Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted.

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 held on 16 January 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2020 were agreed by the Committee as a correct record.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

There were no deputations.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman had several announcements as this had been the first Committee meeting since the Covid-19 lockdown and ongoing national crisis. The Chairman expressed thanks to all staff who had worked so hard to manage throughout the epidemic. The Chairman made the following announcements:

·        Many culture and community services had been required to close at the onset of the national lockdown. The Chairman was pleased to add that, at the time of thee meeting, all services had begun to re-open based upon Government guidance and with emphasis on customer and staff safety.

·        In accordance with guidelines, Country Parks had opened some facilities on 13 May and farm attractions and Titchfield Haven had opened on 6 July. Camping, toilet facilities and the cafes had reopened at Calshot, Tile Barn and Runways End with the Hampshire Mountain Centre in Wales remaining closed in line with Welsh policy.

·         Libraries reopened on 6 July for short visits and with reduced hours. Digital library provision had been ongoing and had been extremely popular throughout the lockdown period. Demand for digital services had understandably increased by a significant percentage. Many services were now being delivered using social media with interactive videos, clubs, groups being available online. The home library service had resumed deliveries in the week of 18 May.

To consider a report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services setting out proposals for the Library Service Transformation and Strategy to 2025.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services regarding the Library Service Transformation to 2025 and proposals to achieve required savings as part of the Transformation to 2021 programme.

The Chairman noted that she had received some County Councillor requests to speak on this item and invited these Members to address the Committee. Councillor Glen spoke regarding the proposed closure of Odiham Library and expressed his concerns that Basingstoke and Fleet library branches were too far to travel should Odiham be closed. Councillor Burgess spoke regarding the volume of responses received as part of the consultation and noted that he echoed the views of the majority of respondents from the Lee-on-Solent area who had requested that the library remain open. Councillor Frankum spoke regarding the proposal to keep Chineham Library open and thanked officers for their work on the consultation and for assessing the data in detail. Councillor Westbrook urged the Committee to look at other options for the evolution of the service as opposed to closing libraries particularly South Ham Library, noting the important role that libraries play for young people from deprived communities.

After Councillors had spoken, the Chairman thanked them for their comments and invited Nicola Horsey, Assistant Director – Regulatory and Community Services and Emma Noyce, Head of Libraries, to deliver a presentation and introduce the report.

The following information was noted by the Committee through the presentation:

• From 9 January 2020 to 18 March 2020 the County Council conducted an open consultation, seeking the views of people who live, work and/or study in Hampshire, and of wider stakeholders, on proposed changes to the Hampshire Library Service.
• The supporting information within the consultation set out the context for making the planned savings of £1.76million as part of the County Council’s Transformation to 2021 programme (T21). The programme was established in response to the Council £80million funding ‘gap’ due to a significantly reduced Central Government grant, growing demand for statutory services and rising costs and inflation. Savings totals were agreed by the County Council across all departments at its meeting in November 2019 and this included the Library Service.
• The consultation had been widely promoted and received many responses reaching 21,200 in total. Following extensive analysis, some of the main findings of the consultation were set out for the Committee within the presentation slides.
• The impact of the Covid-19 national crisis on the service was highlighted, in particular that it would not be possible to meet the income generation target  and that other planned activities would need to deliver more to make up for the loss.

·         The options for making the planned T21 savings were set out. The Committee also reviewed the role of the Task and Finish Group (T&FG) who had, alongside officers, investigated these options and had contributed towards the development of the proposals. Members noted that comprehensive Equality Impact Assessments had been compiled for both staff and for service users.

In response to Members’ questions, the following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

To consider the Committee’s forthcoming Work Programme.

The Committee received the report of the Director of Transformation and Governance which set out the Committee’s upcoming work programme.

The following items were proposed to be added, if possible for the September meeting:

·         An update on theatres and entertainment venues across Hampshire.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme, subject to the additions set out above, was agreed.