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 sympathy to all those affected by the earthquake and flooding in Morocco and Libya. He also paid tribute to the five Hampshire firefighters who were among the specially trained UK Search and Rescue team deployed to Morocco by the Foreign Office to assist the emergency response on the ground.
In relation to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), he confirmed there were two know cases in public buildings maintained by Hampshire County Council. Cranbourne College in Basingstoke was the only school site where RAAC had been identified, and work had already been undertaken to one section of the building to make sure it was safe, and another area had been taken out of use since the beginning of the year. The school has reopened for the new academic year as normal. RAAC had also been confirmed within an area of South Ham Community Library in Basingstoke, in an area of the building that is owned by Hampshire County Council. As a precautionary measure the impacted areas were closed immediately and remain closed until appropriate mitigation measures have been implemented.
Referring to the Council’s budget planning process, the Leader thank residents and stakeholders who had responded to the public consultation on the proposed budget. Their views had helped to shape a range of savings proposals to close the £132 million budget gap by 2025-26. Individual Cabinet Members had been considering proposals affecting their areas of responsibility and recommendations would be considered by Cabinet in October, before a final decision is made by Full Council in November. The Leader reported that although the Council’s finances were stable until 2025-26, Central Government needed to fundamentally change the way that local government services were funded, or reduce what councils are legally required to deliver. He intended to continue to lobby Government for short term assistance and long-term reform to local government funding.
He reported that the strategic partnership for Children’s Services between Hampshire County Council and Isle of Wight Council would come to a close at the end of January. This followed a decade of hard work and close collaboration between officers in both local authorities with Children’s Services on the Isle of Wight now in a secure position, having been judged as Good across the board by Ofsted in their last full inspection. He expressed pride for all that had been achieved during the Partnership with the Isle of Wight, and thanked all colleagues, on the Island and in Hampshire, for the skill and dedication they have shown throughout to the children and young people they have worked so hard to support.
He welcomed the Government’s decision that upper tier local authorities in England will take on the core functions of Local Enterprise Partnerships from April 2024. The County Council was currently reviewing existing programmes and governance structures, and using an evidenced based approach, to determine the best outcomes for residents and businesses in Hampshire.
He reported that preparations for the first ever Hampshire Business Awards were continuing apace ahead of the awards ceremony in Farnborough on 30th November.
Further to the resolutions passed by County Council in July, the Leader confirmed that he had written to the Prime Minister on the subject of Gurkha veterans’ pensions and other welfare issues, and to all Hampshire MPs on the supply of vapes to young people and the environmental concerns of disposable vapes. With regard to the resolution on underage vaping, he confirmed that School Improvement Officers from the Education & Inclusion team have worked closely with the Public Health team to produce appropriate messages that schools are asked to share with students, parents, carers and teachers as appropriate. Trading Standards are also undertaking both reactive and proactive work to help prevent underage sales of vapes taking place, as well as tackling the availability of non-compliant vapes.
Regarding Homes for Ukraine, the Leader was pleased to report that the County Council will pay an extra top-up of £200 per month from October until the end of March to all Hampshire residents hosting Ukrainian guests as part of the Government’s Homes for Ukraine Scheme, meaning that all Hampshire hosts will receive a monthly payment of £700 up to the end of March.
The Leader reminded members that it was National Inclusion Week, a time dedicated to celebrating inclusion and creating inclusive workplaces. He expressed thanks to Cllr Kirsty North and Cllr Arun Mummalaneni, who were providing valuable leadership on this important agenda in their respective roles as Executive Member for Performance, Human Resources, Communications and Inclusion and Diversity, and as Member Champion for Inclusion and Diversity.
The Leader had recently visited Manor Farm alongside Cllr Oppenheimer to view the impact of the Country Parks Transformation Programme, which had seen investment of £750,000 to enabled new facilities, such as an outdoor eating area and a large Play Barn; supported general landscaping and an improved footpath network; and created a bookable cabin for use by schools, birthday parties and local groups. Visitor numbers had doubled to 140,000 following the changes.
The Deputy Leader has attended, and gave a keynote speech at Southampton University’s International Conference on Evolving Cities and Towns. She outlined the role of the County Council’s Hampshire 2050 Directorate in key strategic climate change activities taking place across the council and leading partnership work with public bodies, businesses and communities on climate projects across Hampshire.
Finally, the Leader reported that Tracy Nash and Dr James Cretney would be leaving their respective leadership roles at Hampshire Fare and Marwell Wildlife in the near future. He expressed thanks for the enormous contributions of them both in putting Hampshire on the map and helping to make the county a great place to live, work, play and visit.