Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Fred Birkett, Charles Choudhary, Floss Mitchell, Neville Penman* and Stephen Philpott.

Apologies were also received from Honorary Aldermen Phrynette Dickens, Pamela Peskett and Marilyn Tucker.

* on County Council business elsewhere                     

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 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 Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 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.

Councillor Michael Westbrook declared a personal interest, that he has joint Power of Attorney for his mother who is a resident of a Hampshire County Council owned residential home.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2017.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2017 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

To receive such announcements as the Chairman may wish to make to the Council.

The Chairman reported on the wide range of duties undertaken to represent and promote the County Council and its strong community leadership role.  The list of engagements undertaken since the last Council meeting by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman had been circulated to all Members.  In particular, the Chairman highlighted his Civic Day held on 5 October 2017 which showcased several of the County Council’s services and facilities and his pleasure at hosting receptions to honour and reward  officers who had completed both 25 and 40 years’ in the service of the people of Hampshire.

It was with much sadness the Chairman reported the passing of former County Councillors Peter Langdon, Michael Geddes and Jean Vernon-Jackson.  Peter Langdon represented the Hardway Division from 1997 to 2001, Michael Geddes represented Gosport Town from 1997 to 2005 and Bridemary from 2009 to 2013, and Jean Vernon-Jackson represented the Lymington Division from 1985 to 1997.  She was also Vice Chairman of the County Council from 1996-97 and Chairman for one month in April 1997.

The Chairman invited Councillor Roy Perry to say a few words and invite personal tributes from the Chamber.  The following Councillors spoke: Chris Carter, Peter Chegwyn, Alan Dowden and Peter Edgar.  The Council observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect.

To receive such reports as the Leader of the Council may wish to bring before the Council.

The Leader reported on a commemorative event held on Wednesday 11th October 2017 in the Great Hall in honour of Harvey Cole, Honorary Alderman and a former Leader of the Council.

Following a fire in Three Minsters House on 18 September 2017, the Leader was pleased to report that the initial emergency response phase had been concluded efficiently and effectively with staff relocated to alternative locations within the headquarters complex. Repair works were underway which would take some months to complete.  Thanks were extended to staff for their resilience and efforts to keep the County Council’s business going in these challenging circumstances and to acknowledge the professionalism of the Fire and Rescue Service in attending and containing the fire.

The Leader was pleased to announce that Hampshire  Music Service Flute Choir has won the top prize in the school age category at the first ever ‘Flutewise’ national competition - a volunteer based charity that creates events and courses for young flute players and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Necessarily much time and attention had been concentrated on balancing the budget whilst delivering good services however, the Leader emphasised the importance of looking ahead with the aim that Hampshire continues to prosper and flourish economically whilst at the same time protecting the environment.  The County Council works in partnership with Local Economic Partnerships, who have responsibilities regarding economic development and the 11 district councils, who have responsibility for certain functions such as planning policy.  With a view to developing a whole Hampshire Vision by continuing to work together, the Leader proposed the establishment of an independent Cross Party Commission to include some councillors, inviting leading experts in environment and economic development together with young people to help develop a Vision for Hampshire 2050 - Economically Prosperous - Environmentally Sustained.

To receive the following deputations:

a)  Bus subsidies in the Alton area – Ian Abbott

b)  Household Waste Recycling Centre in Ivy Road, Aldershot – Hashim Hassan

c)  Buses in Fleet – Tracy Grimshaw

The Council received deputations as listed on the Agenda.  Ian Abbott was joined by Neal McTaggart who submitted a petition.  Hashim Hassan was joined by Julie Considine, Gaynor Austion and Bill O’Donovan.  

To deal with questions pursuant to Standing Order 16.1.1.  Where a Member has submitted more than one question, their second and subsequent questions will not be answered until all Members’ first questions have been dealt with.

Executive Members responded to questions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 16.1.1, as published.

To receive a report of the Chief Executive regarding a number of constitutional matters.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 8 in the Minute Book) detailing some Constitutional changes: a revision to the terms of reference of the Children and Families Advisory Panel and the setting up of a Corporate Parenting Board as a sub-committee of the Panel; a revision to the Solent Transport Joint Committee Constitution to facilitate the appointment of Substitute Members, and a change of composition to the Hampshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Leader presented the report and moved the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the updated terms of reference for the Children and Families Advisory Panel, as set out in section 1 of the report, be approved.

b)    That the County Council notes the establishment of the Corporate Parenting Board by the Children and Families Advisory Panel, as set out in section 1 of the report, and the recommendation to appoint three co-opted Care Ambassadors as Members of the Board, to be identified under Item 9 on the Agenda (Appointments).

c)    That the County Council agrees the updated Constitution of the Solent Transport Joint Committee, as set out in section 2 of the report and the consequential appointment of a Substitute Member representative, to be identified under Item 9 on the Agenda (Appointments).

d)    That the change to the composition of the Hampshire Health and Wellbeing Board, as set out in section 3 of the report, be approved.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive to make any Member appointments of alterations, as required, to the membership of committees and standing panels of the County Council, to statutory joint committees, to other proportional bodies the County Council is represented on, or to any other bodies which are not subject to proportionality rules.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9 in the Minute Book), as presented by the Leader, proposing a number of appointments to the County Council’s committees and advisory panels, and to outside bodies that the County Council is represented on.  The Leader proposed an additional appointment to fill a co-optee vacancy on the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the appointments set out in the report be approved together with the additional appointment of Councillor Tina Campbell, Eastleigh Borough Council, as a Co-opted Member of the Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee, as nominated by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association.

To consider the report of Cabinet seeking approval of recommendations in regard to the Medium Term Financial Strategy and Transformation to 2019 savings proposals.

The Council considered a report from the Cabinet (Item 10 in the Minute Book) providing an update on the medium term financial strategy for the County and Transformation to 2019 savings proposals and detailed Equality Impact Assessments, considered by the Cabinet on 16 October 2017. The Cabinet report outlines the feedback from the consultation exercise ‘Serving Hampshire – Balancing the Budget’. The Cabinet had also considered the Treasury Management mid-year monitoring report for 2017/18 (Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report) in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice and recommended it to the County Council for approval.

In presenting the report, the Leader confirmed that it dealt with some difficult recommendations as a result of reductions in government Grant coupled with inflationary and demographic pressures which required savings of £140m 2019/20; a figure that was reported to Council in February last year.  The Leader confirmed that the County Council remains in a stable financial state having successfully delivered a previous round of savings for Transformation to 2017, whilst retaining high quality essential services. By adopting a long term approach, taking difficult decisions in consultation and using the County Council’s carefully managed reserves in a way that minimises the impact of changes had proved to be a successful approach and one that would be continued.  The Leader emphasised that by law, the County Council must set a balanced budget.

The Leader drew attention to the significant contribution that the various forms of commercial activity makes to the County Council’s financial resilience, and asked Members to note the almost £20m extra for Children’s Services to address demand pressures, social worker attraction and retention, home to school transport and special guardianship orders.  Recommendation (xi) from the Cabinet was highlighted which provided £500,000 support to Town and Parish Councils to provide pump priming funding for targeted, joint initiatives aimed at improving local services.

The Leader also drew Members attention to the additional resolution of  Cabinet (xii) as follows:

“Require that officers, as specific decision making processes move forward, continue to explore all viable options to revise or refine these proposals with particular regard to service continuity  in areas such as community transport, school crossing patrols and waste and recycling centres, in consultation with partners and stakeholders as appropriate, while recognising that any modification to the proposal must be consistent with the financial and time imperatives of the overall programme.”

The Leader moved the report’s recommendations and proposed an additional recommendation, which was seconded by Councillor Mel Kendal as follows:

“That Hampshire County Council calls on the Government to permit Councils responsible for administering the national Concessionary Travel Scheme, to levy modest charges on older persons’ passes, e.g. 50p for each use and £10 for issuing and renewing permits, with the balance of revenue raised after costs to be used to support uncommercial, public or community transport services serving vulnerable or disadvantaged residents or areas.”

The Executive Member for Economic Development highlighted a number of areas in the Cabinet report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive seeking approval of the revised Statement of Community Involvement.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) seeking approval of a revised Statement of Community Involvement required as a result of legislative changes.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the revised Statement of Community Involvement be approved and resolved to adopt it as a statutory planning document in accordance with the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

b)    That authority be delegated to the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment, in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment and Transport, to make any further amendments to the Statement of Community Involvement that may be required to comply with new guidance or legislation, provided that these do not significantly change the County Council’s stated approach in respect of the scope, emphasis or opportunities for participation.

No Notices of Motion have been received under Standing Order 18.1.1.

There were no Notices of Motion on this occasion.

To deal with any questions which have been submitted pursuant to Standing Order 16.3 concerning the discharge of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s functions.

No questions had been submitted in accordance with Standing Order 16.3.

To receive a report from the Authority.

The Council received the report of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority (Item 13b in the Minute Book) as presented by the Chairman of the Fire Authority, Councillor Chris Carter.  In addition, Councillor Carter informed Members that Dave Curry, retiring Chief Fire Officer, would receive the Queens Service Medal which would be presented in December.

To receive for information the reports of the following:

The Council received the reports of the following Executive Members:

a)    The Leader/Cabinet

i)          Adult Safeguarding

ii)         Annual Safeguarding Report – Children’s Services

iii)        Supporting (Troubled) Families Programme (STFP) Annual
            Update

b)    Executive Member for Economic Development

i)          Energy Strategy and Carbon Reduction Programmes

c)    Executive Member for Environment and Transport

i)          M27 Junction 9 and Parkway South Roundabout Scheme,
            Whiteley

ii)         Strategic Transport – Hampshire’s Priorities

d)    Executive Member for Public Health

i)          Appointment to Solent Sea Rescue Organisation
ii)         Approval to spend for Substance Misuse Services

e)    Executive Member for Culture, Recreation and Countryside

i)          Calshot Camping Pods