Committee:

Children and Young People Select Committee

Date of meeting:

15 January 2010

Report Title:

CAA Area Assessment: summary of issues

Report From:

Report of the Chief Executive

Contact name:

Martin Combs

Tel:

01962 847479

Email:

[email protected]

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

Page

No.

Issue

9

However, there are areas such as Gosport and Havant, where skill levels, average earnings and employment rates are below those for the rest of the county.

9

House prices are higher than the national average and they vary from area to area.

9

Most people are healthy and take more exercise, but the picture and life expectancy varies across the county.

9

Numbers (of teenage pregnancies) have risen in some areas, including Andover and in some parts of Winchester

11

Results from (these) consultations are not well coordinated across all public services. This may result in duplication and missed information between the various partners.

11

(Re: Consultation:) Partners could use the information collected by the voluntary sector more effectively to help make decisions about services.

11

Targeted consultation with residents from minority groups

such as black and minority ethnic and gypsy and traveller communities is underdeveloped in some areas.

12

The majority of Hampshire's residents who responded to a survey said that they do not feel they have been involved in local decision making in the last year. .

12

(Re: decision making). Participation rates are low when compared to the rest of the south east and vary across Hampshire. ... Winchester almost double that of Fareham.

12

In more than half of Hampshire districts, residents do not believe that their views will influence local decisions. Increasing the level of participation would help services to better understand and meet local needs.

12

Inequality is often linked to where people live, with residents in some rural areas and some urban areas where deprivation is relatively high doing less well.

12

Some Councils are making slow progress in ensuring that services are delivered in a fair and equitable way.

12

There is a risk to ensuring that the needs of all Hampshire residents are fully met.

12

An area for further improvement is making sure people who are homeless make use of their local GP services.

13

Too many people in Hampshire do not have the right level of skills to help them get work. In Hampshire 25% of people of working age have qualifications no higher then NVQ Level 1 ... is a barrier to the growth of the local economy.

13

Too many of Hampshire's 16 to 19 year olds are not in education, employment or training more

than six per cent.

13

Although improving, there are more young people leaving care who are not in education or employment in Hampshire than in similar areas.

13

Hampshire has a poor record of knowing what some young people are doing. In 2008 more than one in six of its 16 to 18 year olds was classed as `activity unknown'.

13

The overall number of people who are not in education, employment or training: although reducing, it is unlikely that the target will be met.

13

Re: the recession: it is important, especially for vulnerable groups, that they are helped to prepare for work now and have the skills for employment in the future.

14 /15

Re: waste to landfill: the challenge now is to bring the below average performers, such as Basingstoke and Gosport up to the level of the best and beyond, such as Eastleigh and Fareham.

15

There is a gap in attainment between these (most children and young people in Hampshire) and children whose circumstances make them more vulnerable.

15

Children in Care do not do as well as they should in school.

15

Too many people who have been in care are not in work, education or training.

15

There is still more to do to make sure that all children and young people get the best they could from their education.

15

(Teenage pregnancies) .. are not reducing quickly enough to meet nationally set targets.

15

Teenage pregnancies: Gosport has persistently high rates.

15

Sexual health services across the county vary in quality ..... Hampshire's approach to improving sexual health is not well coordinated.

16

Across Hampshire a high percentage of women continue to smoke in pregnancy compared to those in other parts of the country. Efforts to improve this are having mixed results and partners understand this is an area where more work is needed.

16

(Re: children and adolescents with mental health problems): it isn't always as easy as it should be for young people to access the service.

16

(Re: a recent inspection of child protection arrangements): Inspectors also identified a number of areas for development and the need for the council to review the high caseloads in one part of the county.

17

Work to address rural access issues in Hampshire is under way but is not well coordinated. ....there is no overall plan which all the organisations serving rural communities are signed up to. The result is a gap in joined up planning which may lead to differences in how easy it is for people to benefit from services.

18

.. transport to get young people in isolated areas to skills, training and education venues, for example, is still a problem.

21

... things are difficult for people who do not have use of a car.

19

However, there are still too many minor assaults (and partners are focusing on reducing these and specifically the number of people who are victims of domestic abuse).

19

Although serious violent crime is still too high ......

19

Reoffending by young people in Hampshire is higher than in similar areas .....

19

(Re: Fire related deaths): Although there was a rise in the number of deaths during 2008-2009 .....

20

... a minority of towns and built up areas are not kept that well. Levels of graffiti, fly tipping, fly posting and abandoned vehicles are too high in some areas.

20

.. planned schemes to improve leisure facilities in Gosport have not yet been delivered.

20

(Re: South Downs National Park Authority): It is important that councils and the NPAs work and plan together to serve local people, businesses and visitors and to maintain the environment and culture of the area.

20 / 21

The overall picture of Hampshire though, hides the differences in how healthy people are depending to a large extent on where they live. For example, although the Hampshire wide target for people who have quit smoking has been achieved, Rushmoor, Gosport and Havant failed to meet it. This means that there remains a gap between the health of those living in more deprived areas compared to others. Life expectancy within Hampshire varies ... with as much as eight years difference depending on location.

21

People in rural parts of Hampshire who make an emergency call for an ambulance wait longer for one to arrive than in neighbouring areas or nationally.

21

Partners are not currently meeting their aims to reduce the number of people admitted to acute hospitals as an emergency. More people - and particularly older people - have to go to hospital because of an illness or an accident rather than be treated at home or in the community, than health services had planned for.

22

The efficiency of health services in Hampshire is improving but partners need to do more now and in the future to make sure that the money available goes as far as possible in meeting people's health needs. In some parts of the county significant changes in the delivery of health services are being planned and these need to be seen through.

22

A key issue is that people who could be looked after at home or in their local community are still going into hospital for treatment, which does not make the best or most efficient use of local services, and can be less good for the patient.

22

..... health and other partners still need to improve how they work together to make changes which are in the best interest of the patient and the public.

23

However some councils seem reluctant to share services. Partners have been slow to take the opportunities for improved efficiency and value on a larger scale. Higher cost services, such as waste collection are not usually delivered across more than one council area in Hampshire. Partnership working is emerging too slowly and there is clear potential for improved efficiency which has not yet been taken.

23

The potential savings of moving to a single waste authority responsible for both collection and disposal have not yet been fully considered.

24

However, congestion remains a difficult challenge and continues to be a key concern for local people and businesses in parts of Hampshire, such as Gosport and in Basingstoke.

24

.. in the meantime (before further phases of the bus rapid transit system, Gosport to Fareham, are identified), traffic congestion is limiting development and investment in Gosport.

24

.. the current downturn in the economy is likely to result in too few new homes being built in the next few years. .. three districts failing to meet their share of the overall target. A key risk remains in the south of the county where the funding available to the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) which is set aside to deliver new housing, is under threat from central government.

25

Progress on the delivery of affordable and rural housing is mixed. Most districts have either met or beaten their target for completing affordable homes in the past year, but some have not.