Archived decisions

R.J. Baulk

p A. Broadhurst

p P.J. Chegwyn

p P. Edgar

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

Action

86

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Roger Price.

87

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 interests were declared on this occasion

88

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 June, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

89

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman had no communications on this occasion.

90

BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Committee received a presentation from Simon Taylor, Chief Executive, and Jacky Thorne (Head of Public Relations/Communications also responsible for liaison with local authorities). The key current issues for the Orchestra were:

· Excellence in terms of quality, balanced with accessibility.

· The appointment of new principal conductor Kirill Karabits as successor to Marin Allsop.

· The further development of education work with schools and colleges, through local authority partners, and the priority to broadening the audience who attended concerts and events.

· Concerns about constraints on local authority funding.

· The need for the Orchestra to engage constructively with a total of 15 local authorities throughout the South and South West of England, which represented a significant challenge.

Concerns were expressed at the withdrawal of funding for the Orchestra by Southampton City Council next year, although it was recognised that the Orchestra still aspired to present concerts in the city given that it was the regional centre for a large area of South Hampshire which would not otherwise have access to concerts. Tributes were also paid to the very effective partnership between the County Council and the Bournemouth Orchestra in promoting the outdoor concert at Royal Victoria Country Park, which had been well attended; the County Council had guaranteed against loss upto £22,000 but in the event the loss had been £11,000 Reference was also made to the series of concerts in Winchester Cathedral, the work of small orchestral ensembles at various venues in Hampshire, and to the programme of work with schools and young people.

The Committee thanked Simon Taylor and Jacky Thorne for their informative presentation. They indicated that they would like a further update in due course, together with a similar presentation from another arts organisation funded by the County Council.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs)

91

SITES OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST

The Committee received a presentation from Andrew Davidson, Conservation Officer, Recreation and Heritage Department, on sites of special scientific interest (copy set out as Item 6 in the Minute Book). There are 118 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in Hampshire, covering 14% of the County's area. Of those, 2000 hectares are managed by the County Council. These represented the best sites for wildlife with rich biodiversity, especially in heathlands and coastal areas. The main current issues were:

· Effective and methodical management, maintenance and monitoring.

· The further development of volunteers and friends networks.

· The promotion of access, balanced against the conservation of sites' biodiversity.

· Ongoing work to achieve the target of 95% of sites in favourable or recovering condition, current figure 77% in Hampshire and improving.

· Effective liaison with partners including the Environment Agency and Natural England.

The Committee thanked Andrew Davidson for the interesting presentation and paid tribute to the achievement in protecting the biodiversity of Hampshire's wildlife sites.

92

LINKS BETWEEN PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND FOOTPATH PLANNING

The Committee considered a briefing note by the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the links between planning/development control and the protection of rights of way/countryside access (Item 7 in the Minute Book). The Committee considered that the factors set out in the briefing note should be brought to the attention of District Council colleagues, as a reminder to them of the need to avoid new development, or access roads to new development, encroaching on footpaths or other rights of way. They asked for an update on progress and practical methods of enforcement to be brought to them at their meeting in July, 2009.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs) to update work programme

93

CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER AND CORPORATE HOMICIDE ACT 2007

The Committee considered a presentation by the Chief Executive together with a copy of the report on the Act which had been presented to Cabinet (Item 8 in the Minute Book). The Committee noted that the Act had a relatively low impact for recreation and heritage, which had a good culture of proportionate risk management and health and safety. Members suggested that there should be methodical recording of all training received by staff in matters related to risk, health and safety.

Director of Recreation and Heritage

94

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE - UPDATE ON SCRUTINY REVIEW

The Committee received the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9(a) in the Minute Book) which set out the recommendations they had made to the Executive Member for Recreation, Heritage and Communities and her responses. Nicola Horsey, Interim Head of Libraries, elaborated on the report and explained the development of a vision and strategy for the Library Service in the period from now up to 2026 in the light of expected population, social and financial trends. Among the factors she expected to take into account were:

· Extension of developers' contributions to include the Library Service.

· The development of electronic books and electronic media.

· Extending the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) and the new library management system to provide more detailed information about people's borrowing behaviour.

· The need to continue developing the positive image of the library brand and the people's perceptions of it.

The Committee welcomed the practical and comprehensive response by the Executive Member, and in turn by the Interim Head of the Library Service, to the recommendations and indicated they would welcome an update on progress in due course.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs)

Director of Recreation and Heritage (Nicola Horsey)

95

RESEARCH, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage (Item 9(a) in the Minute Book) together with a presentation by Gareth Miller, Marketing Manager. Among the key issues identified were:

· The fact that Hampshire had achieved an increasing trend of library visits, up 6.8%, as opposed to the national trend which was down by 4%.

· The need to continue improving public perception of libraries as an interesting, lively and modern place to go.

· Effective signing and directions are essential.

· Need to focus on encouraging lapsed users of the Library Service to return.

· The need to focus on under represented social groups and encourage them to use the library facilities.

· Further development of e-marketing, e-services and e-surveys.

· Promotion of a wide range of special events to encourage people to visit and use libraries/discovery centres.

The Committee welcomed the contents of the Plan as a further detailed response to the recommendations emanating from the scrutiny review of the Library Service.

Director of Recreation and Heritage (Nicola Horsey/Gareth Miller)

96

OUTDOOR AND FIELD STUDY CENTRES - UPDATE ON SCRUTINY REVIEW

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9(b) in the Minute Book) on further work done on the funding of charitable outdoor centres.

RESOLVED:

(a) That in view of his knowledge and experience, Councillor Ray Ellis be invited to continue participating in the work of the outdoor centres review group, notwithstanding the fact that he is now a cabinet member.

(b) That approval be given to the scope, anticipated outcomes and proposed approach for the review as set out in Item 9(b).

(c) That a meeting of the working group be arranged in order to carry forward the review on the basis set out in the report.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs)

97

HARD TO REACH GROUPS

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the Panel's proposals for scoping the review, together with a briefing paper on the issues (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

(a) That for the purposes of this review, people should be defined as "hard to reach" if they are:

· Unaware of services provided by the County Council or its partners.


· Unable to take advantage of services provided by the County Council or its partners.


· Reluctant to take advantage of services provided by the County Council or its partners.

(b) That consultations on the scope of the review be undertaken with the main partners, who are considered to be other Local Authorities, the Police Service, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Health Service, Citizens' Advice Bureaux and Councils of Community Service.

(c) That a meeting of the Review Panel be arranged to take the work forward on the basis set out in the report and briefing paper.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs)

98

BUDGET SCRUTINY BRIEFINGS

The Chairman reported that he and other members had found it disappointing that so few members had been able to attend briefings on salient budget issues. It was therefore agreed that for this year the budget briefing should form part of the Committee's meeting on 22 January, 2009 rather than an event on a separate day.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs)

County Treasurer

Director of Recreation and Heritage

99

FORWARD LOOKING WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the way ahead for scrutiny topics identified. In response to questions, a briefing note on the new arts framework would be forwarded to the Chairman.

Director of Recreation and Heritage

The Committee asked for reports on the rural strategy and on a Hampshire focus for the 2012 Olympics to be included on their agenda for March, 2009. An item on the potential impact of the Heritage Bill was also suggested as an item for a future meeting.

Chief Executive (Martin Combs) to update the work programme