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.

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed 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 reported that further to the presentation and discussion held at the previous Policy and Resources Select Committee meeting regarding the national LEP review process, the two Hampshire LEPs had jointly submitted a proposal to Government which transferred all of the New Forest District area to the Solent LEP area and that the Districts of Test Valley, Winchester and East Hampshire were to wholly become part of the Enterprise M3 LEP area, hence removing the ‘split Districts’ which Government had requested be eliminated as part of the review process.

Both the Enterprise M3 and Solent LEPs have now received letters from the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, stating that he is “delighted to see how you have positively addressed the recommendations from the LEP review”. The Chairman reported that the Chief Executive and Chairman of both LEP’s would be invited to make a short presentation to the Select Committee meeting in March.

The Chairman also reported that this would be Marie Mannveille’s last meeting of the Select Committee as she would be taking on different duties within the Democratic and Members Services team. The Committee thanked her for her support during the last 10 years.

For the Policy and Resources Select Committee to consider a budget setting report considered by Cabinet on 10 December 2018 for background, and to pre-scrutinise the proposed revenue budget for 2019/20 for Policy & Resources (which is due for consideration by the Executive Member for Policy & Resources at his Decision Day on 18 January 2019 at 3.30pm).

The Select Committee received a report from Chief Officers and a supporting presentation from the Director of Corporate Resources regarding the proposed Revenue Budget for 2019/20 for the services within the portfolio of the Executive Member for Policy & Resources (see Item 6 in the Minute Book). As background, the report considered by Cabinet on 10 December 2018 regarding Budget Setting and Provisional Cash Limits 2019/20 was also provided, to provide context for how the budgets had been set for 2019/20.

Members were updated on the Transformation to 2019 (Tt2019) programme and key Departmental challenges and issues and asked questions for clarification.

In response to Members’ questions around Government’s funding to local authorities’ services, the Director reported that the Society of County Treasurers were working together to better coordinate County Councils message to Government about the shortfall in funding received for Adults’, Children’s and Health needs which needs to be addressed and which could be best picked up in the Fair Funding Review.

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:

1.1.        The revised revenue budget for 2018/19 as set out in Appendix 1.

1.2. The revenue budget for 2019/20 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 2019/20 – 2021/22 (see report attached due to be considered by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources at 3.30pm on 18 January 2019).

The Select Committee received a report from Chief Officers and a supporting presentation from the Director of Corporate Resources on the Capital Programme for Policy and Resources (Item 7 in the Minute Book) regarding proposals for the Policy and Resources Capital Programme for 2019/2020 –2021/2022.

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 2019/2020 to 2021/2022 as set out in Appendix 1.

    ii.        The revised capital programme for 2018/2019 as set out in Appendix 2.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive  providing strategic oversight of the County Council’s performance during the first six months of 2018/19 against the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan for 2017-21.

The Committee considered a report from the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book) providing strategic oversight of the County Council’s performance during the first six months of 2018/19 against the Serving Hampshire Strategic Plan for 2017-21.

Members heard that the County Council had performed well in the delivery of core public services during the first half of 2018/19 and that good progress was being made to advance the organisation’s inclusion and diversity work.

During discussion, Members asked a number of questions on matters including, highway maintenance, Delayed Transfer of Care and CO2 emissions performance.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

      i.        notes the County Council’s performance for the first half of 2018/19.

    ii.        endorses work underway to advance the County Council’s inclusion and diversity work, recognising feedback from the National Inclusion Standard pilot and staff survey.

To receive a presentation from the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services on Broadband matters.

The Committee received a presentation from the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services on Broadband matters (Item 9 in the Minute Book).

Members were given an update in particular on the Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme which runs was on track to provide coverage for 97.4% of the region (above government targets).

The Director also highlighted the following key facts:

·         c. 20,000 premises without access to superfast broadband

·         USO (Universal Service Obligation) to offer minimum of 10Mbps by 2020

·         The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR)

–     Part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, proposes the changes that are needed to give the majority of the population access to 5G, connect 15 million premises to full fibre broadband by 2025, and provide full fibre broadband coverage across all of the UK by 2033.

·         Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) to all by 2033

During discussion Members were made aware of particular hotspots which received slower connections to Broadband and were advised on where individual responsibilities lay. It was also reported the reasons for the lengthy timescales and costs involved for works/connections to be carried out.

Due to the evolving picture on Broadband matters, Members asked that a further update be brought back to the Committee in 6 months time.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted and a further update be brought back to the Committee in 6 months time.

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

The Committee received a report on behalf of the Director of Corporate

Resources by the Head of IT, (Item 10 in the Minute Book) giving an update on the main IT activity over the past year and priorities for the year ahead.

The Director reported that recent IT activity had focussed on leading major transformational programmes of the County Council including Digital 2, SharePoint/O365, Enabling Productivity, as well as supporting the onboarding of 3 new partners to the Shared Services partnership, and delivering numerous projects to support Transformation to 2019 across the organisation.

The Director also summarised and 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 in future.

The Chairman presented the forthcoming work programme for the Policy and

Resources Select Committee (Item 11 in the Minute Book)

The Chairman highlighted his intention to invite the Enterprise M3 and Solent Local Enterprise Partnerships to make a presentation to the Committee in March. It was agreed to add this to the work programme.

Following consideration of the Broadband report earlier on the agenda, it was agreed to have this item brought back to the Committee in 6 months time.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be agreed with the addition of:

      i.        A presentation from the Enterprise M3 and Solent Local Enterprise Partnerships being submitted to the meeting in March 2019.

    ii.        A further presentation on Broadband matters in 6 months time.