Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report - Revised

1. Executive Summary

1.1 Following a pilot phase for Hampshire Action Teams (HATs) and the
County Council elections in June, this paper sets out the current position
and proposes that HATs be re-established with a focus on:

- tackling economic, social and health inequalities in the area

- supporting the delivery of Hampshire's improvement priorities as
reflected in the Hampshire Local Area Agreement targets

- supporting the Executive member for Environment on highways
improvement priorities through local stakeholder engagement

This report is presented to the Council for approval of:

(1) The Terms of Reference
(2) Nominations for Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen

A full report on the policy and operations of the HATs is on the agenda for Cabinet on 23 November 2009.

2. Contextual information

2.1. On 30 January 2006, the County Council approved a pilot to establish the HATs for a two year period followed by a period of review as to their effectiveness before deciding on a longer term approach.

2.2 The focus of the pilot was to create local action teams with extensive member involvement:

· Based in evidence of what local needs and priorities are:

- using information, statistics & data available from across the
organisation
- using perception evidence from existing and new consultation and
community engagement exercises


· Focussed on action and impact


· Adding value in a complex partnership environment:

- engaging with communities to support democratic renewal
- supporting effective local partnership actions
- problem solving to improve local services
- setting locally flexible Hampshire priorities and strategies

· Measured and published outcomes and impact


· Integrated into the overall Hampshire County Council democratic and planning processes.

2.2. Following the County elections on 5 June and setting up the new Council on 15 June, the Leader announced at Council on 16 July 2009 that the future of HATs was under consideration and that any new arrangements would be mindful of the lessons learned during the pilot. Furthermore, new arrangements should further embed the activity of local Members in the community and to strengthen the working relationship with the County Council's many partners.

3. New arrangements

3.1 It is now proposed that Hampshire Action Teams be re-established with a
focus on three strands of work for each HAT:

- advising the Executive Member for Environment on local improvement
priorities for roads and transport

- supporting the delivery of Hampshire's improvement priorities as
reflected in the Hampshire Local Area Agreement targets through
partnership forums such as the Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs),
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and other
relevant partnerships in each area

- tackling economic, social and health inequalities in the area to help
close inequality gaps

3.2 The purpose of HATs will be to provide a strong role for all local Members to improve the quality of life in their area by ensuring that County Council services are responsive to local needs and priorities, and that activity is integrated with that of other local partners. Each of the HAT areas has pockets of deprivation therefore each HAT will have a clear focus on inequality. Inequality gaps will be identified by the development and use of local profiles.

3.3 There will be seven HATs covering the areas detailed below together with proposed Chairmen and Vice Chairmen:

* These posts will not be eligible for any form of Special Responsibility Allowance

4. Terms of Reference

4.1 The proposed terms of reference for each HAT will be as follows:

a) Developing a shared understanding of the economic, health and other social inequalities of the area, the relevance of LAA improvement priorities locally and other local priorities in the respective local and county Sustainable Community Strategies


b) Identify ways in which the County Council's services can work together, and with partners locally, to address such inequalities and contribute to the delivery of LAA improvement targets and other locally identified priorities


c) Work with the Environment Department to ensure local stakeholder engagement and responsiveness on highways and transportation issues and support the Executive member Environment accordingly in setting priorities


d) To submit Business Plans with projects for funding to the Leader of the Council. Proposed work programmes will be incorporated into departmental service planning and performance monitoring to ensure effective use of resources across the organisation


e) To report annually to the County Council

4.2 The new HATs will not have executive decision making powers delegated to them. As a non-Executive body, full access to information requirements will not apply, however the operation of HATs will be subject to democratic business practices in the spirit of openness and transparency, and as a matter of best practice. Accordingly, the operation of HATs will be integrated into the democratic framework, the management of which will be carried out by Business Advice and Member Support (BAMS) in the Chief Executive's department. Agendas, minutes and reports of HAT meetings will be published in the usual way on the County Council's website. HATs Officers, who now report into BAMS, have built up considerable knowledge and expertise during the pilot period and will be able to provide high level advice and business management to help embed these new arrangements.

4.3 It should be noted that, as HATs are not established as formal committees, HAT meetings would not be "meetings" for the purposes of the Members' Code of Conduct, in which case members would not be subject to the provisions of the Code dealing with declaration of personal and prejudicial interests at meetings. However, because members would still be conducting the business of the authority, they will remain subject to the other requirements of the Members' Code when attending HAT meetings.

5. Support for HATs

5.1 It is proposed that each HAT will be supported by the following:

- a Lead senior officer
- HATs Officers in BAMS

- a member of the Futures Group/Hampshire Own Grown (HOG)
Programme as part of their development

Additional support will be commissioned by the HATs Officers as required and in liaison with the Lead Officer.

6. Recommendations:

6.1 That the Terms of Reference for the refocused Hampshire Action Teams, as detailed in Section 4 above, be approved

6.2 That Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen for each of the seven HATs, as detailed in Section 3 above, be approved

6.3 That a further report be submitted to the Cabinet at its meeting on 23 November 2009 to consider detailed arrangements to take the HATs forward

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

Other Significant Links