Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Fran Carpenter, Adrian Collett, Steve Forster, Dominic Hiscock, Keith House, Anna McNair Scott, Lance Quantrill, Martin Tod and Sean Woodward.

Apologies were also received from Honorary Alderman Patricia Banks, Roger Kimber and Marilyn Tucker.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 May 2017.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 25 May 2017 were agreed subject to an amendment to minute 7. to note that Councillor Seán Woodward paid tribute to former County Councillor and Honorary Alderman John Bryant.  The Minutes were signed by the Chairman.

To receive the following deputations from:

a.    Suzy Woolford requesting a crossing point on Bodycoats Road outside the main entrance of Toynbee Secondary School, Chandlers Ford

b.    Helen Warren regarding the Motor Neurone Disease Charter

The Council received deputations from Suzy Woolford requesting a crossing point on Bodycoats Road outside the main entrance of Toynbee School, Chandlers Ford, and from Helen Warren regarding the Motor Neurone Disease Charter.

To receive such announcements as the Chairman may wish to make to the Council.

The Chairman reported on the wide range of duties undertaken to represent and promote the County Council and its strong community leadership role.  The list of engagements undertaken since the last Council meeting by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had been circulated to all Members.

It was with much sadness that the Chairman reported the passing of former County Councillor Frank Pearce on 5 July 2017 who had represented the Hayling Island County Electoral Division from 2009 to 2017.  The Chairman invited Councillor Roy Perry to say a few words and to invite personal tributes from the Chamber.  The following Councillors spoke: Ray Bolton, Jackie Branson, Chris Carter, Jane Frankum, Marge Harvey, Andrew Joy, David Keast, Jackie Porter and David Simpson.  The Council observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.

To receive such reports as the Leader of the Council may wish to bring before the Council.

Firstly the Leader reported that the Council had recently responded to urgent enquiries from Government Departments in relation to both residential towers and school buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London.  The County Council is not a housing authority and, therefore, has no residential properties of the type impacted by the fire in London.  The school estate in Hampshire has a small number of three and four storey buildings but there are no parallels to the construction and fire safety arrangements at Grenfell Tower.  Schools are subject to regular fire inspections and drills, the County Council takes a comprehensive approach to fire evacuation.  Progress of the Grenfell Tower Enquiry will be monitored closely in regard to any recommendations arising from it that have implications for the Council.

The Leader reported on the Annual Conference of the Local Government Association and the debates held on fire and terrorist attacks following recent incidents.  The Leader had met with leaders of the Muslim community in Hampshire at which positive statements were made about the good relationship that exists with the County Council.

The Leader referred to the County Council’s budget consultation that was opened on 3 July, which will close on 21 August 2017.  The County Council is faced with making a further £140m of savings as a result of loss of government grant together with inflationary and demographic pressures.  Local Government finance was also discussed at a recent meeting of the SE7 which highlighted that the pressures of many other services rank above local government in regard to central government funding.

The Leader confirmed that there will be a service of commemoration on 11 October 2017 for the late Harvey Cole, a former Councillor and Honorary of the County Council, which will take place in the Great Hall.  Members will receive details in due course.

The Leader gave notice of his proposal to put forward former County Councillors for the title of Honorary Alderman – Ken Thornber, Alan Rice, Keith Chapman and Sharyn Wheale at a Special Meeting of the Council on 2 November 2017.  The Leader will be contacting other Group Leaders for their nominations.  The Council signified its support.

To deal with questions pursuant to Standing Order 16.1.1.  Where a member has submitted more than one question, their second and subsequent questions will not be answered until all members’ first questions have been dealt with.

Executive Members responded to questions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 16.1.1, as published.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive to make any Member appointments of alterations, as required, to the membership of committees and standing panels of the County Council, to statutory joint committees, to other proportional bodies the County Council is represented on, or to any other bodies which are not subject to proportionality rules.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book), as presented by the Leader, proposing a number of appointments to the County Councils committees and advisory panels, and to outside bodies that the County Council is represented on.

RESOLVED:

That the appointments set out in the report be approved.

To consider a report of the Education Advisory Panel seeking the Council’s approval of revised terms of reference for the Panel.

The Council considered the report of the Education Advisory Panel (Item 9 in the Minute Book) as presented by the Chairman of the Panel, Councillor Peter Edgar who confirmed that the proposals had attracted cross-party support when considered by the Panel. 

Members noted that the existing terms of reference for the Education Advisory Panel were out of date and in need of revision to underpin the work of the Panel going forward.  Members welcomed the extended membership to include headteacher representation from the special school sector.

RESOLVED:

That the revised terms of reference for the Education Advisory Panel, as set out in Appendix 1 of the supporting report, be approved.

To consider a report of the Cabinet seeking adoption of the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan as part of the County Council’s Policy Framework, as set out in the Constitution, replacing the County Council’s Corporate Strategy and Sustainable Community Strategy.

The County Council considered the report of the Cabinet (Item 10 in the Minute Book) seeking approval to adopt the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan for 2017-2021 as part of the County Council’s Policy Framework, replacing the County Council’s Corporate Strategy and the Sustainable Community Strategy.  An amendment to Annex 1 to the Cabinet report was noted at Outcome 2:  first bullet point in the section “The way we work” at the bottom of the page to replace the word ‘enhance’ with ‘engage’.

In presenting the report, the Leader drew attention to the four outcomes of the Strategy as illustrated in Annex 1 to the Cabinet report which would be achieved by building on established partnerships, particularly with district and parish councils, the NHS, police and fire services, the Police & Crime Commissioner, and the private and voluntary sectors.

The Leader highlighted a good example of partnership working and the recent meeting of The HampshirePartnership at which presentations were received regarding economic development comparing the Hampshire economy with the economies of other parts of the South East, and from Southern Water regarding their plans and proposals for the future and the effective work being done in conjunction with the County Council as the lead Flood Authority to tackle flooding.

RESOLVED:

That the County Council:

a)    Approves the adoption of the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan for 2017-2021 as part of the County Council’s Policy Framework, as set out in the Constitution, replacing the County Council’s Corporate Strategy.

b)    Notes the decision of Cabinet that the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan replace the County Council’s Sustainable Community Strategy and approves the removal of the latter from the County Council’s Policy Framework, as set out in the Constitution.

To consider report of the Cabinet setting out the end of year position for the financial period 2016/17 and seeking approval of IT projects to support the Digital 2 and the Transformation to 2019 programmes.  Approval is also sought of the County Council’s treasury management activities and prudential indicators.

The County Council considered the report of the Cabinet (Item 11 in the Minutes Book) setting out the financial position of the Council at the end of the 2016/17 financial year.  In presenting the report the Leader drew attention to the further £140m of savings required and highlighted the importance of staying within budget and making economies as early as possible to put the County Council in a good position to deal with the challenges ahead.

During the course of debate Members noted the successful delivery of a two-year transformation programme to 2017 and proposed additional investment in the digital programme to support further transformation through to 2019 and beyond.  It was also noted that nationally there is a move to reduce the costs associated with school builds, therefore it was important to build to a good standard whilst ensuring that does not lead to high maintenance costs that could have a negative effect on a school’s budget and its ability to attract high quality teaching staff.

RESOLVED:

a)    That a sum of £8.6m from the Invest to Save Reserve to progress the Digital 2 Programme, a Corporate Wi-Fi Upgrade and other enabling IT infrastructure be approved.

b)    That an initial sum of £7.5m from the Invest to Save Reserve to plan, scope, design and deliver other enabling IT projects to support the Transformation to 2019 Programme subject to business cases being approved by the Director of Corporate Resources be approved.

c)    That the report of the County Council’s treasury management activities and prudential indicators, as set out in Appendix 3 of the supporting report, be approved.

To deal with any questions which have been submitted pursuant to Standing Order 16.3 concerning the discharge of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s functions.

No questions had been submitted in accordance with Standing Order 16.3.

To receive a report from the Authority.

The Council received the report of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (Item 12b in the Minute Book) as presented by the Chairman of the Fire Authority, Councillor Chris Carter.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy Councillor Carter made a short statement to report to Members the work being carried out by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) to provide practical reassurance to the occupiers and owners of high-rise properties through prevention and emergency planning advice.  HFRS has been working closely with all local authorities and private landlords through the Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), Response Working Groups (RWGs) and Strategic Co-ordination Groups (SCGs) to inspect all high-rise properties within Hampshire in a prioritised and targeted way, in accordance with government guidance.  There had been a number of engagement activities across the county including public meetings and drop-in sessions at Fire Stations together with extensive use of social media to provide advice about what to do in the event of a fire.  Members would be kept informed of developments.

During the course of the debate Members’ questions were answered.

To receive the annual report of the Policy and Resources Select Committee summarising the work carried out by the County Council’s Select Committees during 2016/17.

The Council received the annual report of the Policy and Resources Select Committee (Item 13 in the Minute Book) summarising the work of the County Council’s Select Committees covering the period April 2016 to March 2017.  A correction was noted to paragraph 10.4 of the report – the call-in date referred to should be 19 July 2016.

To receive the annual report of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee summarising the health scrutiny work carried out by the Committee during 2016/17.

The Council received the annual report of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee (Item 14 in the Minute Book) summarising the health scrutiny work carried out by the Committee covering the period April 2016 to March 2017.

Two requests for items to be added to the Committee’s forward plan of business (funding for mental health services in schools and Motor Neurone Disease) were noted by the Chairman.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive to report recent changes made by the Leader to the responsibilities of the Executive in accordance with Standing Order 11.6.3.

The Council received the report of the Chief Executive (Item 15 in the Minute Book),, as presented by the Leader, confirming recent changes in responsibility for Executive functions as set out in the Annex to the supporting report.

To receive for information the reports of the following:

The Council received the reports of the following Executive Members and Chairmen:

i)     Addition to the Capital Programme – Highways Fleet

ii)    Cabinet Advisory Sub-Committee for Economic Development and Business Engagement Forum – Terms of Reference

iii)   Shaping Hampshire – 2016/17 Year End Performance Report

iv)   ‘Working Better Together’ – next steps in developing Hampshire County Council’s relationships with Parish and Town Councils

i)             Milesdown, New Children’s Home, Winchester

i)     Review of Member Representation on Outside Bodies

ii)    National Libraries Taskforce: new vision for Library Services in England

i)             Pension Fund Pooling – Inter-Authority Agreement