Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the RECREATION AND HERITAGE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday, 17 November 2005.

PRESENT:

Councillors:

p Beagley, I.

p Boulton, Carol.

p Broadhurst, A.

p Chapman, K. (Chairman)

p Chegwyn, P.

p Ellis Dr R.

p Gale, E.

p Gurden, B.

p Kimber, R.

a Price, R. H.

p Maxwell, J.

p Rice, A. W. (Vice-Chairman)

p Still, Elaine.

P Tucker, Marilyn.

P Wright, D.

Also in attendance: Councillors Mrs Snaith and J West.

36. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    Councillor R H Price, due to magistrate's duties.

37. DECLARATION OF INTEREST

    The Committee was advised that all Members who believed they had a personal or a personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting should declare their personal interest and having regard 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 was discussed. The declaration to be made at the time of the relevant debate.

    No interests were declared.

38. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2005 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

    Matters Arising:

    Minute No. 35 - Proposed Appointments to Hampshire Countryside Access Forum:

    The Chief Executive reported that the Committee's proposal that an additional County Councillor should be appointed to the Countryside Access Forum had been considered by the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage. She had asked for the views of Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils to be sought, as this would involve amending the Constitution of the Joint Forum, which could not be done without the consent of the City Councils. A response from Southampton City Council had been received indicating that they were not in favour of an additional County Councillor being appointed to the Forum. They felt that, if local authority representatives on the Forum were to be increased from 2 to 3, the third member should be from the local authority not currently represented on the Forum. These comments would be reported to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage who would determine whether any further action should be taken.

39. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

    (i) Charter Mark Awards

      The Chairman advised that in respect of the Charter Mark Awards for excellence, six of the Recreation and Heritage Department's services were presently undertaking formal assessment; the Record Office had renewed its accreditation for the third time and the Outdoor Activity Centres and the Countryside Service had successfully gained the Charter Mark Award for the first time. It was intended that the Recreation and Heritage Department be fully accredited by March 2006. The Sports Service was presently undertaking a self-assessment as part of the `Towards an Excellent Service Performance Management Framework' developed by Sport England for County Sports Partnerships.

    (ii) 2005 Public Library Building Awards

      It was reported that in the 2005 Public Library Building Awards run by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in October, the Gosport Discovery Centre was Highly Commended in two categories - Interior Design and The Mary Finch Award for Accessibility. The entries, which totalled 69, had had to demonstrate innovative design, durability, community engagement and accessibility. The Chairman congratulated the Library Service on its achievement and thanked Councillor Elaine Still for attending the Awards on behalf of the County Council.

40. MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

    None were submitted.

41. DEPUTATIONS

    A deputation was received from Mrs R. Conway in respect of Item 9.

42. SPORT STRATEGY UPDATE

    The Committee received a presentation given by the Director of Recreation and Heritage on the Department's Sport Strategy which covered sports development within Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. A County Sports Partnership comprising the County Council, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils and other agencies became operational on 1 April 2005. The vision was for people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to become more active though participation in sport and physical activity leading in turn to stronger partnerships, a healthier population, higher educational attainment and high level performances on the world stage. Currently only 20 percent of Hampshire's adult population were doing enough physical activity for health benefits and the aim was to encourage through the Local Public Service Agreement and the Local Area Agreement another 4.5 percent by 2009. With the help of County Council investment and levered in partnership funding, various promotional campaigns would be organised to induce people to take up more physical activity for their health's sake. Young People were encouraged to become involved in sports through organised events such as the Hampshire Youth Games, Mini Games and Parallel Games, and multi-sports clubs. A Community Coach Programme and volunteer development scheme had been established. Currently 6,579 young people took part in partnership activities an increase of 27 percent on the previous year.

    RESOLVED:

    That the attention of the Hampshire Children Services Policy Review Committee be drawn to the Recreation and Heritage Department's work on its Sport Strategy.

43. CULTURAL PATH FINDER AND GOSPORT DISCOVERY CENTRE

    The Committee received a presentation given by the Director of Recreation and Heritage on Cultural Pathfinder, the joint initiative of the Local Government Association and Department of Culture, Media and Sport to promote cultural initiatives at a local level. Out of 89 possible selections, Hampshire besides12 other local authorities had been chosen to show how culture could contribute to the Shared Priorities, meet community needs and drive forward service improvements, make an impact on cultural activities, be innovative and demonstrate good practice. As part of this initiative, Hampshire would evaluate the performance and impact of the Discovery Centres by ascertaining whether the objectives were being fulfilled, the level of participation and satisfaction, impact and value for money. It was noted that Gosport Discovery Centre had achieved 40 percent growth compared with 2003 figures and of the new members 3,000 were under 17 years of age. The new Centre had held 311 Workshop sessions, 26 performances, 6 launches and 4 public art events since its inception.

44. SCRUTINY PANEL FOR THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE

    The Committee received a deputation by Mrs R. Conway.

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the proposed Terms of Reference and membership for the Library and Information Service Scrutiny Panel.

    After discussion on the proposed Terms of Reference, the Committee agreed that members of the public should have the opportunity to attend and make their views known at future meetings of the Panel. To enable Members to gain wider experience and knowledge of the scrutiny process, the Chairman proposed that the Scrutiny Inquiry be conducted by the Committee as a whole, so that all the Members of the Committee would be involved.

RESOLVED:

    That the Library and Information Service Scrutiny Inquiry be conducted by the Committee as a whole and that the Terms of Reference be:

      (i) to examine the existing use of resources and value for money in the Library and Information Service, paying particular attention to overheads and the cost of books and other materials;

      (ii) to undertake a preliminary evaluation of the benefits of the Discovery Centre programme and its impact on existing library users.

      (iii) to consider and make recommendations to the Policy Review Committee and Executive Member on ways of improving the service;

      (iv) to identify the resource implications of any such recommendations;

      (v) to take into account the views expressed by members of the public.

45. REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE OF MILESTONES MUSEUM

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on progress made on the review of the governance of Milestones Museum and which sought support to produce a business case for consideration by appropriate representatives in April 2006. The report provided an update on the quest for a form of stable and sustainable governance for Milestones and on recent developments following a meeting of its Executive Board in October 2006. It was noted that the Executive Board included elected representatives of the County Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. In 2004 an evaluation had been carried out of the financial and legal implications of the museum becoming a charitable trust with the conclusion that the scale of financial benefits did not warrant a move to trust status at that time. In view of the Government's current proposals for the reform of charity law and other factors, the Board decided to re-consider the matter. A draft project brief was presented to the Board at its meeting in October with an intention to reach a decision by autumn 2006. The Board were advised at its meeting that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council intended to reduce its contribution to the running costs by £65,000 from April 2006. An accelerated timetable was agreed for the new evaluation to be completed by April 2006 with the aim of achieving trust status by September 2006, subject to the business case being acceptable to both authorities.

    Members considered the Milestones Museum to be a special case and wished to ensure that the Museum was not handicapped financially. They expressed support for any efforts which would assist in leading to its greater financial security in the future.

RESOLVED:

    (a) That the Policy Review Committee note the progress on the review of governance for Milestones and that the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage is asked to approve the accelerated timetable for producing a business case for consideration by the appropriate representatives of both Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council by April 2006.

    (b) That the Committee supports the existence of the Executive Board on the terms of reference stated in the Appendix to provide clarity as to the role of the Executive Board in the forthcoming governance review project.

46. RECREATION AND HERITAGE ANNUAL REPORT 2004/05

    The Committee received and noted the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 11 in the Minute Book)) on the Recreation and Heritage Annual Report for 2004/05.

RESOLVED:

    That the Recreation and Heritage Annual Report be noted and submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for her consideration.

47. FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING 2005/06

    The Committee considered the joint report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and County Treasurer (item 12 in the Minute Book) on the Recreation and Heritage Department's financial position in respect of the Recreation and Heritage budget since September and key performance indicators for 2005/06.

    The County Treasurer advised that at the previous meeting, budget pressures of £330,000 had been identified and remedial action had been taken to reduce that amount to £240,000. It was anticipated that with continued management action the year-end position would be better than previously reported.

    Members noted that the report was the first of its kind to include an update on the Department's key performance indicators. The figures indicated a general improvement in performance for service usage levels compared with 2004/05.

RESOLVED:

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

    (a) That the financial position be noted.

(b) That the continuing action taken to address the pressures be endorsed.

(c) That the performance information to be noted.

      (d) That £50,000 of the capital programme is added to the Community

      Buildings Fund for 2005/06.

48. PROPOSED MEMBER VISITS IN SUPPORT OF COMMITTEE'S WORK PROGRAMME

    The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 13 in the Minute book) on proposed Member visits in 2006.

    The Director of Recreation and Heritage advised Members that options were currently being developed concerning the long-term future of the Treadgold building and collections in Portsmouth. It was proposed that a visit take place on 10 March 2006, which would assist Members in consideration of the issues to be reported at a later date. In support of the County Council's corporate programme for briefing Members the 8 June and 20 October were proposed for Members' Tours. A visit was proposed to Silchester Roman Town in July 2006.

RESOLVED:

    That the Policy Review Committee approve the visits to Treadgold Museum in Portsmouth on 10 March 2006 and Silchester Roman Town in July 2006 for the purposes specified in the report.