Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1 As a consequence of changes to funding and strategic direction within Children's Services, a Select Committee report in January 2008 recommended bringing together all the County Council's outdoor education provision under a single point of management. This report takes forward that work and recommends an evolutionary approach to joined up working without at this stage transferring the three Field Study Centres (Minstead, Stubbington and Sparsholt Schools Centre) from Children's Services into the Outdoor Centres Service within Recreation and Heritage.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1 Clarify the strategic educational and business case for bringing the centres together

2.2 Clarify the advantages of extending the operational periods of the three Study Centres to include weekends and school holiday periods, and assess the strength of the indicative market for access at those times.

3) Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

3.1. the recommendation of the Select Committee in January 2008 to bring together all the County Council's outdoor education provision under a single point of management is not pursued at this time and Minstead, Stubbington and Sparsholt Study Centres continue to be managed within the Children's Services department

3.2. Further opportunities are explored to maximise the use of the centres as part of the aim of maximising use of county assets.

MAIN REPORT

1) Contextual Information

1.1 As a consequence of changes to funding and strategic direction within Children's Services, a Select Committee report in January 2008 recommended bringing together all the County Council's outdoor education provision under a single point of management. This report recommends an evolutionary approach to joined up working without at this stage transferring the management of the three Study Centres (Minstead, Stubbington and Sparsholt Schools Centre) from Children's Services into the Outdoor Centres Service within Recreation and Heritage.

1.2 If the study centres become successful in attracting substantial weekend and school holiday groups, it is anticipated that it will be necessary, in the future, to move towards a staffing structure that enables this. In this case, it is likely there will be implications for the terms and conditions for some staff currently employed within the Study Centres.

1.3 In addition, further work will be undertaken relating to the possible options for Sparsholt Study Centre, a `day use' facility distinct from the two residential study centres, Minstead and Stubbington.

2) Key Issues

2.1 The three Study Centres are very successful in their core work with school groups. As field study centres they offer opportunities for children to engage with curricular focused outdoor learning, the sustainability agenda and the broader benefits of `Learning outside the Classroom' both residentially and during day use.

2.2 Stubbington is very successful as a business unit and well regarded by its school users. Minstead has a local and national reputation for the nature and quality of its courses and provision.

2.3 Sparsholt is a unique partnership with an FE college which provides enhanced opportunities for schools.

2.4 Currently all three centres are closed (apart from some local community use) for up to 33% of the year, and thus unavailable to groups who are unable to book during term time weeks. Immediate proposals for development are centred on enabling the County Council to more fully utilise the resources available to it (especially within the residential centres) as we seek to meet the developing agendas for young people at both a local and national level.

3) The single point of management

3.1 A single point of management of all the outdoor centres could be achieved in one of two ways - either all the centres move to the Children's Service's Department or they all move into the Recreation and Heritage Department.

3.2 It is recognised that there is a shared customer base across the services but some groups are quite different in terms of their specific activity requirements, in particular schools and voluntary user groups. The scale of operations of the facilities varies significantly, for example, between Minstead and Calshot. The three Study Centres very closely align their activities to the curriculum.

3.3 The pragmatic option at this time is to retain the status quo but seek to maximise cross-departmental working utilising the strengths that exist across the services. The Study Centres are working closely with the Hampshire Outdoor Service to explore greater flexibility in terms of operation, management, budget control and funding, whilst still being managed directly from Children's Services, and addressing the department's priorities and agendas.

4) Extended operational use of Study Centres

4.1 It is accepted that the Study Centres can have a key role to play in the critical agenda of the Children's Services Department (based on Every Child Matters and the Children's Plan) and the Corporate Priorities of the County Council.

4.2 At present the two residential Study Centres operate primarily in school term time weeks only and are generally closed at weekends and in school holidays. There is some weekend and out of schools hours work and provision, with a developing day use community programme at Minstead , supported by New Forest District Council, offering up to 200 hours of community provision per year and some occasional residential occupancy and summer sports camps at both Minstead and Stubbington.

4.3 The accommodation facilities are geared towards the primary age groups and extensive attempts have been made to encourage schools use at weekends and holidays with some limited success.

4.4 Research evidence suggests a market in weekend and school holiday residential work exists both in Hampshire and beyond which the Study Centres could seek to exploit. Study Centres outside of Hampshire report growth in their weekend markets.

4.5 Marketing will be crucial to the long term establishment of a viable programme of out of school hours courses, and will take some time to fully develop and achieve. On the residential side, difficulties have been identified as the overnight facilities do not lend themselves well to use by adult groups, with facilities built to cater for primary aged users.

4.6 By adopting an evolutionary approach, with the Study Centres seeking to further build on the existing extended use at weekends and school holidays, whilst retaining their status as business units based in the Children's Services department there is most chance of success.

5) Key issues and risks

5.1 Currently the Study Centres are staffed to operate a five day working week (Monday to Friday). To achieve the flexibility of working hours necessary to capitalise on the potential extended operational hours identified above it will be necessary to establish a consistent employment framework and overall structure for all staff employed at the Centres.

5.2 Further work and consultation will be required to identify the detailed impact on staffing structures. To ensure that staff are fully involved in the change process and to minimise the risks to business continuity, it is essential that appropriate time is allocated to explore the options for the future and implement any changes in an effective and managed way. Normal turnover of staff will provide natural opportunities to review needs and these opportunities may be taken as they arise.

5.3 This further supports the basis for an evolutionary approach in achieving any positive changes to the current governance and structural arrangement which work well. This does not preclude reconsidering the management location of the Centres either as a group or individually.

5.4 As a Day Use Centre, Sparsholt is not likely to have the same opportunities available to it for out of school hours work as Minstead and Stubbington.

5 Conclusions:

5.1 The Study Centres have all made and continue to develop and take opportunities to extend the use of the facilities outside school term dates and hours. It is recognised that the existing facilities place certain limitations on a financially viable large scale extension to operational usage.

5.2 The work of all the Outdoor Centres and the Study Centres is complementary and good liaison already exists between the departments. In the short to medium term it is not appropriate to change the current management arrangements which work well.

5.3 The pragmatic option at this time is to retain the status quo but seek to maximise cross-departmental working utilising the strengths that exist across the services, encouraging the centre management to develop broader business an courses outside of normal school term time.

6 Recommendations:

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

a) Provides further opportunities for all members of the community to access the facilities.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

a) Positive by giving all children and the community as a whole the chance to explore outdoor activities and learning in Hampshire.

3. Climate Change:

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

· Users of the facilities have the opportunity to learn about the sustainability agenda and take those ideas back with them to further develop thinking and application

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

· Extending the use, whilst retaining the close link to the curriculum build a learning for life opportunity for all users of the centres.