Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

Decision Maker:

Executive Member for Culture and Recreation

Date of Decision:

14 January 2010

Decision Title:

Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Departmental Business Plan - Aims and Objectives

Decision Reference:

1167

Report From:

Director of Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs

Contact name:

Stuart Dorward

Tel:

01962 846110

Email:

[email protected]

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The development of a departmental business plan is a key element of the new management arrangements for the Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Department. The purpose of this paper is to report on progress to date and to seek Executive Member endorsement of the proposed key themes, aims and outcomes of the business plan.

2. Background

2.1. In July 2009 the Executive Member approved a revised senior management structure and new ways of working for the Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Department following an extensive review and consultation1. These arrangements are intended to:

      · Provide clear and effective leadership for the Department

      · Maintain and improve service quality

      · Increase strategic capacity for partnership working

      · Increase responsiveness to communities at a local level

      · Achieve greater integration of services where this enhances the offer to the public

      · Identify and deliver efficiency improvements.

2.2. A key element of the new ways of working is to develop a single departmental business plan identifying clear objectives, actions and outcomes around the following priority themes endorsed by the Executive Member in July:

      · Adult and community learning

      · Health and wellbeing

      · Older people and personalisation

      · Children, young people and families (including Learning Outside the Classroom)

      · Locality working (including action for deprived urban communities)

      · Rural policy.

2.3. The Business Plan will provide the key link between the Department's activities, the Corporate Strategy and "Driving Success", the County Council's performance management framework2. It is intended that the Business Plan should cover a rolling three year period with annual reviews. The first Plan will cover the three years from April 2010 to March 2013. Performance against the actions set out in the Plan will be monitored continuously by managers and reviewed by the Departmental Management Team on a quarterly basis.

2.4. Work has been underway on the Plan throughout the autumn, led by the Assistant Directors, to refine the understanding of the priority themes. One outcome of this has been to identify the Olympic Legacy as an additional theme for the 2010/13 Plan. The business planning activity is fully integrated with the operational planning that supports performance management at the service, team and individual level. Further work is needed to finalise the Business Plan, particularly on the actions and activities that are intended to deliver the outcomes, but endorsement of the aims and objectives is sought at this stage to confirm the overall direction. The Executive Member will be asked to approve the Business Plan in its final form in March.

3. Themes, Aims and Outcomes

3.1. In the context of the current Cultural Strategy3, the overall objective of the Culture, Community and Rural Affairs Department is to increase and broaden participation in culture, recreation and sport. The priority themes give particular focus to this broad objective and the Business Plan provides the means of delivering specific aims and outcomes under each of the themes.

3.2. The themes and their overall aims are now expressed as follows:

      Adult and Community Learning

      Aim: Create a varied portfolio of locally based learning opportunities for adults to support skills development, improved life chances and wellbeing

      Health and Wellbeing

      Aim: Hampshire people are more active as part of a healthy lifestyle

      Older People and Wellbeing

      Aim: All older people have choice and opportunities to access our services to support their wellbeing

      Children, Young People and Families

      Aim: Children, young people and families have choice and opportunities to access our services to support their wellbeing

      Locality Working and Action for Deprived Urban Communities

      Aim: Reduce disparities in participation in cultural activities and sport

      Rural Hampshire

      Aim: Enhance the sustainability of rural communities and the stewardship of the natural environment and heritage of rural Hampshire

      2012 Legacy

      Aim: Use the inspiration of the 2012 Olympics to increase participation in culture and sport

3.3. Each overall theme aim is supported by specific outcomes and performance measures. For each theme a distinction has been drawn between actions and outcomes that relate to all users/participants ("services for everyone") and those that relate to specific groups ("targeted work"). The Appendix to this report contains details of all the theme aims, outcomes and measures.

4. Finance

4.1. This paper is being presented to the Executive Member alongside the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme reports. The Departmental Business Plan will guide final resource allocation decisions for the Department's services and help to shape the medium term financial plan.

5. Performance

5.1. As indicated above, the Departmental Business Plan will form the basis of the quarterly performance reports to the Departmental and Corporate Management Teams, the Executive Member and Cabinet.

6. Recommendation

      That the Executive Member for Culture and Recreation:

      i. Notes the progress made with the development of a Business Plan for the Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Department

      ii. Endorses the proposed key themes, aims and outcomes as the basis for the Business Plan.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

Hampshire safer and more secure for all:

Yes

Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):

Maximising well-being:

Yes

Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):

Enhancing our quality of place:

Yes

Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):

Other Significant Links

Links to previous Member decisions:

  

Title

Reference

Date

     

Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Department - Management Review

  

18 September 2009

     

Direct links to specific legislation or Government Directives

 

Title

Date

   
   

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

 

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report. (NB: the list excludes published works and any documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.)

 

Document

Location

None

  

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

1.1. The priority themes of the Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs Departmental Business Plan are designed, in part, to ensure that services are delivered effectively to all parts of the community. It is therefore expected that the proposals will have a positive effect on equality and diversity.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

2.1. It is expected that the proposals will have no direct impact on crime and disorder.

3. Climate Change:

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

    No impact anticipated.

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

    No impact anticipated.