million was still unchanged since November 2004. The potential overspend would be offset by deferring to 2005/06 half of the planned £500,000 transfer to capital from the Library and Information Service, which would allow books to be purchased for new and refurbished libraries and by freezing part of the revenue funded capital programme provision of Discovery Centre developments and library refurbishments.

    The main features of the budget were:

    (i) the reinstatement of the £500,000 transferred from the book fund for capital

    (ii) growth pressures of £730,000;

    (iii) efficiency savings of £422,000; and

    (iv) transfer of £347,000 for the County Council's new working arrangements

      Human Resources.

    RESOLVED:

    That the Revenue budget for 2005/06 be supported for submission to the Cabinet and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for consideration.

200 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2005/06 TO 2008/09

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and the County Treasurer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the proposed Capital Programme for 2005/06 to 2008/09. Members were advised that the guideline limit set by the Cabinet for 2005/06 included money ring fenced for the Winchester Cultural Centre. The balance available to support other schemes would be £442,000. The increased level of investment could not be maintained in other years but the Executive Member for Policy and Resources would be requested to approve retention of receipts from the sale of properties at Bridgemary and Elson (£200,000), and the disposal of a property no longer needed for a service tenancy which would yield £400,000, to supplement the 2005/06 programme.

    RESOLVED:

    That the proposals set out below be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:


    (i) that the Capital Programme 2005/06 to 2008/09 be endorsed for submission to

    Cabinet; and

    (ii) that it be a recommendation to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources,

      that:

      (a) capital receipts totalling £200,000 relating to library flats at Elson and

      Bridgemary be added to the Recreation and Heritage Capital

      programme for 2005/06: and

      (b) capital receipts to be identified in respect of a service tenancy estimated

      at £400,000, be added to the Recreation and Heritage capital

      programme for 2005/06.

201 CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LIBRARY SERVICE

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the development of various activities within the Library Service to increase their use and developing audiences.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage advised that it was proposed to relaunch the request service with the aim of encouraging more people to use the library service to obtain different types of books. The scheme had proved popular elsewhere in the country and had generated a significant increase in use. It would soon be possible to search other sub-regional library catalogues and a new international inter-library service in the near future. The introduction of the three-week loan period in 1998 had not proved popular, with a drop in the number of regular monthly visitors. Should surveys to be carried out substantiate this, the four-week loan period would be reintroduced.

    RESOLVED:

    That the proposals set out below be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:

    (i) that the library developments be supported; and

    (iv) that the changes in the reservation fees described in paragraph 4.4 in the report be supported.

202 `WHO'S IN CHARGE MEMBERS' PANEL

The Minutes of the Special Members' Panel held on 2 December 2004 were noted.

203 NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY STANDARDS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 13 in the Minute book) on the outcome of the submission of a Public Library Standards Report to the Department for Culture, Media and Sports and the summarised changes to the Public Library Standards introduced in October 2004.

    RESOLVED:

    That the proposals set out below be supported and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:

    (i) that the assessment of the Public Library Standards Report 2004 and the

    changes to the Public Library Standards introduced in October 2004 be noted;

    and

    (ii) that the County Council will continue to work towards the Public Library

      Standards.