To receive such reports as the Leader of the Council may wish to bring before the Council.
Minutes:
The Leader opened his report by expressing his deepest sympathies and condolences to all those affected by the devastating earthquakes that had recently struck Turkey and Syria. Several leading charities had launched appeals and anyone wishing to donate should visit the Disasters Emergency Committee’s website – www.dec.org.uk.
The Leader also reported that Friday 24 February marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The County Council will fly the Ukrainian flag outside the Great Hall on that day and take part in the national moment of silence at 11am as a mark of respect and to pay tribute to the courage of the Ukrainian people.
Over 3,000 Ukrainians (over 1,400 families) had been welcomed in Hampshire through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. The County Council, in partnership with Hampshire district and borough councils and community partners provide a wide range of services and support and the Leader thanked County Council officers, especially those in the Children’s Services Directorate, who have worked tirelessly over the last 11 months to help Ukrainian families settle in the county and rebuild their lives. The Leader also expressed his thanks to the 1,900 hosts for their compassion and generosity. The government had announced that thank you payments for Homes for Ukraine hosts across the UK will increase from £350 to £500 per month from April if their guest/s have been resident in the UK for more than 12 months, however the County Council will increase the thank you payments to £500 per month regardless of how long their guests have been in the UK.
The Leader thanked all officers for the help and support extended to residents and local communities by keeping services going during recent bad weather conditions, which had created a perfect storm of localised flooding, freezing surfaces and a significant increase in potholes. The Leader extended a special thank you to the frontline Highways Teams who had worked around the clock and often unpleasant circumstances to keep the road network safe.
The Leader referred to recent media and social media interest questioning bonus payments made to County Council staff. For absolute clarity, the Leader confirmed that special recognition payments were only made to staff members for exceptional achievement and high performance in their role, often going above and beyond to support the needs of residents. By way of context, the Leader commented that Hampshire County Council is the third largest shire authority in the country and its staff were responsible for delivering a huge number of important local services to Hampshire’s 1.4 million residents, including to growing numbers of the most vulnerable adults and children in Hampshire’s communities. The total cost of in-year and end-of-year special recognition payments for 2022 equated to only 0.19% of the pay bill, with 11.09%of staff being recognised and rewarded. The efforts of all the County Council’s dedicated staff were greatly valued and where they had proved to be outstanding in a given year, the County Council has the flexibility and capacity to be able to award an additional, one-off payment in recognition, which demonstrated one of the ways the County Council seeks to retain talented and experienced employees.
The Leader reported on a letter of engagement from the Levelling Up Minister, Dehenna Davison, to upper tier and unitary councils across the wider Hampshire area to discuss a potential County Deal as part of the next wave of the national programme. Meetings were taking place. The Leader and Deputy Leader had sent letters to all Hampshire MPs and undertook discussions with several of them last month.
Finally the Leader conveyed his warmest wishes to Their Majesties the King and Queen Consort ahead of the Coronation of the King on Saturday 6 May 2023. The Leader was pleased to confirm that the new round of Members Devolved Budget would open earlier this year in order to support local Coronation events. He also recommended anyone who is considering holding a local event or street party to check their district or borough council’s website as soon as possible in case a road closure or other application might be required.