Archived decisions

29

Operating leases

Authority as lessee

Some vehicles, items of equipment and property are financed under operational

leases. The annual sum payable for leased vehicles and items of equipment

is £3.8m (£2.4m in 2005/06). For property it is £3.2m (£3.2m in 2005/06).

The amount paid in 2006/07 is shown below. The amount payable in 2007/08 is also

shown together with an analysis of the year of expiry.

Paid

Payable

expires

expires

expires

in

in

in that

in second to

in over

2006/07

2007/08

year

fifth year

five years

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

Other land and

3,255

3,451

577

1,048

1,826

buildings

Vehicles, plant and

3,778

3,792

1013

2,393

386

equipment

7,033

7,243

1590

3,441

2,212

Future obligations under operational leases payable in 2007/08 and subsequent years

total £34.1m (£28.1m in 2005/06).

Authority as lessor

The annual rent received from leased properties is £2.6m (£2.5m in 2005/06).

The value as at 31 March 2007 of assets held for use in operating leases is shown below:

£'000

Gross book value

15,901

Accumulated depreciation

-490

Net book value

15,411

Under the home computer salary sacrifice scheme, in 04/05 the County Council bought

assets to the value of £984,000 which were leased to staff. Net of repayments

in the year the deferred debtor is £569,000 at 31 March 2007.

Finance leases

At 31 March 2007 there were no outstanding obligations on finance leases.

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30

Related-party transactions

During the year, transactions with related parties arose as follows:

2005/06

2006/07

£'000

£'000

Central Government

Receipt of Government Grants

- Revenue

857,463

890,874

- Capital

46,520

50,358

903,983

941,232

Levy paid to the Environment Agency

742

403

The County Council administers the Hampshire Pension Fund on behalf of

its non-teaching employees, those of other local authorities in the county

area and 214 other scheduled and admitted bodies (214 in 2005/06).

The Pension Fund pools its surplus cash balances with the County Council's

to gain the benefits of scale and interest was paid to the Pension Fund

in 2006/07 at the average monthly seven-day rate.

The County Treasurer is also the appointed Treasurer of the Hampshire

Police Authority and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

These two authorities also pool surplus cash balances with the County

Council and are paid interest at the average monthly seven-day rate.

Transactions with these related parties are shown below:

2005/06

2006/07

£'000

£'000

Pension Fund

Interest paid

2,668

4,336

Temporary investments 31 March

-73,252

-60,597

Administration charge

1,539

1,633

Hampshire Police Authority

Interest paid

838

1,189

Temporary investments 31 March

-8,383

-8,168

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority

Interest paid

206

208

Temporary investments 31 March

-5,607

760

There were no other related-party transactions involving members or chief

officers of the Council.

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31

Related companies

The County Council does not have a controlling or dominant influence

in any company under the terms of the Local Government and Housing

Act 1989. A dominant influence means that the company operates in

accordance with the Council's wishes. The Council does not consider

that group accounts are required to accord with the criteria in the

Accounting Code of Practice.

32

Members' expenses

The total of members' allowances paid in the year was £1,243,000 (£1,244,000 in

2005/06).

33

Officers' emoluments

The number of employees whose remuneration, excluding pension contributions, was

£50,000 or more, in bands of £10,000, is as follows:

Number of employees

2005/06

2006/07

£50,000 - £59,999

214

321

£60,000 - £69,999

63

75

£70,000 - £79,999

26

30

£80,000 - £89,999

1

9

£90,000 - £99,999

6

8

£100,000 - £109,999

3

3

£110,000 - £119,999

1

-

£120,000 - £129,999

1

-

£130,000 - £139,999

1

2

£140,000 - £149,999

3

1

£150,000 - £159,999

-

3

£160,000 - £169,999

-

-

£170,000 - £179,999

-

-

£180,000 - £189,999

-

-

£190,000 - £199,999

1

-

£200,000 - £209,999

-

1

320

453

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34

Publicity account

Section 5 of the Local Government Act 1986 requires local authorities to keep a

separate account of expenditure on publicity. In 2006/07 the Council spent

£4.4 million on this (£4.2 million in 2005/06).

2005/06

2006/07

£'000

£'000

Advertising for staff

2,295

2,438

Corporate Communications Team costs (including staffing)

810

820

Promotion of tourism

163

124

Publicising public transport services

218

272

Road safety publicity

169

176

Promotion of economic development and

investment in Hampshire

71

78

Early Education publicity

73

61

Waste management publicity

105

78

Planning policy promotion

61

77

Adult Services Publicity

108

88

35

Pooled Budgets

The County Council is a partner in two Section 31 partnerships.

The County Council is a partner in the Hampshire Children's Trust. The Trust's

purpose is associated with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

in Hampshire under Section 31 of the Health Act 1999.

The partner bodies are:

Hampshire County Council (host partner)

Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT)

From October 2006 Hampshire (PCT) replaced the following separate trusts:

North Hampshire Primary Care Trust PCT

Blackwater Valley & Hart PCT

Mid Hampshire PCT

East Hampshire PCT

Fareham & Gosport PCT

Eastleigh & Test Valley PCT

New Forest PCT

The gross income for 2006/07 is £1,895,232 (£1,708,221 for 2005/06) and

expenditure £1,142,686 (£903,436 in 2005/06) giving a surplus of

£752,546 (£804,785 in 2005/06).

The County Council's contribution was £817,256 (£774,640 in 2005/06)

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The Mid Hampshire Mental Health Services pooled budget commenced in October

2006.   Its objective is to jointly commission modern health and social care mental health

resources that meets the needs of adults with severe mental health problems and

promote their independence.

The partner bodies are:

Hampshire County Council (host partner)

Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT)

The gross income for 2006/07 is £400,000 and expenditure is £367,000

giving a surplus of £33,000.

The County Council's contribution was £32,000.

36

External Audit fees

Fees charged by the Audit Commission to the County Council can be analysed

as follows:

2005/06

2006/07

£'000

£'000

Code of Audit Practice

248

246

Grant Claims

17

23

Inspection

6

14

Childrens Partnership Work

7

-

National Fraud Initiative

-

1

Other

5

-

283

284

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37

Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970

Services are provided to other local authorities and public bodies under the Local Authorities

(Goods and Services) Act 1970. In 2006/07 income from this source was £10.5 million

(£9.5 million in 2005/06), which covered the costs involved.

38

Contingent liabilities

The County Council self insures and therefore handles all its own

liability claims. The liabilities are uncertain but to cover them

a provision is maintained for known liability claims, assessed at £4.3m

at 31 March 2007 (see note 4).

The County Council has set aside a reserve of £18.5m to meet the transitional

costs of implementing the single status agreement to reflect the outcome of the

job evaluation undertaken as part of the Pay and Benefits review including

potential equal pay compensation costs. At the balance sheet date no equal

pay claims had been submitted.

39

Euro IT costs

No significant IT costs will be incurred if the euro is adopted, as new

financial and related business systems have been being introduced

that will already be fully euro-compliant.

40

Post Balance sheet events

There were no material post balance sheet events that require

disclosure.

41

Discretionary expenditure

The County Council used to rely on Section 137 of the Local Government

Act 1972 for the power to incur expenditure of up to £1.90 per head of population

on activities or projects "in the interests of the area or some of its inhabitants" which

are not specifically authorised in other powers. Most of this power was repealed

and replaced with a "well-being" power in the Local Government Act 2000 with effect

from 18 October 2000. Section 137 remains as a power only for contributions to

charities and not-for-profit bodies.

In 2006/07 spending under section 137 amounted to £170,306 or 13p per head

(£146,391 or12p per head in 2005/06).

Most was spent on grants to voluntary organisations which could not be made

under any other statutory power.

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42

Trust funds

The Council acts as sole trustee for 28 trust funds (29 in 2005/06) and as

administrator for 13 other trust funds (15 in 2004/05). They include

educational prize funds, funds for the financing of improvements in

education, social care and museum establishments, and musical and sports

scholarship funds. The trusts are mainly invested in specialist pooled

funds for charities and cash held on deposit with the County Council.

Balance at

Balance at

31 March

Income

Expenditure

31 March

2006

2007

£'000

£'000

£'000

£'000

Sole trustee funds

Educational trusts

Butlocks Heath/Netley Abbey School

290

18

-18

290

Dayas Music Scholarship

82

5

-3

84

Michael Austin Harlick Memorial

250

15

-12

253

Shipton Bellinger School

41

2

-2

41

Mace Educational Trust

114

7

-8

113

Spitfire Mitchell Memorial

183

9

-

192

Other

21

1

-

22

Total

981

57

-43

995

Social services trusts

Hampshire Mentally Handicapped

Persons Holiday Organisation

38

2

-

40

Hampshire Old Industrial and

Reformatory Schools

61

4

-3

62

Green Meadows Old Peoples Home

15

1

-1

15

Total

114

7

-4

117

Museums trusts

Allen Curtis Museum Trust

24

4

-4

24

The Flora Twort Trust

41

3

-3

41

Red House Museum Trust

50

4

-4

50

Total

115

11

-11

115

Libraries trust

Julian Davies Foundation

2

-

-

2

Other

Hillier Arboretum trust

13

1

-7

7

Total - sole trustee trusts

1,225

76

-65

1,236

Administrator funds

The Eggars Grammar School

Alton Site Foundation

1,636

68

-3

1,701

Hampshire Foundation for

young Musicians

66

4

-4

66

Other

24

2

-

26

Social services trusts

6

-

-

6

Total administrator trusts

1,732

74

-7

1,799

Total trust funds

2,957

150

-72

3,035

61

43

Undischarged obligations

Project Integra

Project Integra is being implemented as the long-term solution to household

waste management in Hampshire. It is a partnership between the County Council,

the unitary and district councils in Hampshire and the private contractor

Hampshire Waste Services (HWS). The partnership is underpinned by a long-term

contract with HWS which is jointly administered by the County Council

and Portsmouth and Southampton unitary authorities. The contract began

in January 1996 and will run until 2024/25. At 31 March 2007 the payments

remaining under the contract are estimated to be £1,841m of which £1,441m

will be charged to the County Council.

Hampshire Public Service Network

A seven year contract for a new integrated voice and data network was

entered into with Unisys at the end of 1999. This has now been extended

to November 2009. At 31 March 2007 the payments remaining under

the contract are estimated at £14.08m (£20.79m at 31 March 2006).

Enterprise Licence

During 2006/07 we entered into an agreement with IBM to implement an

IBM Enterprise Licence. The implementation programme is expected to take

up to 5 years and will deliver a range of benefits including improved

security, a fully integrated information management system and integration

of the wide variety of corporate IT systems hosted on Hantsnet. The

The payments remaining under the contract are £4.58m at 31 March 2007

with approximately 4.5 years remaining.

Schools Broadband

We have a 5 year contract with Synetrix to provide Broadband lines to Schools.

The payments remaining under the contract are £2.65m at 31 March 2007.

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Contribution from other authorities

These are principal repayments of debt charges relating to former County

Council services that have transferred to other authorities.

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