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, 23 March 2006.

PRESENT:

Councillors:

p K. Chapman (Chairman)

Also in attendance: Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage, Councillor Mrs. M.D. Snaith and Councillors M.G. Cooper and P.R. Edgar

61 APOLOGIES

None were received.

62 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 such interests were declared.

63 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2006 were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

64 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman reported that he had met with Surrey County Council concerning Surrey's future involvement with Basingstoke Canal. He was advised that they had deferred their decision for one more year, but would be reviewing their options at that time. A meeting with officers had been arranged for 19 April 2006.

65 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

None were submitted.

66 DEPUTATIONS

There were none.

67 BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Committee received a presentation by Mr. Michael Henson, Managing Director of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, on the orchestra's work in Hampshire and its future development.

Mr. Henson explained that the BSO was an orchestra of national and international stature, having performed not only at home but also abroad. It based its activities mainly within the core areas of Hampshire, Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset. The Orchestra had won 9 Grammy nominations in three years and conducted 9 concerts on BBC Radio 3. On average it played to over 5,000 people each week and worked with 1,000 children every month. The BSO concerts held in Hampshire during 2005/06 attracted audiences in excess of 42,000 people. The BSO ensembles played at various smaller venues such as museums, music and arts centres, community centres, village halls, schools and churches. The BSO had a long established relationship with the Hampshire Music Service and conducted children's workshops, with the work relating to the national curriculum and education objectives. The number of Hampshire school children taking part in BSO workshops during the year from April 2005 to March 2006 was 807 at Special Schools, 3,857 attending a normal mini BSO, 2430 at other workshops and 6,189 children attending a free mini BSO. Funding for the Orchestra came from Arts Council England, local authorities in the region, the box office, sponsorship, trusts and individuals. For every £1 of grant money, the BSO managed to raise £2.60 in sponsorship and £2.20 at the box office. Excluding educational activity, Hampshire contributed £172,817 of the £247,678 grants made by the other local authorities, including Portsmouth and Southampton. The BSO looked forward to strengthening and prioritising its relationships with Hampshire and the other major local authorities in the region in the future.

In response to Members' questions, the Managing Director explained that although the BSO had a policy of charging just £1 entry fee per child wherever possible it was dependent on the access policy of each individual venue and therefore that fee might not always be possible. He advised that the BSO promoted their own concerts and covered the risk of possible losses for each event themselves. It was noted that whilst many of the events were held in Southampton and Portsmouth, fifty per cent of those who attended were Hampshire residents.

Members thanked the BSO team for their clear and informative presentation.

68 PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD FOR CULTURE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the proposal to establish a cultural services Partnership Board with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Arts Council England, South East.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the current initiative to establish a cultural services Partnership Board with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Arts Council England, South East be endorsed and that a further report be made in September 2007.


(b) That the report be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for her consideration.

69 ARTS STRATEGY

The Committee received a presentation and report from the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the draft Arts Strategy for 2006-2011.

Members were advised that following consideration of the report on the Arts Service Review in January 2005, with the recommendation of the PRC, the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage had agreed that a new Arts Strategy should be developed for the County. A sub-panel had been set up to act as a consultative body to review the service and develop a new strategy. The Strategy sought to enable `Hampshire to be Cultural County of the South to sensitively exploit Hampshire's rich heritage and provide its people with life enhancing opportunities to feed their spirit and imagination'. Account had been taken of the County Council's Corporate and Cultural strategies which included the Government's Green and White papers on Youth and Older people, Local Area Agreements and the policies of Arts Council England and the South East England Cultural Consortium and Regional Economic Strategy. Consultation had been undertaken internally with all directorates, externally with all the districts, including the unitary authorities, the Arts Council England and all key partners and partner investors.

The Strategy recognised that arts organisations based in Hampshire provided employment for many people. Creative people require specialist and general suppliers and the organisations to be found in theatres, galleries, colleges, workshops arts centres and village halls which help them to contribute to the evening, visitor and tourist economies across the county. Other aspects which the Strategy took into account were the development of creativity and learning to enable people to contribute to their communities; to apply their knowledge in context to one another; to have the opportunity to be a part of an arts event which creates a sense of well being and a feeling of social inclusion: all important factors which contribute to people's general health and well being.

Members congratulated Janet Mein, Head of Arts Service, Nicola Horsey, Head of Arts, Marketing and Tourism and their support staff for their hard work in producing the draft Arts Strategy document.

RESOLVED:

That the draft Arts Strategy be endorsed and the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be requested to approve the draft Arts Strategy 2006-2011.

70 FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING 2005/06

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and County Treasurer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the budget and performance information for the financial year 2005/06 and on the financial prospects for 2006/07.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be requested to approve the following:

(a) The report be noted.


(b) The performance information be noted.


(c) A capital programme allocation of £37,000 be made to Community Buildings and Community Halls in 2005/06.


(d) The proposed allocation of the 2006/07 capital programme, as detailed in paragraph 4.2 of the report, be endorsed.


(e) £35,000 of the Disability Discrimination Act resources be allocated to the installation of a lift at the Aldershot Library.

71 THE USE OF VOLUNTEERS WITHIN RECREATION AND HERITAGE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 11 in the Minute Book) which quantified the level and nature of the use of volunteers within Recreation and Heritage and explored ways of improving the experience of volunteers and extending the practice.

Members recognised the value of volunteers to the County but raised concerns about public liability insurance and health and safety issues. However it was noted that volunteers would be covered under the County Council's self insurance arrangements. Members were advised that the Access Forum had several concerns about the extent of the insurance cover and would be writing to the County Council to seek clarification. Officers undertook to investigate the matter further.

RESOLVED:

That the following actions be supported:

(a) Better use be made of Volunteer Bureaux and community service volunteers in advertising opportunities for volunteering.


(b) Volunteers to have a place on the Hampshire County Council website/Intranet.


(c) Services to work together.


(d) All services to co-operate with Libraries in the production of guidelines for the management of volunteers.


(e) All services to produce guidance packs for volunteers tailored to their own sections.


(f) Existing good practice in Libraries to be shared with other services by storing templates and standard forms for introductory material on the Intranet.


(g) Other Departments to be asked to promote the opportunities the Recreation and Heritage Department can offer.


(h) Data on numbers of volunteers should be collected more rigorously in the expectation that funders will request better information in the future.


(i) Services to seek ways to show their appreciation of the work of volunteers, perhaps through social events.

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