Archived decisions

a R.J. Baulk

p A. Broadhurst

p P.J. Chegwyn

p Dr R.J. Ellis

p E.F. Gale MBE

p R.J. Kimber

p P.K. Mason

p J.J. Maxwell

p R.H. Price

p A.W. Rice, TD

p D.F. Wright

8.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

ACTION

Apologies were reported on behalf of Councillor R.J. Baulk; and on behalf of Councillor Dr. R.J. Ellis, who was absent on other County Council business in London.

9.

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 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.

Councillors Chapman, Kimber and Rice all declared personal interests as members of the Basingstoke Canal Joint Management Committee.

10.

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 November, 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

11.

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman notified members of a sequence of visits arranged as follows:-

13 March - Fareham Library

7 June - Basingstoke Canal

5 October - no destination specified as yet

Several members were critical of the fact that there appeared to be no opportunity for the Committee to scrutinise the budget for Recreation and Heritage, and it was explained that budget scrutiny was intended to be the responsibility of the Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee who would look at budgets for all services before they were adopted by the Cabinet and County Council. They urged that members of the Committee should have the chance to scrutinise the contents of the budget in detail if suitable arrangements could be made before it was formally adopted, and called upon the Chairman to hold a special meeting of the Committee to discuss the budget for Recreation and Heritage.

Chief Exec (EG/CH)

12.

FUNDING SUPPORT TO SOUTHAMPTON AND PORTSMOUTH OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRES

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on financial and other issues relating to the outdoor activities centres located in Portsmouth and Southampton and their use by Hampshire's schools. Members expressed concerns at the pressure on funding for outdoor activities centres, whether in Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton or elsewhere in the country. They felt that reduction or loss of outdoor centres providing adventurous and healthy outdoor activities would be regrettable, especially in view of the policy priority towards healthy lifestyles and wellbeing. It was explained that the County Council was in regular dialogue with the organisers of the outdoor centres in Portsmouth and Southampton, and would in due course be consulting schools as the main users.

RESOLVED:

That the following advice be given to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage.

(i) That a combined reduction in funding of £30,000 to Southampton and Portsmouth Outdoor Centres be agreed and implemented from 1 April, 2007.

(ii) That the Outdoor Service direct support fund for individual young people be made available to students attending the city outdoor centres.

(iii) That a further report be presented to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage to determine further funding changes in 2008/09 and beyond.

13.

CULTURAL STRATEGY AND TOURISM STRATEGY

The Committee considered presentations by the Director of Recreation and Heritage on the consultation process in relation to these two strategies. A copy of the presentation appears as Item 6 in the Minute Book. Members welcomed the arrangements for consultation with stakeholders and indicated that they would like the opportunity to scrutinise both documents before they were formally adopted by the Executive Members for Recreation and Heritage/Economic Strategy respectively. As the timescale for finalising both documents now led towards decision making in May, 2007, the Committee's April meeting would therefore provide the ideal opportunity.

RESOLVED:

That the final drafts of the cultural strategy and tourism strategy be referred to the April meeting of the Committee for scrutiny and the provision of advice to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage and the Executive Member for Economic Development respectively.

Dir. Rec and Heritage (Stuart Dorward)

Chief Exec (MC/CH-

14.

REVIEW OF ANNUAL REVENUE FUNDING TO COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on proposed changes to the arrangements for funding of community associations. Members endorsed the proposition that County Council funding should be concentrated on organisations which promote community activities and wellbeing. Reference was made to the fact that community support depended on there being an effective partnership between the County Council, District Councils and a wide range of other organisations both in terms of providing and funding services; there were also many other innovative ways of securing financial support for specific projects of benefit to community organisations and centres. The committee therefore endorsed the approach to funding community associations as a pilot scheme for 2007/08, on the basis set out in Paragraph 8 of the report.

Dir. Rec and Heritage (Mike Wickenden)/Margaret Plumridge

15.

BASINGSTOKE CANAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on financial issues relating to the Basingstoke Canal, as requested at their last meeting (Minute 6 refers). It was reported that there was a distinct possibility that the County Council might in future accept the Basingstoke Canal as a corporate liability rather than one for Recreation and Heritage, and this would be the subject of debate by the Cabinet. Members welcomed the information provided and stressed the need to be inventive in finding new ways of raising income in order to maximise the potential of the Canal. They accepted that proposals for income generation would need to respect the primary purposes of the Canal, navigation and nature conservation.

Dir. Rec and Heritage (John Tickle)

16.

SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT ARTS ORGANISATIONS 2007-2010

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the approach to funding arts organisations, which would be referred to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for decision. Members made the following suggestions:

· The County Council support for arts organisations should not be dependent on comparable support being forthcoming from the relevant district council.

Dir. Rec and Heritage (Janet Mein)

· Continued efforts should be made to secure the provision of an on-line ticket purchase facility for events in arts centres.

· There should be continued close contact with the Arts Council as a major source of funding for the arts, and the Committee requested a breakdown of grants relating to Hampshire agreed by the Arts Council.

17.

REVIEW OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES

The Committee considered a progress report on the work of the Review Panel. The first meeting had been held and a project timetable had been agreed - a copy appears at Item 10 in the Minute Book. It was expected that the review would be formally launched at the end of January by which time a website would be in existence. At that stage key stakeholders and interest groups would be invited to submit evidence. It would then be up to the Panel to decide whom to invite as witnesses. It was agreed that regular update reports should be made to each meeting of the Committee.

Chief Exec (EG)

18.

TACKLING AREAS OF DEPRIVATION AND DECLINE

The Committee considered a presentation by the Director of Environment (Item 11(a) in the Minute Book) on the availability and use of demographic software and analysis tools. Examples were given of the extent of demographic information available, which could be broken down as desired between district/parish/primary school catchment area/secondary school catchment area and postcode. Details were given of the Mosaic system, which could provide a wealth of information which the County Council could use to improve services. Members suggested that the Mosaic system should be the subject of a future all council briefing day so that members were aware of the opportunities; and in addition it would be helpful for the Chairman to attend the Mosaic conference.

Director of Environment (Roger Lawes)

19.

ACCESS TO LIBRARY SERVICES

The Committee considered a briefing note by the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 11(b) in the Minute Book) and welcomed the information provided. They suggested that there might be merit in pursuing further:

Dir. Rec and Heritage (Stuart Dorward)/Richard Ward

· Provision of library facilities in local community centres.

· Greater recruitment of volunteers to assist with operating the home library service.

20.

MANAGEMENT OF CONSULTATIONS AT HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the County Council's arrangements for initiating and evaluating public consultations. It was noted that effectiveness, targeting and coordination of consultation activities would be a key area in the 2007 comprehensive performance assessment review. Members felt that they needed fuller information in order to assess the quality and cost effectiveness of consultation work undertaken, whether corporately or on a service/scheme basis. They therefore asked for a scoping exercise to be undertaken in order to establish what expenditure departments were incurring on consultations and what the results and outcomes were, with specific reference to how consultation is organised and costed.

Chief Exec (Emma Gordon/Karen Mann)

21.

FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE : INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SUSTAINABLE ARTS FUNDING

The Committee considered a briefing note by the Chief Executive (Item 13 in the Minute Book) and endorsed the approach set out therein. Members felt that there was scope for improvement in the Arts Council's application procedures for grants, which were felt to be excessively convoluted.

Chief Exec (EG)