Leader's Report
To receive such reports as the Leader of the Council may wish to bring before the Council.
Minutes:
During his report, the Leader reflected on the results of the General Election and expressed congratulations and commiserations accordingly. The Leader and Deputy Leader were in the process of meeting all Hampshire MPs to discuss how the County Council can help them going forward.
He made reference to the Governments’ ambitions as set out in the King’s Speech and the opportunities for Hampshire in terms of Devolution.
He confirmed, that due to the timing of the General Election, the scrutiny and decision-making on the Council’s Future Services proposals had been delayed to the Autumn. Members would then fully consider the impact of the proposals amd the response to the consultation that took place earlier in the year.
The Leader confirmed he had written to the leader of the national Conservative party to request his support for the LGA’s Debate Not Hate campaign, and would be writing to the newly appointed Minister for Local Government shortly to ask for changes to legislation so that the home addresses of councillors were not published by default. He confirmed that incidents of harassment or abuse should be reported to the Monitoring Officer, who would work with colleagues to determine an appropriate response, and that security and wellbeing resources were available on the Members Portal.
The Leader highlighted some of the Council’s recent achievements:
- Hampshire hospital discharge performance had remained exceptionally high, despite operating with reduced service levels in the last financial year. In 2023-24, over 21,000 people were supported to leave hospital settings with the direct support of the County Council and wider health and care community partners. Through these services many Hampshire residents were safely returned to their own homes to live as independently as possible. He recognised the efforts of all staff, volunteers and families in supporting this vital area of activity.
- Following significant work by the Finance Team, the County Council had published its draft year end accounts in line with the legal timeframes. He acknowledged the time and effort involved in producing the complex financial statements, which was a credit to the Finance team to have achieved it again.
- Designed and delivered by Property Services, construction had recently started on site for two new Hampshire primary schools scheduled for opening in September 2025, with a third starting on site later this month. The three new primary schools would provide a total of 1,179 places for pupils arising from three major developments in Hampshire.
The Leader reported that he had attended the first meeting of the Hampshire Prosperity Partnership Board in June. The Board received confirmation that an award of £3.8 million from the Department for Education ensured Hampshire’s Skills Bootcamp training would be available for a further year.
Hampshire County Council’s Fostering Service had launched a new campaign to find more loving homes for children in care. Hampshire and 19 other councils in the South East had formed the country’s largest local authority fostering partnership in a bid to increase the number of foster carers across the ... view the full minutes text for item 236
Leader's Report
To receive such reports as the Leader of the Council may wish to bring before the Council.
Minutes:
The Leader opened his report by confirming that letters had been sent to the relevant Government departments on the resolutions passed by the County Council on 18 May regarding consideration to amending the code of conduct provision in the Localism Act 2011, and funding for free school meals. The Leader also confimed that the Director of Children's Services had issued a communication to all schools reminding them of the updated non-statutory school uniform guidance to assist with developing and implementing their shool uniform policy and highlighting the need for schools to keep their unform policy affordable.
The Leader also updated the Council on the following:
County Deal: it was with disappointment the Leader confirmed that despite the potential benefits (new funding of £1.14bn together with extra powers and investment) and extensive discussions with all Councils and wider stakeholders, the Leaders of the three Unitary Councils of Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight had requested a separate deal, one for the Unitary Councils and one for the County area. The Government have been consistently clear there was only one single wider Pan-Hampshire Deal open for discussion. The Leader confirmed the County Council would continue to work constructively and meaningully with all local and regional partners to secure the best outcomes for residents, which was the opportunity the County Council had intended to strengthen through a County Deal arrangement.
County Council budget consultation: the
Leader took the opportunity to remind Members that the County
Council’s budget consultation would close on Sunday 23
July. As a result of many years of
underfunding by central Government, together with inflation, rising
costs and demands for vital services such as social care, the
budgets of councils across the country were under pressure against
the backdrop of the legal requirement to deliver a balanced budget
for the start of each financial year.
The Leader highlighted that the County Council faced some very
difficult future spending decisions on the delivery of local
services leading up to April 2025 and strongly encouraged residents
and stakeholders across Hampshire to have their say.
In the meantime the Leader and Deputy Leader were continuing to
actively engage with Government Ministers and Hampshire MPs
regarding the financial pressures, and how they could work with the
County Council to support the continued delivery of quality
services for Hampshire residents in the short and long term.
Investment in adult social care: the Leader confirmed that on 18 July Cabinet had approved the commencement of a formal public consultation on the County Council’s proposals to invest £173m to transform nursing and specialist care accommodation in Hampshire over the next five to six years. The proposals would see the Adult Social Care service concentrating on specialist nursing care, complete dementia care and short-term support to either prevent a hospital admission or support a hospital discharge. The Leader strongly encouraged care home residents, their families and staff together with Hampshire residents and organisations to respond to the consultation, which would open at the start of September and run ... view the full minutes text for item 161