Archived decisions

a K.G. Chapman

p A.P. Collett

p Mrs. P.M. Devereux

p B.T. Gurden

p P.R.C. Hutcheson

p Jo Kelly

p Mrs. C.A. Leversha

p A.R. Ludlow

p Mrs A. McNair Scott

p A. Weeks

p Mrs P.A. West

Action

124

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were reported on behalf of Councillor Chapman.

125

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of 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.

126

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 October 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

127

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman reported on encouraging progress being made with the meetings with District Council Scrutiny colleagues; and on arrangements for a conference of County and District Scrutiny Members to be held on 21 April 2009.

128

REGULAR REPORT ON IT ISSUES

The Committee considered the regular six-monthly report of the Head of IT Services (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on significant issues relating to the County Council's use of IT. Jos Creese highlighted the following aspects:

· The three National awards achieved by IT Services for the joint Local Authority recruitmental portal, service management in IT including security management.

· The ongoing work on resilience and disaster recovery resulting in a new contract service having been successfully signed with Adams Continuity.

· Integration and improved links between central and departmental IT, with particular reference to IT Services and EdIT, the Children's Services IT system supporting schools.

· The Institute of Public Finance benchmarks shows that main desk top costs are very low.

Members debated the report with interest and drew particular attention to the following:

· Further details requested on Children's Services projects which are the subject currently of IT work, particularly the SEN database

· The challenge for IT in supporting a wider range of corporate programmes, especially personalisation and self directed services.

· The need to achieve effective integration between Local Authority services and the Health Service in order to achieve improved joint delivery of services to adults and children underpinned by IT.

· Ongoing development of the links between Hantsweb and Hantsdirect as those services develop.

· The need to make effective responses to queries and requests from the various contactus websites such as directgov and fixmystreet.

· Request by Members for an online directory of relevant key contacts for officers in all departments.

· Request that Members' expenses should be submitted and cleared online, to avoid the present time consuming system of paper submission and manual checking - this might well be addressed as part of the current democratic review, and a report back was requested

In conclusion Members welcomed the developments in IT summarised in the report, which represented a vital part of the County Council's programme of performance improvement and operational efficiencies. They congratulated the Head of IT Services and his staff on the three National awards achieved.

Jos Creese to send further details to Councillors Mrs Leversha and Mrs West

IT (Jos Creese)

IT (Jos Creese)

IT (Jos Creese) and CT (Bevis Ingram)

CX (Emma Gordon to add to the work programme

IT (Jos Creese)

129

REPORT OF THE EXTERNAL FUNDING DATABASE

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Economic Development (Item 6 in the Minute Book) giving interim details of the external funding database for 2008/09, together with the final annual report for 2007/08. Chloe Atkins attended and amplified the contents of the report. She mentioned in particular the five years core funding from the Lottery achieved by Oakmeadow Children's Centre; and the £2m Lottery funding awarded to community libraries in Havant, She added that it was likely that Lottery funding might diminish over the next few years because of the demands of the 2012 Olympics. She acknowledged that there were no successful bids for European funding recorded - three bids had been submitted but the process was very long winded and could take up to two years.

There was evidence of sustained improvement in the way departments promptly updated the database: all were aware of their responsibilities, but there was still some scope for improvement. The Committee therefore asked the Head of Economic Development, and if necessary the Chief Executive through CMT, to reassert that the corporate management process requires project managers to advise their departmental external funding database updater of any funds for their project secured or being bid for externally.

Economic Development (Chloe Atkins)

Chief Executive

(Emma Gordon)

130

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE REPORT - 2008/09 HALF YEAR

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 7 in the Minute Book) as submitted to and adopted by Cabinet, setting out the County Council's current levels of performance. Gary Smith attended and expanded on the evidence of strong performance set out in the report and outlined the action being taken for those few performance indicators where further action was required to achieve the necessary improvements. Current indications were that the County Council could expect to be in the four-star category again when the announcement was made in February.

During debate Members expressed the view that they saw a significant role for scrutiny, particularly in reviewing the performance of partnerships, and they would appreciate advice in support of their current programme of work with district colleagues and on priorities for areas where scrutiny would add most value.

Chief Executive

(Gary Smith and Emma Gordon)

131

2008/09 BUDGET MONITORING AND WORKFORCE UPDATE

The Committee considered the half yearly report of the County Treasurer and Director of Human Resources (Item 8 in the Minute Book) as submitted to and adopted by Cabinet, setting out current budgetary and work force pressure and trends. It was noted that Adult Services was heading for an underspend this year, a remarkable achievement given the pressures the department had faced in recent years.

132

PROVISIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE SETTLEMENT 2009/10 AND BUDGET GUIDELINES 2009/10 TO 2011/12

The Committee received and noted the report of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) as submitted to and adopted by Cabinet.

133

REVENUE BUDGET 2009/10 ONWARDS

The Committee gave initial consideration to the report of the County Treasurer (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the proposed budget for 2009/10. They received a detailed presentation by the County Treasurer (Item 10(x) in the Minute Book) which set the budget in the context of the two previous items. The main financial pressures were seen to be the demand-led nature of the Coroners' budget; the outcome of pay and benefits; and the extension of Hantsdirect. It would be necessary to keep close track of income, charges and interest given the current adverse financial situation. Members asked the County Treasurer to let them know what was covered by the area-based funding for LINks (page 28) and whether it covered the costs of establishing the host.

An explanation was given of the arrangements for continuation of the Police 101 non-emergency telephone number; and the additional funding of £50,000 which would provide two accredited Community Safety Officers. Members asked for information as to where the funding for HATs fitted within the budget.

Members expressed regret that the reports on the revenue budget and capital programme had emerged so late in the day that it prevented them from scrutinising them effectively. The original intention had been for the Select Committee to meet in the morning followed by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources in the afternoon, but it had proved necessary to move the Policy and Resources Decision Day to 29 January, hence the late appearance of the report. The Committee therefore agreed to reconvene at the end of the County Council briefing on Tuesday, 27 January in order to scrutinise the financial issues and consider what advice they would wish to offer the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.

NOTE:

Councillors Cartwright, Mrs. Leversha, Ludlow and Kelly then reconvened on 27 January 2009, having taken the opportunity to read the revenue budget and capital programme reports in more detail. They were satisfied with the general tenor of the reports and did not feel the need to make any specific recommendations to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources. They pursued, and the County Treasurer responded to, the questions raised on funding for LINks; support for Hampshire action teams and its funding; the budget for Member support and what it covers; support for scrutiny and its costs; and the costs of the Coroners' service and the way it is organised.

County Treasurer

(Bevis Ingram)

County Treasurer

(Bevis Ingram)

Chief Executive

(Emma Gordon/ Colin Hinxman)

County Treasurer

(Bevis Ingram)

134

CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2009/10 ONWARDS

The Committee gave initial consideration to the report of the County Treasurer (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the on the Policy and Resources capital programme. Financial pressures meant that the programme for two years would have to be spread over three. As the capital programme report had appeared late in the same way as the revenue budget report, it was agreed to consider it at the reconvened meeting on 27 January as well.

135

REVIEW OF SCRUTINY

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on progress with the review of the County Council's scrutiny functions. The Committee welcomed the progress and feedback achieved from the programme of visits to District Council scrutiny colleagues. These were helping to identify areas where coordinated and joint scrutiny could add value. They endorsed proposals for an annual scrutiny conference with outside speakers and it was

RESOLVED:

(i) That the first annual conference of Hampshire scrutiny Members and Officers be convened on 21 April 2009 at a venue to be agreed, in order for Members to test the value of the priorities and referrals framework for aiding the identification of suitable topics for joint review as well as how Local Authorities in Hampshire could more effectively share information and feedback about the performance of services.

(ii) That the proposals for developing joint working arrangements be explored with District and Borough Councils once the Regulatory framework is published.

(iii) That work to establish how Select Committees can most effectively scrutinise partnerships to influence and improve service delivery, or address matters of local concern, be taken forward as part of the Policy and Resources Select Committee work programme for 2009/10.

Chief Executive (Emma Gordon/

David Pryke/

Marie Mannveille)

136

FORWARD LOOKING WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 13 in the Minute Book) giving details of proposals for their future work programme. The Committee asked for a scrutiny project to be scoped on the recruitment and retention of County Council staff - ensuring the workforce of the future - to cover such areas as staff turnover, absence and succession planning.

Chief Executive

(Emma Gordon)