Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. This report advises the Executive Member of progress with the Big Lottery Fund on the Community Libraries Programme, and confirms that the grant of £1,245,804 has now been confirmed.

1.2. The report also seeks approval for the necessary temporary Library closures whilst building works take place as set out in paragraphs 4.5 to 4.8, and also seeks endorsement for the direction of travel with the project.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The report confirms that the offer of a grant has been confirmed.

2.2. The revised timetable for the project is explained.

2.3. The breakdown of funding for the project, including the County Council's contribution are explained in detail.

2.4. Highlights the implications of the Deeds of Dedication required by the Lottery for the 5 buildings as a condition of the grant.

3) Recommendations:

3.1. That the direction of travel be agreed.

3.2. That the necessary temporary closures whilst the necessary building works take place at the 5 libraries involved in the project be agreed.

3.3. That the Outcomes agreed with the Big Lottery Fund are supported.

MAIN REPORT

1) Contextual Information:

1.1. On 24 January 2008, the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage approved the acceptance of a grant offer from the Big Lottery towards the cost of the `Learning, Engagement and Adult Development Project ( LEAD) '.

1.2. It was a condition of the grant that the Executive Member be kept informed of progress with the application and progress with the project generally.

1.3. The grant offered was for £1,245,804, of which £999,769 was towards the capital costs of the necessary building modifications and improvements, and £246,035 was towards the revenue running costs of the programme.

1.4. The grant offer was £235,058 less than that requested, so our ambitions for the project had to be modified to ensure that work could be carried out within the revised budget. The Lottery also required the submission of 3 plans by April 2008 in order to confirm the award of the grant. These were a Business Plan, Community Engagement Plan and a Capital Project Delivery Plan.

1.5. These plan were duly submitted, and the grant was finally confirmed in October 2008.

2. The LEAD Project

2.1 Hampshire's application was for 5 sites, and is called the `LEAD Project' - (Learning, Engagement and Adult Development Project).

2.2 The LEAD project aims to improve the physical capacity in five libraries in Hampshire to attract a wider cross section of users and create facilities for adult learning and community activities. The project will be delivered in areas where there is a current lack of local adult learning provision, a concentration of demographic deprivation and low educational attainment. Four of these libraries are in the borough of Havant (Havant, Waterlooville, Leigh Park and Hayling Island) and the fifth is in the town of Aldershot.

2.3 Using results from ten LEAD Community Management Panel meetings all five libraries will receive provision for dedicated learning and community space/s (Action Zones) and a re shaping programme to make libraries more welcoming, involving dedicated access facilities, flexible partitions, improved lighting, heating (where appropriate), redecoration, flooring, black out blinds, sound proofing, exhibition cases and related infrastructure needs. Equipment such as audio visual, public announcement systems, interactive white boards and dedicated laptops will also be provided where appropriate. Further improvements to each library will include soft seating/ relaxation areas, refreshment facilities, redecoration (where appropriate),community notice boards and improvements to signage and the presentation of existing and new book stock.

2.4 Each Action Zone will deliver activities such ICT, crafts, family history, languages (especially English for foreign nationals), sign language, writing workshops, NCT classes, activities for parent/s with young children, exhibition and gallery areas, skills for life, coffee mornings, family activities, first aid, signing (for the hard of hearing),meeting place, community managed events for cultural identity and careers advice.

2.5 Using the Revenue funding which is part of the grant we will appoint a full time outreach worker who will be deployed directly into the communities of need and will work across all five sites. This post will be supported with at least one voluntary community champion at each library site..

3. Funding

3.1 The grant now secured is for £1,245,804, of which £999,769 is towards the capital costs of the necessary building modifications and improvements, and £246,035 towards the revenue running costs of the programme.

3.2 The County Council has committed £202,637 from the Recreation and Heritage Capital Programme, spread over the 3 years, 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/2011. Of this £131,680 will be spent on building works modifications and improvements and £70,556 on the revenue running costs of the programme.

3.3 Bearing in mind the current pressures on the capital programme, it is important that this earmarked sum is not reduced as the Lottery grant relies on the County Council's agreed contribution.

3.4 In addition, a further contribution of £36,031 towards the running costs of the programme will be provided from the Adult Education budget as part of the Learning and Skills Council Business Plan. The County Council's total contribution will therefore be £238,668.

4. Timescales

4.1 The original timescale envisaged the 3 year project starting in October 2008 and finishing in October 2011. For this to have been achievable, the grant would have had to be confirmed in May 2008. However, as the grant was not confirmed until October a revised timetable has been agreed with the Lottery

4.2 This envisages the 3 years starting when the first of our building projects starts on site. This is likely to be at Havant Library in March 2009. The Lottery have indicated that the end date of the project could be a s late as October 2012, which will allow time for all of the successful applicants to deliver their outcomes to a common finish date. However, the revenue budget for the project has been based on a 3 year period, so although the extra time to deliver the outcomes is welcome, it will be important to manage the budget to ensure that this is not exceeded.

4.3 As with most Lottery funded projects, revenue funding is time limited, so assuming that the project is successful and the County Council thinks it worthwhile continuing the work at the end of the lottery funded period, sources of funding will have to be considered at the appropriate time alongside other priorities.

4.4 Tenders are currently being sought from approved contractors for the work at Havant and Leigh Park Libraries. Assuming these come in within budget, work at Havant will start in early March and at Leigh Park in late March.

4.5 As the planned work at Havant affects all of the public areas, the library will have to close for the whole period of the contract which is expected to be from 2^nd March until 5^th May. As there is no funding in the lottery grant for temporary premises, customers will be signposted to other libraries in the area and a limited service may be provided by a mobile library.

4.6 Work at Leigh Park is scheduled for 30^th March to 27^th April. Most of the building work is in what is currently a non public area, but there will still be considerable disruption and noise and it is not clear for how long the library will have to close during the contract period. Negotiations with the contractor will endeavour to keep this to a minimum.

4.7 Work at Hayling Island Library is scheduled for 18^th May to 20^th July. This has been chosen to avoid clashing with the closure of Havant Library and with the intention of reopening in time for the school summer holidays.

4.8 Work at Aldershot and Waterlooville is still being planned and programmes will be set to avoid closures during the school summer holidays.

5. Project Management

5.1 Although the LEAD project is considered to be one single project by the Lottery, with all outcomes needing to be delivered across the 5 sites in order that the we can claim the grant, in practical terms there are 5 separate building projects to be managed, so a project management structure has been put in place to manage these. A sixth board has been set up to oversee the delivery of the courses, events and activities which will ultimately lead to the agreed Outcomes being delivered.

6. Project Outcomes

6.1 A series of Outcomes have been agreed with the Big Lottery and these are summarised in Appendix C. A more detailed document, setting out the Outcomes, Milestones and targets for each of the 5 libraries involved in the programme has also been prepared.

7. Community Consultation and project evaluation.

7.1 Now that the Lottery grant has been confirmed, the Community Panels which were set up at each library to inform our original bid, have been restarted and panel members are being asked to help implement the next stage of the project. This will involved setting up a team of volunteers and using existing networks to inform the public about the project.

7.2 The County Council has also agreed to take part in an evaluation of community engagement led by the MLA.

8. Legal issues

8.1 In order to confirm the grant offer, the Big Lottery required that we accept their `Standard Conditions of Grant'. These required us to grant certain rights for the Big Lottery to monitor the future use of the 5 properties involved in the Programme and in the event of us wishing to change the use of any in the future, the Lottery reserved the right to reclaim part or all of the funding they have provided. Officers have discussed these conditions with the Big Lottery and they are not flexible on these conditions, and required us to accept them without amendment and the grant offer was accepted in January 2008 with this in mind.

8.2 Deeds of Dedication have now been prepared for each of the 5 properties. The effect of these is :

- To prevent HCC from using the properties for a period of 20 years for any purpose other than the project that has been submitted to the Lottery without the lottery's consent.

- To prevent HCC from selling, leasing, licensing or otherwise dealing with the properties for 20 years without the Lottery's consent.

8.3 Without a specific proposal on the table, Lottery officers are not able to be specific about what circumstances or scenarios would lead them to recommend either granting or withholding their permission to, for example, alter our use of, or sell any of the properties, but they did explain that as a public body their actions would have to be reasonable, so as long as any proposal we made resulted in an improved service, and still provided for the agreed Outcomes to be delivered, then it is unlikely that these conditions will actually cause any problems in the future.

9. Recommendations:

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

a) The underlying purpose of the LEAD programme is to involve a wider section of the community, particularly currently under represented and disadvantaged groups, in learning and other library activities. A full Impact Assessment is being prepared for the programme.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

a) None

3. Climate Change:

a) How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

Increased journeys to libraries will have minimal effect on the County Council's overall carbon footprint or energy consumption.

The use of sustainable materials in any building work will be encouraged.

How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

This programme has no adverse implications for climate change.

APPENDIX C

LEAD Outcomes and Milestones.