COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS, 11 MAY 2006

HAMPSHIRE

At a Meeting of Hampshire County Council held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday 11 May 2006.

Chairman:

p Councillor John K. West

Vice Chairman:

p Councillor Mrs. P. A. West

Councillors:

109 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bryant; Davies Dear; Knight; Price and Woodward.

110 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

The Chairman called for nominations. Councillor Thornber, seconded by Councillor Woodhall, proposed that Councillor Mrs. P. A. West be elected Chairman of the Council for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Mrs. P. A. West be and is hereby elected Chairman of the County Council to hold office until the annual meeting of the Council in 2007.

Councillor Mrs. West thereupon made the declaration of acceptance of office and took the Chair.

COUNCILLOR MRS. P. A. WEST IN THE CHAIR

111 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 the debate declare their 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.

112 MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting of the County Council held on 30 March 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the addition of Councillor Woodward to those members who had submitted apologies.

113 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

The Chairman called for nominations and Councillor Thornber, seconded by Councillor Woodhall proposed that Councillor Mrs. Devereux be appointed Vice-Chairman of the County Council for the ensuing year. Councillor Collett, seconded by Councillor Dash, proposed that Councillor Price be appointed Vice-Chairman.

Upon the propositions being put to the vote, Councillor Mrs. Devereux was appointed.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Mrs. P. M. Devereux be and is hereby appointed Vice-Chairman of the County Council to hold office until the annual meeting of the Council in 2007.

Councillor Mrs. Devereux thereupon made the declaration of acceptance of office.

114 FOOTPATH 11 AT TESTWOOD, TOTTON - DEPUTATION

The Council received a deputation from Mr. A. J. Shepherd concerning the obstruction of Footpath 11 at Testwood in Totton. Mr. Shepherd handed copies of documents relating to the obstructions to the Chief Executive at the end of his presentation.

Exceptionally, Councillor Thornber, Leader of the Council, took the opportunity to respond to the complaint by Mr. Shepherd and undertook that the County Council would take urgent steps to prevent vehicles from obstructing Footpath 11 at Testwood.

115 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman thanked the Council on her election and took the opportunity to acknowledge and thank Councillor John West and his wife for all their hard work over the past year. The Chairman's theme for 2006/07 would be the children and young people of Hampshire so that the County Council could share their celebrations, achievements and aspirations across Hampshire's multi-cultural and ethnic communities, embracing the whole diversity of the people of Hampshire. The Chairman also expressed a wish to meet as many Hampshire residents as possible in all their different walks of life.

Before moving to next business the Chairman, exceptionally, invited the former Chairman to report on his activities in his final weeks of holding office which included, with the Leader of the Council, sending formal greetings on behalf of the members and officers of the County Council and the people of Hampshire to HM Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her 80^th birthday. A local celebration had been a concert hosted by the Lord Lieutenant which many members of the County Council had attended. There had been royal visits to Hampshire on 12 April and 3 May when HRH The Princess Royal had attended the Freedom Parade of the King's Royal Hussars and the inauguration of the steam locomotive "Lord Nelson" at Eastleigh railway works. He had also opened the newly expanded household waste and recycling centre in Basingstoke on 20 April. Finally, it was with great regret that he reported the death of Major Norman Hearson O.B.E. The late Major Hearson had been awarded the O.B.E. for his services to the community and had for many years worked closely with the County Council especially through the Hampshire Playing Fields Association and the Hampshire Technology Centre Trust Limited. A letter of condolence had been sent from the Chairman's office to his widow.

In conclusion Councillor West thanked the Council for giving him the opportunity to be its Chairman during 2005/06 and for all the support and encouragement which he had received in undertaking his duties. He made particular reference to the support given to him by Lorraine Riley, Head of the Civic Functions and Members' Services team, Maureen Ironmonger and Jo Blackwell his Personal Assistant.

116 LEADER'S REPORT

The Leader reported with great pleasure that the County Council's Enhance Project and restoration work to Gilbert White's house and the Oates Museum had both been awarded runner up position in the RICS South East Awards 2006. The success of these two very different projects in these highly respected awards showed how the wide knowledge, experience and expertise of the County Council's architects, surveyors and engineers was being put to good use time and time again to provide both excellent quality facilities and appropriate design skills.

During the Easter holidays the 45 members of the Hampshire County Youth Band had travelled to Manchester to take part in the National Youth Brass Band Championships. This highly prestigious event included 40 of the top youth brass bands from across the United Kingdom. The Leader was delighted to report that the Hampshire Band had been awarded third place, a significant achievement given the strong competition nationwide.

Merrick Denton-Thompson, Assistant Director of Environment, had been appointed to the Board of Natural England, a new public body responsible for enhancing and managing the natural environment. The Council agreed that Mr. Denton-Thompson's wealth of expertise, experience and knowledge would greatly assist the Board to drive forward Natural England's purpose.

At the Leader's invitation, David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had visited Hampshire recently to see the valuable work of the Rural Pathfinder Scheme and its pioneering ways of delivering support to rural communities. This had been Mr. Miliband's first official visit as the new Environment Secretary and he had visited Butser Hill and Old Idsworth Farm, Petersfield during his stay. The County Council was pursuing a number of excellent countryside initiatives and the opportunity was taken to show the new Secretary of State what the County Council was doing at first hand. Mr. Miliband had been reminded that the key principle underpinning the County Council's Rural Pathfinder - only one of 8 in the United Kingdom - was that local priorities were best decided at local level. During the visit, Hampshire's ideas about changing fundamentally the relationship between the public sector and the farming community had been put to Mr. Miliband so as to move away from regulation towards empowering farmers to deliver clear public benefits through greater collaboration with the industry. Mr. Miliband's response was awaited with interest.

A delegation from the County Council's partner region, Basse-Normandie, had recently visited Hampshire for discussions, the key themes of which had been economic development and the County Council's new responsibilities for Children's Services. The delegation had been particularly interested in Hampshire's Youth Council and had invited Hampshire young people back to Caen to help them develop their own. The delegation also had visited the Gosport Discovery Centre and Portsmouth Ferry Port; the Basse-Normandie Regional Council had recently taken over responsibility for their passenger port at Caen, Ouistreham, and had welcomed the chance to find out about the development and business at Portsmouth.

The Leader reminded the Council that Sir Michael Lyons had recently published "National Prosperity, Local Choice and Civic Engagement" ahead of the Local Government White Paper which was expected in the summer 2006. Sir Michael had highlighted the problem of central government "crowding out" local priorities through micro-managing which restricted the ability of local government to provide local choice and innovations. The report also called for local government to be "appropriately funded for the roles it is expected to take on". The Leader had called on government to take note of Sir Michael's findings and to reflect his comments in the forthcoming White Paper.

The Leader reported that the County Council had signed up to the Local Government Association's (LGA) campaign to improve the reputation of local government. Whilst public satisfaction with council services was improving, it appeared that approval of local government was not keeping pace. In response to MORI research on the issue the LGA had begun its campaign. Twelve core actions centred around cleaner, safer, green and communications issues had been identified. The campaign was supported by the LGA and the Improvement and Development Agency (IdeA) and was fundamentally about councils working together to deliver these core actions.

Looking forward to the forthcoming year, the Leader emphasised that it would be a year of challenge as the County Council moved forward into the uncharted waters emanating from the Lyons' enquiry, the impending White Paper on Local Government reorganisation and continuing national concerns about the under-funding of Adult Social Care. Looking back, the Leader wished, first and foremost, to thank the staff for their efforts in bringing the County Council national recognition as a top performing 4 star authority with its council tax in the lowest quartile and its services in the top quartile of all authorities in England. Despite this achievement, the County Council remained confined by the level of government grant and challenged by the increasing numbers of people who wanted access to the Council's services with ever increasing levels of need. One of his main priorities for 2006/07 was to continue to take the County Council's fight for fairer funding to the heart of government. As Chairman of the County Council's Network, which represented all County Councils in England, and as Chairman of the Innovations Forum, the Leader had regular access to and dialogue with ministers.

Locally, the Leader reported how the County Council listened to what Hampshire residents said - in surveys, consultations and most importantly in face-to-face meetings between electors and elected members. The community's views had helped to shape the priorities of the Cabinet and of the County Council for the year ahead, namely:

· Safety

· Wellbeing

· Opportunity

· Choice

· Enhancing the quality of place in Hampshire

· A sense of security for the Hampshire community

In 2006/07 the County Council would be directing its precious resources to target those areas whilst at the same time representing the views of the Hampshire electorate and fighting for what mattered most to the Hampshire community. Whilst every year brought fresh challenges, the Leader was adamant that these would not distract the County Council from striving to ensure that the residents of Hampshire continued to receive the highest standards of service and of care.

117 QUESTIONS PURSUANT TO STANDING ORDER 20(b)(i)

There were no questions under Standing Order 20(b)(i)

118 PROPORTIONALITY, APPOINTMENTS AND POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive marked Item 9 in the Minute Book and replacement Appendices 1, 2 and 3 which had been circulated at the meeting. The Council also considered making an appointment to the National Bus Lane Adjudication Service Joint Committee.

RESOLVED:

a) that Councillor Mrs. P. Dickens be appointed the County Council's representative to serve on the National Bus Lane Adjudication Service Joint Committee until the annual meeting of the Council in May 2009;

b) that the Proportionality Table set out as Appendix 1 to these minutes be approved to apply until 30 September 2006;

c) that the Proportionality Table at Appendix 2 to these minutes be approved to take effect from 1 October 2006 including the new names of the Policy Review Committees;

d) that the role and function of the Governance Committee as set out in Part 1: Chapter 10 of the Constitution be revised by the addition of the role and function of the Statement of Accounts Panel, namely to approve the County Council's Statement of Accounts should it not prove possible to complete the statement for submission to the County Council within the government's required timescale;

e) that the following chairmen and vice-chairmen of committee and advisory panels be appointed:

f) that the Terms of Reference of the Policy Review Committees set out in Appendix 3 to the report of the Chief Executive be considered further.

119 PERFORMANCE PLAN 2005/06

The Council considered and approved the report of the Chief Executive (Item 10 in the Minute Book) setting out the framework for the Performance Plan for 2006/07.

RESOLVED:

That approval be given to the framework for the Performance Plan for 2006/07.

120 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES BILL - NOTICE OF MOTION

The Council considered the following Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 17 by Councillor Carew and seconded by Councillor Payne:

"That Hampshire County Council

(i) expresses its concern at, nationwide, the decline of local services and facilities which affects local communities in Hampshire and in particular the elderly and people on the lowest incomes; the resulting decline of local jobs and local economies and the resulting extra traffic and pollution caused by the need to travel further

(ii) and notes that this combination of factors increases people's feelings of alienation, exclusion and lack of involvement; and so

(iii) supports measures to reverse this process and

(iv) supports the concept of local sustainability as envisaged in the Sustainable Communities Bill, namely;

* the promotion of local economies

* the promotion of local services and facilities

* the protection of the environment

* the reduction of social exclusion and

* measures to increase involvement in the democratic process

(v) and accordingly resolves to support the Sustainable Communities Bill, which

* requires the government to assist councils and communities in promoting local sustainability in ways decided by those councils and communities; and

* sets up a participative process whereby councils and communities can drive the way in which government uses its power and influence to assist with the promotion of local sustainability; and

(vi) recognises therefore that the Bill provides for a `bottom-up' rather than a `top down' one-size-fits-all process

(vii) notes that this Bill is therefore fully in accord with current thinking in local government in that it impacts on central authorities and does not impose any new duties on local councils rather it enables them to influence how government uses its resources and influence to help councils and communities;

(viii) and further resolves

* to inform the local media of this decision to support the Sustainable Communities Bill

* to write to local MPs, asking them to support the Bill; and sign EDM (Early Day Motion) No. 641; and

* to write to the Local Works Campaign (at 94 White Lion St, London N1 PF) expressing its support."

Councillor Thornber, seconded by Councillor Reid, proposed the following amendment:

"That Hampshire County Council:

(i) expresses its concern at the underfunding of local government services in the south of England generally and Hampshire in particular at a time when there are increasing pressures on services such as adult social care and environmental and infrastructure issues arising from development

(ii) expresses the firm belief that local decision making should be vested in democratically elected Councils answerable to the electorate

(iii) believes that increasing centralisation is counterproductive and inclusion and involvement are encouraged by decentralising decision making to elected and democratically accountable councils and notes that HCC has taken the initiative to introduce Hampshire Action Teams to enhance democratic accountability and service improvement

(iv) onwards as printed"

There followed a wide-ranging debate culminating in agreement that, rather than use the generic form of words contained in the submitted Notice of Motion which had been used elsewhere in the country, the motion should be given a local, Hampshire impetus.

On consideration of the amendment in that context it was

RESOLVED:

That Hampshire County Council:

(i) Expresses its concern at the underfunding of local government services in the south of England generally and Hampshire in particular at a time when there are increasing pressures on services such as adult social care and environmental and infrastructure issues arising from development

(ii) expresses the firm belief that local decision making should be vested in democratically elected Councils answerable to the electorate

(iii) believes that increasing centralisation is counterproductive and inclusion and involvement are encouraged by decentralising decision making to elected and democratically accountable councils and notes that Hampshire County Council has taken the initiative to introduce Hampshire Action Teams to enhance democratic accountability and service improvement

(iv) supports the concept of local sustainability as envisaged in the Sustainable Communities Bill, namely;

* the promotion of local economies

* the promotion of local services and facilities

* the protection of the environment

* the reduction of social exclusion and

* measures to increase involvement in the democratic process

(v) and accordingly resolves to support the Sustainable Communities Bill, which

* requires the government to assist councils and communities in promoting local sustainability in ways decided by those councils and communities; and

* sets up a participative process whereby councils and communities can drive the way in which government uses its power and influence to assist with the promotion of local sustainability; and

(vi) recognises therefore that the Bill provides for a `bottom-up' rather than a `top down' one-size-fits-all process

(vii) notes that this Bill is therefore fully in accord with current thinking in local government in that it impacts on central authorities and does not impose any new duties on local councils rather it enables them to influence how government uses its resources and influence to help councils and communities; and

(viii) and further resolves

* to inform the local media of this decision to support the Sustainable Communities Bill

* to write to local MPs, asking them to support the Bill; and sign EDM (Early Day Motion) No. 641; and

* to write to the Local Works Campaign (at 94 White Lion St, London N1 PF) expressing its support."

121 SINGLE FARM PAYMENTS - NOTICE OF MOTION

The Council considered and approved the following Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 17 by Councillor Perry and seconded by Councillor Woodhall:

"That Hampshire County Council, being aware of the severe problems being experienced by farmers in the county as a result of current delays in processing their single farm payments, asks the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to find a way of making the outstanding payments to the farming industry immediately and to review the long term administration of the Single Farm Payment to empower rather than unduly regulate the industry, encouraging the industry to rise to new opportunities for sustainable land management and to ensure that British farmers in general and Hampshire farmers in particular have their grants handled as efficiently and as expeditiously as in other member states of the EU."

Councillors Mrs Leversha and Mrs McNair Scott declared personal interests in this item and, whilst contributing to debate, abstained from voting.

RESOLVED:

That Hampshire County Council, being aware of the severe problems being experienced by farmers in the county as a result of current delays in processing their single farm payments, asks the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to find a way of making the outstanding payments to the farming industry immediately and to review the long term administration of the Single Farm Payment to empower rather than unduly regulate the industry, encouraging the industry to rise to new opportunities for sustainable land management and to ensure that British farmers in general and Hampshire farmers in particular have their grants handled as efficiently and as expeditiously as in other member states of the EU.

122 HAMPSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY

Councillor Collett, nominated spokesperson of the Authority, presented the report of the Hampshire Police Authority and thanked the County Council for its support which had contributed to the Authority retaining its "stand alone" status.

No questions under Standing Order 20(d) had been received.

123 HAMPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY

On this occasion there was no report of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority. No questions had been received under Standing Order 20(e).

124 REPORTS FOR INFORMATION

The Council received the reports of the following:

a) The Cabinet/Leader;

b) Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage;

c) Executive Members for Environment;

d) Executive Lead Member for Children's Services and Executive Member with Special Responsibility for Education;

e) Executive Member for Adult Social Care

f) Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Proportionality table as at 11 May 2006: Appendix 1

* appointed by Environment Executive

Note: Standards Committee and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Joint Committee are excluded from proportionality rules by Council resolution.

APPENDIX 2

Proportionality agreed on 11 May 2006 for 1 October 2006 implementation:

* appointed by Environment Executive

Note: Standards Committee and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Joint Committee are excluded from proportionality rules by Council resolution.