Archived decisions

p 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

a J.J. Maxwell

p R.H. Price

a A.W. Rice TD

p D.F. Wright

Action

58

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Maxwell and Rice.

59

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, 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, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Code. The declaration to be made at the time of the relevant debate.

No such declarations were made on this occasion.

60

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 October, 2007 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

61

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman had nothing to report on this occasion.

62

REVENUE BUDGET 2008/09, 2009/10 AND 2010/11

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer and Director of Recreation and Heritage on the proposed revenue budget (Item 5 in the Minute Book). The figure in Paragraph 4.11 was corrected to read £860,000 instead of £86,000. Reference was made to the expected deficit in the revised budget for the current year of £215,000, which was likely to mean that funds from the materials fund would have to be held back in order to achieve a balanced budget. Discussion centred on liability for £90,000 repair works following the breach in the Basingstoke Canal banks during the Summer, and Members felt strongly that this was a corporate responsibility for which they should urge the Cabinet to provide reimbursement.

RESOLVED:

(i) That the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be advised to approve the revised budget for 2007/08 and the revenue budget 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 (as set out in Item 5) for submission to the Leader and Cabinet.


(ii) That the attention of Cabinet be drawn to the additional costs (£90,000) of the works required to repair the breach to the Basingstoke Canal that occurred in June, 2007 and the knock-on effect of deferral of countryside schemes, and that the Cabinet be requested to consider reinstating these funds in the Recreation and Heritage Budget for 2008/09.

63

CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2008/09 TO 20010/11

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage and County Treasurer on the Forward Capital Programme (Item 6 in the Minute Book). Particular attention was drawn to the lottery funds which were now available to improve Basing House and several libraries, which meant a total capital programme of £2.8m for next year, which was welcomed by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be advised to approve the Capital Programme for 2008/09 to 2010/11, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, for submission to the Cabinet.

64

OUTDOOR AND FIELD STUDY CENTRES - SCRUTINY REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 7 in the Minute Book) setting out the outcome and recommendations emerging from the scrutiny review of outdoor and field study centres. The Committee thanked all members, officers and witnesses for their contribution to the review. The next stage would be for the report to be considered by the Leader and Cabinet and the Committee indicated that they would like to monitor progress in future.

RESOLVED:

That the Leader and Cabinet be advised:

(a)

That all Hampshire County Council's outdoor and field studies centres, with the exception of the Sir Harold Hillier Education Service, be managed from a single point of management within the Council in order to ensure:

· A single, coherent, unified approach to the provision and delivery of outdoor education and field studies centres

· Equitable access by schools and organisations to Hampshire centres

· Efficient and simplified central management of centres

(b)

If it is agreed that centres come under one point of management, that a further review is undertaken to ascertain progress against the recommendations in this report and with respect to:

· Achieving equity of access for Hampshire schools and young people's groups,

· Developing guidelines or policies to ensure that funding for Hampshire and Independent centres follow clear and common principles, and

· Ensuring that funding supports the achievement of Hampshire's corporate priorities

(c)

That work is undertaken with respect to the outdoor centres run by charitable trusts and currently supported by revenue grant funding. This should include an assessment of funding criteria and the fit of services and facilities provided by the independent centres with the overall provision of outdoor and field study opportunities by Hampshire County Council.

(d)

That market research is undertaken with respect to the promotion of Hampshire's centres, including to other target customer groups. Consideration also be given to promoting centres to maximise usage at periods of predictable low demand during the school year.

(e)

That progress with the report be monitored by the Committee and a suitable entry be made on the work programme.

Scrutiny Officer (Martin Combs)

65

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE - SCRUTINY REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book) setting out the outcome and recommendations emerging from the scrutiny review of the Library and Information Service. The Committee thanked all members, officers and witnesses for their contribution to the review, which would be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for her consideration in March. Again the Committee indicated that they would like to monitor progress with the outcome.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage be advised:

(a) That there should be a formally defined strategy for the Library and Information Service (LIS), setting out the way forward for the service over the following 5 years. It should directly link into the Corporate Priority of Maximising Wellbeing. It should also consider the principles identified in Framework for the Future, and the outcome of the Blueprint for the Future consultation and resulting suggestions for precision in direction.

(b) That a progress report is provided to the Panel on the development of the Library and Information Service strategy for January 2009. The Panel expects that the strategy will address all the recommendations made in this report.

(c) That the LIS strategy should include within its strategy, plans for the ongoing engagement of communities in order to inform planning and the provision of services relevant to the needs, aspirations and wellbeing of localities. It should also consider the potential for extending the capacity of the service and communities as proposed, for example, in the Quirk Review.

(d) That the LIS should set out within its strategy how it intends to develop its role as a major provider of access to e-learning and education resources, including its plan for development and upgrading of the relevant technical infrastructure.

(e) That the LIS should strengthen its market research and intelligence, as well as engagement with local communities. It should be clear about how it intends to reach its target audiences, the messages it wants to be heard, and the way in which its future image and branding can be used to greatest effect.

(f) That the following are provided to the Panel for July 2008:

· Communication and Engagement Plan to underpin the involvement of local communities in the planning and provision of services

· plan for how the LIS intends to strengthen its marketing research

(g) That the LIS should re-consider the `discovery centre' brand name taking into account that this term may not appropriately signpost individuals to the services provided.

(h) That the LIS should undertake a comprehensive review of efficiency in the service, including consideration of the wider deployment of Radio Frequency Identification systems (RFID) to support self-issues and self-returns of books, and greater efficiency in libraries.

(i) That the LIS should demonstrate how staff, as well as other stakeholders, are to be engaged in the process of developing services.

(j) That the LIS should provide a clear statement of roles and the range of potential routes for people to progress within the service.

(k) That the LIS, through engagement with local communities, and better use of demographic research and library systems, should move towards better and more effective targeting of materials, including books, other media, and e-information, driven by local customer needs and preferences rather than a general solution for all. The LIS should aim, in its five year strategy, to increase its percentage spend on books over that period, but based on local engagement, local aspirations and priorities.

(l) That the LIS should make clear its intentions with regard to special collections held in Hampshire Libraries in the context of their 5 year strategy and to explore options for the better exploitation of these resources.

(m) That the LIS should, as a matter of course, consider co-locating new libraries before stand alone buildings. The LIS should show how the co-located elements would mutually expect to gain from the proposed arrangements and what community engagement has been undertaken to inform the development.

(n) That the LIS should review library hours, engaging with communities to determine the most convenient and regular times for the needs and wellbeing of the community.

(o) That the LIS should continue to review the layout of all libraries and discovery centres, to encourage customers to move through shelving and library areas to stimulate interest and `impulse' borrowing, and to encourage customers to sit and dip into books.

(p) That the LIS should further improve its customer care training to include a) a strong emphasis on building a customer focused culture, b) good quality customer care training for all staff for particular target groups, including children and young people and c) training for front line staff to elicit feedback from customers, and to ensure that all customer comments and compliments are used to support continuous service improvement.

(q) That progress with the report be monitored by the Committee and a suitable entry be made on the work programme.

Scrutiny Officer (Martin Combs)

66

CULTURAL PATHFINDER

The Committee received and noted the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on experience and learning from the County Council's participation in the National Pathfinder programme. Reference was made to the improved service to the public now available at Gosport Discovery Centre, and also to the recent award to the County Council for the quality and range of its library stock.

67

FUTURE WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive - Scrutiny Officer on the programme of future issues that might require scrutiny (Item 10 in the Minute Book). The following suggestions were made:-

· Arts Council England recent changes in grants to arts organisations in Hampshire.

· Community grants and the role of the Executive Member for community development and external affairs.

· Partnership working with particular focus on the arts.

· Climate change/coastal erosion.

· Rural policy and strategy.

With reference to Arts Council England, the Director of Recreation and Heritage was asked to circulate a note to Members setting out the impact of recent decisions on arts organisations in Hampshire.

Scrutiny Officer (Martin Combs) to amend the programme

Director of Recreation and Heritage (Yinnon Ezra)