Agenda and minutes

§  Stewart Adamson – Assistant Chief Officer, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service

§  Mel Barrett – Chief Executive, Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

§  Councillor Simon Bound – Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

§  Councillor Chris Carter – Chairman, Hampshire Fire & Rescue Authority

§  Councillor Trevor Cartwright – Leader, Fareham Borough Council

§  John Coughlan – Chief Executive, Hampshire County Council

§  Dave Curry – Chief Officer, Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service

§  Andy Ferrier – Corporate Director, Test Valley Borough Council

§  David Fletcher – Assistant Director for Economic Development, Hampshire County Council

§  Peter Grimwood – Chief Executive, Fareham Borough Council

§  David Hardcastle – Hampshire Constabulary

§  Councillor Caroline Horrill – Leader, Winchester City Council

§  Patricia Hughes – Joint Chief Executive, Hart District Council

§  Bob Jackson – Chief Executive, New Forest District Council

§  Councillor Andrew Joy – Executive Member for Communities, Partnerships & External Affairs, Hampshire County Council

§  Councillor Keith Mans – Deputy Leader, Hampshire County Council

§  Councillor David Neighbour – Leader, Hart District Council

§  Councillor Roy Perry – Leader, Hampshire County Council

§  Daryl Phillips – Joint Chief Executive, Hart District Council

§  Jean Robert-Jones – Hampshire Voluntary Sector Consortium

§  Camilla Sharp – Economy Specialist Lead, Eastleigh Borough Council

§  Samuel Underwood – Southern Water

Apologies were received from:     

§  Alison Barnes – Chief Executive, New Forest National Park Authority

§  Paul Bright – Hampshire Voluntary Sector Consortium

§  Councillor Michael Cheshire – Leader, Havant

§  Councillor David Clifford – Leader, Rushmoor Borough Council

§  Tim Colman – Federation Borough Council of Small Businesses (Wessex)          

§  Councillor Mike Evans – Chairman, Hampshire Association of Local Councils

§  Dominic Hardy – Director of Commissioning Operations, NHS England (Wessex)

§  Sandy Hopkins – Chief Executive, East Hampshire District and Havant Borough Councils

§  Councillor Keith House – Leader, Eastleigh Borough Council         

§  Councillor Richard Millard – Leader, East Hampshire District Council

§  Councillor Phil North – Leader, Test Valley Borough Council

§  Olivia Pinkney – Chief Constable, Hampshire Constabulary (represented by David Hardcastle)

§  Paul Shackley – Chief Executive, Rushmoor Borough Council

§  Laura Taylor – Chief Executive, Winchester City Council

§  Roger Tetstall – Chief Executive, Test Valley Borough Council (represented by Andrew Ferrier, Corporate Director)

§  Nick Tustian – Chief Executive, Eastleigh Borough Council (represented by Camilla Sharp)

§  Councillor Anne Winstanley – Eastleigh Borough Council

Councillor Roy Perry extended a warm welcome to everyone including Samuel Underwood as a new member to the Hampshire Partnership representing Southern Water.

Councillor Perry reported on the budget pressures being experienced by Hampshire County Council and the need to find a further £140m of savings by 2019 to address the withdrawal of Revenue Support Grant by the Government, and to deal with inflationary and demographic pressures.  A consultation “Serving Hampshire - Balancing the Budget” had been launched inviting the views of residents and stakeholders.  Partners noted that the launch of the consultation had originally been scheduled for 9 June but due to the General Election being called for the same day, the launch had been rescheduled to a later date whist taking account of the need to allow enough time to analyse the responses to feed into transformation proposals in September and October.

Devolution Update

Councillor Perry reported on a letter he had received from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid confirming that the Government remains committed to local government devolution whilst emphasising that any proposals had to be with the agreement of all interested partners.  A copy of the Secretary of State’s letter would be circulated.

Sam Underwood from Southern Water will provide an insight into the company’s plans for the future and opportunities for innovation.

Samuel Underwood, Southern Water’s Stakeholder Engagement Manager (Hampshire & Isle of Wight) gave a presentation which provided an insight into the company’s plans for the future and opportunities for innovation.  Southern Water’s area covers East and West Sussex, Hampshire and Kent which includes 83 coastline bathing waters and the South East having the highest concentration of vineyards.  Services are delivered against the challenging backdrop of water scarcity, technology changes and climate change.

A consultation “Let’s Talk Water” had been launched, the first stage of which closed on 30 June.  The consultation had attracted feedback from key stakeholders including the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Natural England and the New Forest National Park Authority.

Work was underway with a number of Hampshire villages that have above average daily water consumption to encourage and enable a reduction, the scaling up of small projects such as on the River Test and the take-up by two developers of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDs) which sees the use of smaller baths, tap aerators and grey water to reduce the potential impact with respect to surface water drainage discharges.

Lastly Samuel reported on the innovative work being done to reduce water wastage with the development use of new pipe materials, looking at devices to retrofit water meters to enable customers to monitor water use in the same way that energy usage can be monitored, and the securing of investment to bring all 83 coastline bathing waters up to the ‘excellent’ standard.

During the course of discussion Partners noted the work being done within schools to raise awareness about water usage through a variety of mechanisms such as national curriculum packs highlighting Southern Water campaigns, work with Head Teachers and giving talks in schools, and working with local businesses to get involved.  It was also noted that a Planning Enquiry was scheduled for January 2018 regarding Southern Water’s extraction plans and further updates would be provided. 

Questions regarding the split of water usage between agriculture and industry; how local businesses, particularly SMEs could get involved in water campaigns; and Southern Water’s figures regarding the number of new homes being built in Hampshire over the next 25 years being in accordance with Local Plans would be responded to separately.

With Brexit now on the horizon, but considerable uncertainty around post Brexit trading conditions, there has never been a more critical time to support our economy at both a local and national level. David Fletcher, Hampshire County Council’s Assistant Director for Economic Development will give a presentation focussing on how we need to play to the competitive economic advantages of Hampshire, and support businesses in optimising the value of innovation, talent, exporting and increased productivity.

David Fletcher, Hampshire County Council’s Assistant Director for Economic Development updated Partners on the competitive economic advantages of Hampshire, and support to businesses in optimising the value of innovation, talent, exporting and increased productivity against the backdrop of what is happening nationally.

Hampshire has a large and relatively successful economy with a diverse range of employment sectors and is home to a large number of HQs for corporate organisations.  Hampshire’s proximity to London is a positive factor and the Port of Southampton with its major export/import trade, Farnborough as Europe’s leading business aviation airport and Southampton International Airport and its growth aspirations, together with the University’s of Southampton and Winchester, all of which have an important role in the economic prosperity of Hampshire.  Quality of life in Hampshire and its diverse natural environment is also a big draw.

Other successes have contributed to growing Hampshire’s economy, such as:

§  the America World Cup Series in Portsmouth

§  Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre providing a permanent facility and hosting the popular Farnborough Air Show

§  a number of key businesses relocating parts, if not all of their operations to Farnborough Business Park

§  home grown businesses such as ASV Global based in Portchester developing marine autonomous vessel technology who were recently awarded Hampshire Business of the Year by Hampshire County Council in recognition of a 93% increase in business in 2016

§  Feefo, a customer feedback software company based in Petersfield who are opening offices in Boston, USA

Going forward, Partners noted the challenges for Hampshire such as: a notably higher than average number of journeys to work made by car; the high cost of housing; a lack of supply of business properties particularly Grade A office space and the uncertainties around Brexit.  Nonetheless Hampshire is viewed as a serious place for business investment.  Supporting business growth through the sharing of expertise and knowledge will be increasingly important as is investment in skills training to address specific business needs; looking at best practice models at home and abroad; looking at infrastructure needs beyond Hampshire – road connectivity, airports and so on, and innovation. 

In terms of local government and next steps, increasing partnership working across all sectors is a key area of focus; making the most of what Hampshire already has to offer; making use of the most effective delivery models – clearer branding, increasing commercial ethos; focus on sustainable jobs/careers; promoting tourism – ‘Visit Hampshire’ website launched in March 2017 and work with partners is ongoing to develop the content of the site, and attracting people to live in Hampshire by focusing on the many ‘quality of life’ assets that the natural environment has to offer.

Further updates will be brought to the Hampshire Partnership as the Brexit negotiations crystallize.

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster in London, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service had been at the centre of co-ordinating a response across the county to assess and provide reassurance about the safety of high rise buildings.  Councillor Perry invited Stewart Adamson, Assistant Chief Officer at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to provide partners with an update on the latest position.

Stewart reported that the Department for Communities and Local Government had convened an expert panel who had issued guidance and this was being followed.  Of the 245 high rise (over 18 metres) buildings in Hampshire, 15 had been identified as having similar cladding to that of Grenfell Towers.  Inspection of all 15 buildings had been undertaken together with safety checks.  Safety checks on a further 100 buildings had been completed and this activity was continuing with specialist Fire Engineers looking at the highest risk buildings.  Stewart highlighted the importance of local authorities, local housing providers and others responsible for the buildings in question working together to ensure key messages and reassurance were cascaded across the county.

David Hardcastle representing Hampshire Constabulary updated Partners on work being done by the Local Resilience Forums and others following the recent attack in Manchester and the country moving to ‘critical’ in terms of a terrorism threat.  As a result, some local events would have overtly armed officers on foot patrol as part of an ongoing review process which required a joined up multi-agency approach.

The Chairman thanked all Partners for their input and Samuel Underwood and David Fletcher in particular for their informative presentations.

Future items on the agriculture and rural environments of Hampshire were noted.

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Provisional dates for 2018:

Thursday 15 March (Council Chamber, Castle Hill)

Wednesday 11 July

Tuesday 13 November

All meetings will commence at 10.30am in the Ashburton Hall, Elizabeth II Court, The Castle, Winchester unless stated otherwise.

It was noted that the next meeting of The Hampshire Partnership would be held on Wednesday 1 November 2017 commencing at 10.30am in Ashburton Hall, Elizabeth II Court (Podium Level), Hampshire County Council, Winchester.

Agreed dates for 2018:

All meetings will commence at 10.30am in the Ashburton Hall, Elizabeth II Court, The Castle, Winchester unless stated otherwise:

Thursday 15 March 2018 (Council Chamber, Castle Hill)

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Tuesday 13 November 2018