Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at the Hampshire Record Office and The Castle, Winchester, on Thursday, 26 May 2005.

PRESENT:

Councillors: K. G. Chapman (Chairman); I.F.E. Beagley; Mrs C. Boulton; A. Broadhurst; P.J. Chegwyn; Dr. R.J. Ellis; E.F. Gale; R.J. Kimber; A.W. Rice; Elaine Still; Mrs M. Tucker; D. Wright

Also in attendance: Councillor Mrs M. Snaith, Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage and Councillor J. West, Chairman of the County Council.

1. 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.

2. `THE LAST FOUR YEARS - THE NEXT FOUR YEARS'

    The Committee received a comprehensive presentation by the Director of Recreation and Heritage on the guiding principles of the Recreation and Heritage Department and the scope of its work.

    Members congratulated the Director on his excellent presentation and requested that it be shown to schools around the county.

    (After receiving the presentation at The Record Office, the meeting adjourned and reconvened in the Wellington Room.)

3. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 17 March 2005 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

4. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman announced that a Members' Seminar would be held on Tuesday, 7 June 2005 updating Members on a number of current issues, and in particular the importance of the Corporate Performance Assessment (2) - the Culture Bloc. A Members' Tour had been arranged to look at sites in the northern part of the County on 12 July 2005. It was also announced that Hampshire Choirs would be performing at the Royal Albert Hall on 9 November 2005.

5. MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

There were none.

6. DEPUTATIONS

No requests to make deputations were received.

7. REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE OF THE RED HOUSE MUSEUM

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the conclusions and recommendations arising from the review of governance of the Red House Museum.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage reminded Members that Christchurch, prior to boundary changes, had once been part of Hampshire and the Red House was one of the earliest museums set up by Hampshire County Council. The County Council was the sole trustee of the Museum Trust. The financial contribution to the management of the museum was split equally between three partners, Hampshire County Council, Dorset County Council and Christchurch Borough Council. Members noted that Hampshire owned a very large part of the museum's natural history collection, which would make it very difficult to separate.

    Members recognised that, although the collection was based in Dorset, Hampshire's contribution went towards maintaining and supporting the collection, it did not concern the museum building. The Chairman requested a Members' visit to the museum.

    RESOLVED:

    That the following recommendations be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for her consideration:

    (i) That the present arrangements for the management of the Red House Museum be continued and that Hampshire County Council continue as sole Trustee of the Red House Museum Charitable Trust;

    (ii) That the Director of Recreation and Heritage be authorised to open discussions with the other parties as to the successor arrangements for the joint management of the Museum and that a further report be provided in due course.

    (iii) That the following amendments be adopted as common practice by the existing Joint Management Committee and be written into a future revision of the formal Constitution:

      (a) that the Chairmanship of the Joint Management Committee be rotated annually between the three partners (Hampshire County Council, Dorset County Council and Christchurch Borough Council); and

      (b) that a power to co-opt non voting representatives for a specific period of time from other local interested organisations be written into the Constitution.

8. ACCESS TO COUNTRYSIDE SERVICE SITES FOR HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL CARED FOR CHILDREN

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the piloting of free access arrangements for Hampshire County Council Carers and children's homes to Countryside Service sites, the results of the project and other initiatives.

    Members confirmed their continuing support for the free access arrangements and welcomed the new initiatives and efforts being made.

    RESOLVED:

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

    (i) That the Countryside Service continues to give free access to Hampshire County Council foster carers and children's residential care homes ;

    (ii) That access arrangements be changed to make them more cost-effective for

    everyone;

    (iii) That consideration be given to the production of an informative Countryside Service leaflet for such users;

    (iv) That the offer be kept under review through liaison with Social Services staff and the Hampshire Foster Carer's Network; and

      (v) That continuation of the wider Departmental efforts referred to in this report be welcomed and endorsed in support of Hampshire County Council corporate objectives.

9. ARTS REVIEW SCRUTINY PANEL


The Committee considered the arrangements for the Committee to look in detail at the Arts Review recommendations (Item 9 in the Minute Book), as agreed at the Policy Review Committee meeting held on 20 January 2005.

    RESOLVED:

    That Councillors: KG. Chapman, P. J. Chegwyn; R. J. Ellis; B.T. Gurden; R.J. Kimber;

    A.W. Rice; and D. Wright be appointed to a Special Members' Panel to look in detail at the Arts Review recommendations and to report back to the Policy Review Committee.