Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The purpose of this paper is to propose the introduction of a concessionary scheme for admission to the specified museum, heritage sites and country parks managed by the department for Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs.

1.2. The proposal is that a concessionary entry discount card (50% discount on the normal entry fee for a period of 12 months) be introduced for two groups of residents; a) serving armed services personnel based in Hampshire along with their family (to be launched in the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison area) b) residents in Hampshire becoming a British Citizen through the citizenship ceremony

2. Contextual information

2.1. The proposed armed forces discount card is one element of the department's response to the County Council's package of measures in its role as a key member of the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison Partnership. The Partnership aims to improve access to services and integration with the local community for the armed forces communities working and living in the Super Garrison area, the majority of which is within Hampshire.

The proposed discount card would form part of the County Council's support for the armed forces and recognition of their service overseas.

2.2. The department is also working with the HIVES (armed forces information service) to provide information about access to cultural and leisure facilities and events in Hampshire. There are 30,000 service personnel in Hampshire; 15,000 in the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison area (see appendix 2 - map) and 5,700 in Aldershot with 4,000 dependents. Those in Aldershot would be the initial target group.

2.3. The inclusion of a similar 50% discount card (for a 12 month period) in the citizenship pack for Hampshire residents becoming a British Citizen is proposed as a gesture to welcome new citizens, to encourage visits to our sites and access by some groups of the community who may not be traditional users of museums, the countryside and leisure facilities. There are in the region of one thousand new citizens taking part in the citizenship ceremony per annum in Hampshire.

3. Finance

3.1. It is not possible to fully assess the impact on admissions income or visit numbers as a result of the proposed 50% discount offer as data about the current use of these sites by the two groups (armed forces and new citizens) is not known. Therefore it is proposed that the scheme is introduced for a 12 month period to December 2010 and during that period monitored for any adverse impact on income.

3.2. The cost of introducing the scheme in the first phase (South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison and Citizenship pack) is estimated to be £2,000-£3,000 to print, promote and distribute the credit-card sized 50% discount cards. The distribution to the service personnel would be handled by the garrison base to serving service personnel and their family, who then simply present the card whenever they visit one of the participating sites to pay only 50% of the usual entry fee. The `family' is defined as the spouse or partner and children of the serving member or new citizen. The distribution of the card for new citizens would be handled in partnership with the Registration Service.

3.3. The Culture-all Passport launched in July 2009 costs £69 in advance for unlimited entry for one year to the participating sites. It has been considered whether the Passport could be offered at 50% discount but this option has been rejected because it would be more complicated and costly to administer. Therefore a different scheme is proposed for the armed services and new citizens.

3.4. The department's services have not been adversely affected by the impact of the economic recession on visit numbers and have not so far suffered a fall in income.

3.5. A request by the armed services for the offer to include courses and activities at the Outdoor Centres has been rejected on the basis that these operate as business units and are reliant on the level of income to support the educational provision to schools at a competitive level.

4. Performance

4.1. It is anticipated that this offer will attract new/infrequent visitors and increase visits and income. The scheme will be closely monitored using the process already in place to monitor the take-up and use of the Culture-all Passport. The sites included in the offer will be those already participating in the Culture-all Passport scheme and are listed in appendix 1.

4.2. The expected benefits of introducing the discount card are the opportunity to build permanent links with the forces bases and families; to promote to a wider audience the other services and facilities of the department and to raise awareness of the services of Hampshire County Council. The offer is intended to encourage participation in a range of cultural activities and to encourage forces families and new citizens to feel a part of their local community in Hampshire.

5. Other key issues

5.1. An approach has been made to Rushmoor Borough Council Leisure Services and the Leisure officer is considering whether they are able to work in partnership with the County Council to include any of the Rushmoor Council leisure facilities in this offer to the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison.

5.2. The South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison area expands beyond the Hampshire county boundary into Surrey and Berkshire. It is anticipated that most of the use of the discount offer would be by those resident in Hampshire and therefore the offer be made to all personnel in the Super Garrison area.

5.3. The discount scheme proposed is thought to be the most easily administered and controlled. With the Culture-all Passport already in place numbered cards can easily be recorded by staff at sites in the same manner. The 50% reduction should be easy to handle through existing accounting procedures and the half price entry is an appealing promotion.

6. Conditions of use

6.1. The 50% discount card will only be available on the standard entry admission fee and will not at this stage cover tickets for any special events, learning activities or courses at these sites or any other sites managed by the department.

6.2. The `family' is defined as the spouse or partner and children of the serving member or new British Citizen.

6.3. The 50% discount card for new British Citizens will allow discounted entry for a 12 month period only as an introductory offer and will not be renewable.

7. Future direction

7.1. It is recommended that the 50% discount card be launched in September/October 2009 for the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison and the citizenship packs.

7.2. There are significant numbers of service personnel across the county; e.g. Odiham, Andover, Winchester, Southwick, and significant naval presence in Fareham and Gosport (Portsmouth). It would be invidious to single out one part of this constituency particularly as they (and their families) all share the stresses of service in a war zone. Therefore it is proposed that the concession is rolled-out to other services serving personnel and their family for the Hampshire based regiments in 2009-10.

7.3. The impact of the scheme on visits and income will be monitored and then reconsidered in late 2010 at which point a decision may be taken whether to continue or amend the offer.

7.4. If the take-up of the discount offer is successful it may be an option to introduce a more flexible card offer in future. This may include concessions for Discovery Centre events as both Winchester and Gosport have significant numbers of service personnel, or to extend the offer to a broader range of cultural services to cover the arts, learning courses or events in Libraries and museums.

8. Recommendation(s)

8.1. That the Executive Member approve the introduction of a 50% discount card for the two identified groups;

a) armed forces serving personnel and their family in the South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison area and armed services personnel based in Hampshire

b) new British Citizens participating in the citizenship ceremony and resident in Hampshire

8.2. That the 50% discount scheme run for a period of 12 months during which the impact will be monitored and a review carried out in late 2010.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

1.1. This is a targeted offer to two specific groups of people in the Hampshire community to encourage them to access and use these facilities provided by the County Council. The offer itself does not have any adverse impact on any other group of people or exclude of prevent access to the same services. However, it does offer a promotional incentive to two defined potential groups of users of our services. The offer is proposed initially as a time limited (12 months) period in order that the impact on income, visits and take-up can be monitored. As a promotional incentive it is not based on any knowledge of inability to afford access to the specified sites.

1.2. There may be other groups of Hampshire residents on low income who may benefit from a similar incentive scheme to access the services of the department. Concessionary access is already offered by some sites but as this is more difficult to administer it has not previously been considered as part of the department's concessionary charges policy.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

2.1. None

3. Climate Change:

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

There is no significant impact on our carbon footprint or energy consumption expected as a result of these recommendations.

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

By encouraging use of our heritage and countryside sites we are able to educate Hampshire residents and raise awareness and appreciation of the quality of Hampshire as a place to live and to preserve for future generations to enjoy.

Appendix 1

Sites to be included in the 50% discount offer - (these are the same sites included in the Culture-all Passport);

· Milestones Museum

· Manor Farm Country Park

· Staunton Country Park

· Basing House

· Bursledon Windmill

· Rockbourne Roman Villa

· Aldershot Military Museum

· Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve

· Royal Victoria Country Park (chapel museum and tower)

Table of current admission charges (August 2009)

The card would contain the following information -

Front Reverse

Appendix 2

South East (Aldershot) Super Garrison area