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Paper 3 - 26 September 2003 meeting

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Association held at Havant Borough Council on 6 June 2003 at 10.30 am.

28.03 WELCOME

Councillor David Gillett, Leader of Havant Borough Council, welcomed all those present to the meeting, and in particular Southampton City Council. He thanked Tony Jackson for his Chairmanship over the past year and also the Association staff for their work. Councillor Adrian Vinson, Leader of Southampton City Council, spoke about the City Council’s commitment to partnership working across the area.

29.03 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R Donnelly (Basingstoke and Deane); Councillor T Ludlow (East Hampshire); Councillor P Wall (Eastleigh); Councillor S Cully (Gosport); Councillor Mrs L Fullbrook (Hart); Councillor K Moss (Havant); Councillor H Rees (Isle of Wight); Councillor Mrs M Robinson (LGA representative); Councillor M Kendal (New Forest); Councillors T Blair and P Shaddock (Portsmouth); Councillor P Moyle (Rushmoor); Councillor I Carr (Test Valley); Mr R Tulloch (Community Action Hampshire); Mr K Dufton (Eastleigh Community Services); and Mr C Byrne (GOSE)

30.03 APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

Councillor Tony Jackson was nominated as Chairman of the Association for 2003-2004.

That Councillor Tony Jackson be appointed Chairman of the Association for the year 2003/2004.

31.03 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

Councillor Mrs Elizabeth Cartwright was nominated as Vice-Chairman of the Association for 2003-2004.

That Councillor Mrs E Cartwright be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Association for the year 2003/2004.

31.03 MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2003 were agreed with the following amendment (shown in bold type) to minute 22.03 (Managing Unauthorised Gypsy Encampments in Hampshire) in the second paragraph at the top of page seven:

"...Winchester City Council gave details of where a gypsy family had purchased a piece of land which they managed themselves. This had worked well where planning regulations had not been disregarded. However concerns were also expressed that planning regulations could be disregarded ...".

On minute 18.03 (Affordable Housing) the County Council reported that a conference on this subject would be held in the autumn. Details would follow at a later date.

The Policy Manager reported that a response had been received from the ODPM to the Association’s letter regarding Local Authority Social Housing Grant (minute 21.03). The response had been circulated to members of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Housing Officers’ Group.

32.03 MATTERS ARISING

Councillor Woodward spoke about the motion he was submitting to the LGA General Assembly, circulated with the agenda papers, and the amendment suggested by the LGA which was tabled as follows:

"That the LGA calls on the Government to work with it to develop a more coherent approach to asylum issues which would:

(a) enable the country to meet its international obligations;

(b) support local strategies to support community cohesion;

(c) avoid a small number of communities and councils facing the full challenge of responding to local dimensions of this international issue."

Southampton proposed two changes to the amendment - shown in bold:- in the first sentence "Government to work with the LGA and local authorities to develop" and in (c) after "full challenge" add "in both the short and the longer term".

Gosport and others spoke in favour both of the amendment and of the first of Southampton's proposed changes.

Councillor Woodward accepted the first change and would ask the LGA (assuming there was still time) to implement it.

RESOLVED

That the Association calls on the Government to work with it to develop a more coherent approach to asylum issues which would:

(a) enable the country to meet its international obligations;

(b) support local strategies to support community cohesion;

(c) avoid a small number of communities and councils facing the full challenge of responding to local dimensions of this international issue.

33.03 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

Andrew Lloyd, Chief Executive of Rushmoor Borough Council, described how the Association and its member authorities were delivering economic development in partnership with the private sector via the economic partnerships. Local Authorities had provided funding, which had now been extended by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). He introduced Kathy Slack, Director, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Area, SEEDA, Alan Stevens, Executive Manager, Hampshire Economic Partnership (HEP) and Liz Wood, Regeneration Manager, Isle of Wight Economic Partnership (IWEP) to the meeting.

Kathy Slack gave a presentation which focussed on:

Ž The role of Regional Development Agencies
Ž The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) Vision and Action Plans
Ž The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Economic Partnership working with SEEDA
Ž Competitive Business
Ž Enterprise Hub and Gateway Locations
Ž SEEDA funding
Ž Area Investment Frameworks

Alan Stevens gave details of:

Ž What HEP had achieved in 2002/03
Ž HEP’s organisation and structure, income generation, brand development and events
Ž What HEP was setting out to deliver in 2003/04 including delivery of RES priorities and implementation of a communications strategy.

Mr Stevens also gave details of a visit made by Paul Martin, Regional Director of GOSE and the positive feedback received.

Liz Wood gave a presentation on the IWEP which included:

Ž Areas of activity structure, organisation and priorities
Ž Operational priorities for 2002-2005
Ž The mechanism for the delivery of economic activity.

In the debate the County Council drew attention to some of the problems of success including skills shortages and infrastructure requirements. East Hampshire was concerned at the vacuum to be created when the Ministry of Defence withdrew from Bordon. Southampton spoke of the opportunities in the wider area, with links to Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset. Gosport referred to the success of the Portsmouth Harbour regeneration. Winchester drew attention both to the lack of access to Whiteley and to the significance of broadband. The Isle of Wight drew attention to the forthcoming festival.

The Chairman thanked all the speakers for their presentations.

34.03 THE ASSOCIATION’S ACTION PLAN 2003-2004 AND ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003

The Policy Manager introduced his report which set out the objectives of the Association and the draft Action Plan for 2003-2004.

In a brief discussion, Members introduced two further ideas for joint working in the coming year:

Ž joint work on culture and the arts through the Arts Council

Ž combining waste collection contracts.

Appended to the report was the Association’s annual report 2002-2003 which highlighted the work undertaken by the Association during that year. Mr Goulder drew Members’ attention to a number of drafting changes to the Annual Report.

During discussion it was agreed not to change the name of the Association.

(1) That the Action Plan be approved for consultation with inter-authority groups and partner organisations; and

(2) That the amended Annual Report be published on the Association’s website.

35.03 THE ASSOCIATION’S BUDGET AND SUBSCRIPTIONS 2003-2004

The Policy Manager introduced this report which gave details of Member subscriptions for 2003-2004 which had been agreed by the Association at its January meeting. Appended to the report was the Association’s monitoring report and budget for 2003-2004.

That the subscription unit of £1,950 be confirmed and member authorities invoiced accordingly.

36.03 INTEGRATING THE ROLES OF HONORARY SECRETARY AND POLICY MANAGER

Dave Yates, Chief Executive of New Forest District Council, introduced this report.

Following the departure of the current Honorary Secretary, the Chief Executives’ Group had considered options for his replacement. It was felt that the potential had arisen to integrate the roles of Honorary Secretary and Policy Manager. It was recommended that the Association’s Constitution be amended to reflect this.

(1) That the roles of Honorary Secretary and Policy Manager be integrated in the Constitution as set out in the report with all references to the Honorary Secretary and Policy Manager being replaced with the new title of Director; and

(2) That the Chief Executives’ Group be charged with providing performance management for the Director who should act as Secretary to that Group.

37.03 PROGRAMME OF MEETINGS 2003-2004 AND DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Policy Manager introduced his report which set out the dates of meetings up to November 2004. These had been set in consultation with the Regional Assembly.

The next meeting of the Association would be held on Friday 26 September at the Isle of Wight Council commencing at 10.30 am.

(1) That the meeting provisionally scheduled for 25 July be cancelled;

(2) That the dates for meetings be approved for 2004 and the dates for the remainder of 2003 be noted; and

(3) That member authorities, in fixing their diaries for 2004, try to avoid clashes of dates wherever possible.

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