Archived decisions

REPORT OF THE

Cabinet / Leader

PART II

COMPREHENSIVE AREA ASSESSMENT PLAN - HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

At its meeting on 29 June 2009 Cabinet considered and approved a report setting out the proposed County Council's plan in relation to the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) performance framework, which replaces the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). Details are at: /decisions/decisions-index/index-docs-7063

CAA is made up of two main assessments, an Organisational Assessment and an Area Assessment. The former is a scored report led by the Audit Commission and will focus on the County Council. The latter is a joint inspectorate judgement on Hampshire as an area, focussing on partnership working and community outcomes, and will be a narrative based report. A key message nationally and locally is that it will be unlikely for organisations or areas to score highly in the first round of CAA. This presents resource implications and questions around the appropriate focus and balance for the County Council to take in the level and nature of its response.

The Organisational Assessment is split into two main sections: Use of Resources and Managing Performance. Work is well advanced in relation to the Use of Resources section and, whilst evidence collation continues in a few specific areas, no areas of particular concern have emerged. At the same time evidence is now being collated in relation to the Managing Performance section which the inspectorates expect to assess after the Use of Resources work and alongside the wider Area Assessment. This work is progressing well and again no particular areas of concern have emerged. Subject to following up a few areas, the Council should be a long way forward to achieving a good result in the Organisational Assessment.

The Area Assessment is the biggest area of change from the previous inspection regime and is likely to be the more challenging element of CAA. It judges the Hampshire area (and the quality of life of local residents) as a whole rather than judging separately the services provided by the relevant local organisations. The Area Assessment is made up of three main questions:

- Q1. How well do local priorities express community needs and aspirations?

- Q2. How well are outcomes and improvements needed being delivered?

- Q3. What are the prospects for future improvement?

broken down into 11 sub-sections and the following four underpinning themes:

- Sustainability

- Inequality

- Vulnerable groups, and

- Value for money

At the strategic level the County Council and partners can be relatively confident about responding to and providing evidence against the three main questions. The greatest risk is the sheer scope of the Area Assessment which will cover every aspect of life in Hampshire, focussing initially on the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement. It will then be informed by the wider National Indicator Set and partnership working.

By the very nature of the Area Assessment it covers all and everything: the quality of life of older people, young people and vulnerable groups; community safety; the physical environment; the economy; health issues; local transport; community access; community engagement and involvement; equality and diversity; and sustainability, among many others.

It is this comprehensive overview of life in Hampshire which means it is inevitable that there will always be issues to highlight and areas of weaker performance. The County Council is clear that where CAA can support the Council to improve core priority services and deliver what is important to people locally this is welcome. However, the Council will not allow CAA to drive the improvement and delivery of local priorities off course.

In summary, progress against preparing and responding to the Organisational Assessment is well advanced and the Council is cautiously optimistic of a good result. In regard to the Area Assessment it is clear that some areas of weaker performance are likely to be highlighted, which is expected for all areas across the country. Departments will provide evidence of how the Council is responding to areas of weaker performance as well as areas of notable excellent performance. Across the partnership a high-level self-assessment and Green Flag Case Studies will be drawn together.

Overall, whilst CAA will pose a challenge, it is clear that Hampshire and the County Council have a positive story to tell, a huge amount of evidence that can be brought together and certainly compare favourable nationally. Ultimately, consolidating, embedding and building on Driving Success positions the Council extremely well for performance improvement and CAA.

VISION AND STRATEGY FOR HAMPSHIRE LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICE 2009-2014

At its meeting on 29 June 2009 Cabinet considered and approved a report setting out the proposed long term vision and direction for Hampshire's Library and Information Service (LIS). Details are at /decisions/decisions-index/index-docs-7063

Hampshire's Library and Information Service (LIS) is one of the biggest in the country with 51 libraries, two Discovery Centres, a fleet of 19 mobile libraries, 800 staff and a £19m budget. It is a thriving service and during 2008/09 nearly seven million people visited Hampshire's libraries. Nearly all Hampshire's primary and secondary schools belong to the School Library Service, which enables the schools to develop their library resources to support the whole curriculum. LIS also operates 28 vehicles to deliver books to libraries, rural areas, schools, residential homes and housebound residents. The Discovery Centre programme, developed six years ago in Winchester and Gosport has been very successful in terms of increasing the number of people through the doors and the number of book issues.

Despite these successes, the national and corporate context for library service provision is changing and rising living standards (notwithstanding the current recession), lower book prices and the internet all mean that the old model of library provision is increasingly seen as old fashioned and/or not wholly relevant. Visitor numbers outside the two Discovery Centres has been in decline with reduced income being generated by the loan of CDs and DVDs, whilst the costs of service provision have increased. .

During the last six years, LIS has gone through some significant changes in terms of major investment in its buildings and mobiles as well as changes to the way the Service is managed. In January 2008 the County Council's Culture and Communities Select Committee received and endorsed a report from the cross party Library Scrutiny Panel which made a number of recommendations. The Strategy that Cabinet has approved takes on board all of the Panel's findings which had not already been dealt with during 2008.

The long term vision for LIS is now to deliver :-

"A creative service at the heart of Hampshire communities which prides itself on meeting their evolving needs for reading, information, learning and enjoyment."

This vision is underpinned by a set of nine strategic objectives namely to increase use of library services; to increase use of library services by priority groups and in priority areas; to broaden their appeal; to increase access to books, information and learning; to strengthen and develop effective partnership working; to involve local people in shaping and delivering services; to support and train staff; to ensure long-term financial sustainability; and to strive to be the best, providing leadership to the rest of the public library sector. In essence the whole thrust of the Vision and Strategy is towards:

· Improving access

· Widening participation

· Improved partnership working

· Improved understanding of local needs and greater community engagement

· Greater flexibility in responding to local needs

Underpinning all of this is the need for a financially sustainable service with books at the core of the offer.

To deliver the approved strategy, Cabinet endorsed the concept of the future LIS as one that should be based upon the five principles of:- Community Focus; being Customer Led; operating as a discovery service, seeking to Share Facilities wherever appropriate and Maximising the use of Technology. The next five years will therefore see LIS seeking to develop knowledge and understanding of its existing and potential customers, to engage local communities in the planning and management of their library services and to explore the possibilities of partnerships and collaborations. Income generating opportunities will be explored, an audit of services will identify best practice and resources will be put into training and developing staff so that they can adapt to changes in their roles and responsibilities.

In October 2008 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced a review, entitled `The Library Service Modernisation Review', the findings of which, when they are announced, will need to be incorporated into the Strategy approved by Cabinet. Many of the Review's findings are expected to be in line with the Strategy that has now been approved however and by seeking to broaden the appeal of existing libraries and Discovery Centres, the LIS is well placed to build upon the four star rating awarded to the County Council's cultural services in 2007 (as part of the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment) and the significant, contributory role that the LIS played in helping the County Council to achieve its March 2009 overall `four star' rating.

2007 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT - PROPOSAL FOR DECENTRALISATION OF STRATEGIC PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING

At its meeting on 29 June 2009, Cabinet considered a report from the Director of Environment (/decisions/decisions-docs/090629-cabine-R0622095036). This report sought the views of Cabinet, prior to consideration by County Council on 16 July 2009, on the best way to proceed with the proposition of the Governance Committee to submit a proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act to seek the recovery of strategic planning powers.

The 2007 Sustainable Communities Act enables public bodies to request that specific powers (and associated funding) be transferred to them in order that they can take steps to improve the sustainability of their local community. The scope of the Act is broad; proposals can for example be aimed at improving the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area, including participation in civic and political activity. The only condition is that the ability to exercise these powers must be in conflict with existing legislation. Proposals in the first round must be submitted by 31st July 2009 and will be sifted by the Local Government Association, who will then recommend a shortlist to the Secretary of State for decision.

Hampshire County Council will submit a request under the Act to recover strategic planning powers covering, for example, housing, transport, employment and the environment. These powers are currently exercised at the regional level of government. In the South East these arrangements have recently culminated in the South East Plan, which sets the planning framework for the whole region, including (for example) a target of 6,660 houses to be built annually in Hampshire.

The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, currently before Parliament, will transfer these powers from the Regional Assemblies to the Regional Development Agencies working with a Council Leaders' Board, and abolish the responsibility of principal authorities to prepare draft sub-regional proposals.

The case for change is that regional planning is too remote from local conditions to enable truly sustainable and co-ordinated planning. For example, most of the public infrastructure and services needed by new development - transportation, education, social services, libraries, major countryside recreation facilities - along with police, fire and health services are delivered on a county basis. The return of these powers to county level would substantially improve the sustainability of Hampshire communities by increasing their ability to determine their own future.

The report also set out some potential evolution of the proposal, including allocation of funds for transport and other infrastructure to enable implementation of strategic plans.

Consultation is ongoing with Hampshire residents and various local and regional bodies, and the results of consultation will be included in the final submission.

Further detail may be found in the paper presented by the County Council to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association at their Annual General Meeting on 10 July 2009 (http://www.hiow.gov.uk/agendas/2009/Sustainable%20Communities%20Act%20report.pdf).

T. K. THORNBER, C.B.E.,

Leader