Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Tennent and Westbrook. Councillor Thornton attended the meeting as the Liberal Democrat substitute.

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 the circumstances described in 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 Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 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 previous meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

There were no deputations received for this meeting.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman welcomed both the Leader and Executive Member for Policy and Resources and Executive Member for Commercial Strategy, Human Resources and Performance to the meeting.

For the Policy and Resources Select Committee to pre-scrutinise the proposed revenue budget for 2020/21 for Policy and Resources.

The Select Committee received a report from Chief Officers and a supporting joint presentation from the Director of Corporate Resources and Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services regarding the proposed Revenue Budget for 2020/21 for the services within the portfolio of the Executive Member for Policy and Resources (see Item 6 in the Minute Book).

Members were updated on the financial position for the current year. Overall the outturn forecast for Policy and Resources cash limited budgets showed a balanced position. It was reported that for the HC3S trading unit, the combination of cost rises and a reduction in demand for school meals would cause a deficit for the 2019/20 financial year. However, actions were being put in place to mitigate the level of the eventual deficit.

RESOLVED:

That the Policy and Resources Select Committee supports the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources and requests that feedback given on the County Councils management of the school meals service and advantageous land acquisition policy be noted:

To approve for submission to the Leader and the Cabinet:

      i.        The revised revenue budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1.

    ii.        The revenue budget for 2020/21 as set out in Appendix 1.

For the Policy and Resources Select Committee to pre-scrutinise the proposals for the Policy and Resources Capital Programme for 2020/21 – 2022/23.

The Select Committee received a report from Chief Officers and a supporting joint presentation from the Director of Corporate Resources and Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on proposals for the 2020/21 to 2022/23 capital programme for Policy and Resources services within the Corporate Services and Culture, Communities and Business Services Departments.

The Director summarised the main points of the report. Following the ensuing discussion, the Chairman proposed the recommendation which was agreed.

RESOLVED:

That the Policy and Resources Select Committee supports the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources:

To approve for submission to the Leader and the Cabinet:

      i.        The capital programme for 2020/21 to 2022/23 as set out in Appendix 1.

    ii.        The revised capital programme for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 2. 

    iii.            The deferral of resources from 2019/20 to 2020/21 relating to schemes of £1.937 million as set out in paragraph 32 of the report.

To receive and consider a report and presentation from the Chief Executive  providing strategic oversight of the County Council’s performance during the first six months of 2019/20 against the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan for 2017-21.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Executive and Head of Law and Governance (Item 8 in the Minute Book) detailing the County Council’s performance for the first half of 2019/20.

Members were given a high-level summary of the key areas of the report and noted that the overall performance measured against Serving Hampshire remained Good during the first half of 2019/20, evidencing strong performance in the delivery of core services.

Discussions were had regarding how this Select Committee could effectively scrutinise the performance and risks within each of the service departments. The Assistant Chief Executive advised that it was the remit of the other Select Committees to carry out service specific scrutiny within their given areas. It was therefore agreed to review and explore options on how this information could be reported to this Committee in the future and that any changes would come about once the County Council’s Strategic Plan was created for 2021.

The Committee also noted the awards/accreditations received by the County Council.  It was agreed that Officers would explore the options as to how these could be more widely publicised to Members in the future. 

RESOLVED:

That the Select Committee notes:

a) the County Council’s performance for the first half of 2019/20; and

b) the progress to advance inclusion and diversity.

To receive a report from the Director of Corporate Resources – Corporate Services (Head of IT) giving an update on IT matters.

The Committee considered a report on behalf of the Director of Corporate Resources by the Head of I (Item 9 in the Minute Book) updating the Committee on the main IT activity over the year and summarising its priorities ahead.

The Director summarised the main IT activities undertaken during the year which included:

·         The Modern Desktop project to replace the legacy Hantsnet Desktop 

·         Completion of the Enabling Productivity Programme which delivered a refreshed device estate to Hampshire Staff

·         Completed the implementation of SharePoint online as anew Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) and subsequent stabilisation project.

·         Increased bandwidth across the corporate sites, as well as 90%+ of schools across Hampshire that take the service

·         Creation of a Predictive Analytics Digital Platform (Microsoft Azure Analytics) to enable departmental access to a data lake, data modelling, reporting and visualisation (PowerBI) dashboards going forward.

The Director also answered a number of questions on the departmental priorities for the year ahead.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To review the work programme of topics to be considered by the Select Committee at future meetings.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Transformation and Governance – Corporate Services detailing the work programme for the coming year (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be agreed.