Hart Borough Council Council Meeting

The Minutes of the meeting of 28 September 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies were received from Councillors Butcher, Butler, Engström and Radley.

No declarations made.

Councillor Bailey arrived at 19.07.

No questions had been received from members of the public.

No questions received under Council Procedure Rule 14.

An urgent question has been received pursuant to Council Procedure rule 14.4 from Councillor Anne Crampton detailed in Appendix A.   

The Chairman’s engagements since the last meeting were noted:

1 October:                  Harvest Festival at Winchester Cathedral

2 October:                  Meeting with Amanda Slater, Minding the Garden

2 October:                  Institution of Revd Faith Bailey at St Barnabas Church

3 October:                  Hart DC Volunteer Day at Yateley Industries

3 October:                  Meeting with Sam Mabbott - CAB

6 October:                Warren Andrew Drive, North Warnborough, Opening Event

8 October:                  Mayor of Winchester - Law Sunday Service at Winchester Cathedral

10 October:                Visit to Robert May's School

16 October:                Visit to Elvetham Heath Primary School

18 October:                Visit to Frogmore Junior School

19 October:                Meeting with Simon Gornall, Royal British Legion

20 October:                Visit to Frogmore Infant School

20 October:                Stop Domestic Abuse AGM & Lunch

20 October:                Fleet Phoenix Hart Youth Achievement Awards

22 October:                Lord Mayor of Southampton Civic Service

6 November:             Visit to Hook Junior School

7 November:             Visit to Buryfields Infant School

10 November:           Visit to Potley Hill Primary School

10 November:           Mayor of Test Valley Charity Fundraising Call My Wine Bluff

11 November:           Royal British Legion Act of Remembrance, War Memorial in Gurkha Square

12 November:           Remembrance Sunday Service, Gally Hill Road War Memorial, Church Crookham

12 November:           Remembrance Sunday Service, All Saints, Fleet

16 November:           Meeting with Allan Walker, Church Crookham & Fleet Men’s Shed

23 November:           Mayor of Winchester Civic Dinner

The Chairman highlighted the success of his visits to local schools praising the young people’s knowledge of democracy and level of engagement.

The Chairman stated that recent meetings with Church Crookham and Fleet Men’s Shed had been fruitful and that discussions to allow them to address capacity issues through the opening of a second venue were progressing well.

The Leader of the Council, and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Direction, and Partnerships, Councillor Neighbour reported that the deadline for submissions to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund was today and that 25 applications had been received totally £1.2M. The available funding pot was £750,000. The scoring against the criteria will begin next week.

He informed Members that he had attended a meeting of Hampshire Leaders that week to consider the establishment of a Shadow Economic Growth Board, this Board would replace the current Local Economic Partnerships. Hampshire County Council were largely going to base the new Board on the existing model from our area and the Leader congratulated HCC for this approach.

The Leader had nothing to report on behalf of the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Radley.   

The Portfolio Holder for Communities, Councillor Bailey gave Members updates on 2 issues. He reported that Council had triggered its Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, this was our provision that prevented anyone from sleeping rough in cold weather which could be life threatening. This meant that anyone sleeping outside would be provided with a bed for the duration of the cold snap. Councillors were referred to our website to report anyone or asked to contact the housing team direct.

Secondly, Councillor Bailey reported that the team were a step closer to delivering a four-bed home for members of the Afghan community, working with VIVID. The four-bed home was in Hook and will be offered to one of the families that was currently in a bridging hotel. Contracts were to be exchanged this week. In addition, next week VIVID complete on three homes for Ukrainian families in Church Crookham. Three families who came to Hart under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, are expected to sign tenancy agreements next week.  This project was funded by money that the housing team secured from central government. The Council will have nomination rights to all these properties in perpetuity. Once they are no longer needed by Ukrainian guests, they will made available to people on the housing register. 

A member queried the communications around the issue of rough sleeping when services are refused by an individual and residents keep reporting the same person as in need, so assume no services are being offered. The member requested additional communication around this acknowledging the difficulty around maintaining client confidentiality.

The Portfolio holder offered to speak to any residents with such concerns, explaining the difficulty around wider communications when they relate to individuals.

The Portfolio Holder for Digital and Communications, Councillor Clarke informed Members that Hart was about to embark on a refreshment of the Digital Strategy, a staff survey was launched this week, a survey for members would be circulated in early December and there would be an opportunity for members that wish to, to have an interview with the consultant leading on this project.  The latest edition of HART news was being delivered across the district this week, we have received great feedback, including residents signing up to assist with the election from an article included. The latest edition of the email newsletter is due to be published week commencing 18 December and will include updates on Christmas waste and office closure dates, it now has over 1,300 subscribers. 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Place, Councillor Cockarill?had nothing to report.

The Portfolio Holder for Regulatory, Councillor Collins?thanked everyone involved in the recent Licensing Hearings.

The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Development Management, Councillor Oliver reminded members:

·          that this Saturday is small business Saturday and Hart is supporting by making all its public car parks that are open free for the day. Hart has been encouraging businesses to take advantage this opportunity to develop their customer base. He encouraged members to promote the day.

·         the Community Safety Team had been busy delivering their educational awareness programme called Stay Safe and this month have reached 580 year 8 students (aged 12/13) across two of our secondary schools - Yateley and Calthorpe Park. The programme focusses on raising awareness of the risks and signs of Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), as well as delivering messages around the dangers of carrying a knife, the importance of healthy relationships and the impacts of ASB on individuals, families, and communities. The team recognised that it is critical to also raise awareness with parents and include an evening session to parents - the parent session at Yateley School at the start of the month received positive feedback and support and there is a parent session at Calthorpe tonight.

A Member queried the Portfolio Holder’s previous comments on the provision of free car parking in relation to this statement. The Portfolio Holder did not recognise the statement from the Member. He stated that where local areas believe free parking initiative would help, they may work though parish councils to achieve this. Both Hook Parish Council and Hartley Wintney Parish Council have taken this forward, Fleet Town Council and Fleet BID do not believe it would be a positive step.

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change and Corporate Services, Councillor Quarterman drew Members attention to:

·         the excellent performance of the waste collection operation over the summer period, with all the KPIs being met in the six months between April and September.  This was due to the skill and commitment of our joint client team, based in Basingstoke, who have worked hard with our contractor Serco to deliver this much improved performance. 

·         Farnborough College of Technology have now set up their 'Hart Professional College' which has been operating from the Civic Offices in Fleet since early September. This arrangement is working well for the College and indeed for Hart also, as for 5 days a week it is bringing additional footfall to Fleet, utilising empty office space, and generating income to support the Council's budget.   

·         We are continuing our managed exit from various elements of the 5 Councils contracts with Capita and are now working on the options to bring these to a natural end in September 2025. We have successfully transferred IT back, so we are fully in control, and we are now turning our attention to customer services. We will be reporting back to Cabinet in the new year as firm plans come together.

·         We have just had the result of the independent quality assurance check on Frogmore leisure centre. Like Hart leisure centre, it has been assessed as 'excellent'."  Thanks were given to our operator, Everyone Active, and our client team for their collaborative work ensuring that we continue to provide a high-quality service to our leisure centre users.

The Chief Executive requested that members of the Licensing Committee make themselves available for an upcoming Licensing Hearing if possible.

The Minutes of the following Committees, which met on the dates shown, were received by Council.

Councillor Southern updated members on his attendance at the recent Basingstoke Canal Authority meeting.  The Authority is now having to use its reserves significantly as it has a shortfall of £192,000 in the current year and a projecteCouncillor Southern updated Members on his attendance at the recent Basingstoke Canal Authority meeting:

• The Authority is now having to use its reserves significantly as it has a shortfall of £192,000 in the current year and a projected shortfall of £140,000 next year.
• Two contributing Councils have withdrawn all financial support and two others have greatly reduced their funding. 
• To maintain the canal into the future the Authority intends to completely change its organisation and focus on the delivery of statutory services only, maintaining safety, ensuring conservation requirements are met and providing public access including navigation. This will include acting as the licensing authority for activities on the canal not covered by public rights.
• The Authority will no longer be involved in traded services for visitors such as those provided at the canal centre, these will be provided by Surrey County Council as part of their core Countryside Service. They currently run at loss and are unlikely to generate surplus without significant investment. There may be opportunities to attract more funding in this area. The Canal Society is already a registered charity and more able to attract public donations and other funding.
• Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council as leaders of the remaining canal partnership will negotiate a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Canal Society over how they will work together and how donations can be used for operating costs.

The canal is a very important leisure facility in Hart, a crown jewel in the district, so it is vital Hart continues its finding for the canal.

Councillor Dorn stated that he had attended the Military Health Fair at Aldershot Garrison on 22 November as the Military Covenant Councillor along with HDC officers to promote the Here for Hart initiative. It was hoped to repeat this type of engagement exercise at RAF Odiham in the new year.

Cllr Dorn also informed Members that the Clerk of Odiham Parish Council, Andrea Mann had won the National Association Local Councils Clerk of the Year award. Warm congratulations were extended from Councillor Dorn and the Chairman on behalf of the Council.

Councillor Bailey informed Members that on 25 October he had attended the Annual General Meeting and quarterly board meeting of the Citizens Advice Bureau. He highlighted that over the last eighteen months they have moved into a single building (Civic Offices) which has been successful and got a commitment to continue outreach work across the district which to date has proved very effective.