To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors H. Bramer, M.R. Cunningham, B. Hunt and J. Stone.

To receive any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no named substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 11thJune 2004.

RESOLVED: That the minutes for the meeting held on 11th June 2004, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet Member (Community and Social Development) will report on the programme area.

The Cabinet Member (Rural Regeneration and Smallholdings) reported on his programme area.

Councillor Mayson paid tribute to the considerable amount of work and assistance provided to him when completing complex funding applications which had allowed the Council to considerably ‘punch above its weight’ in terms of grants received.  Members were informed that 21 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs were supported by such grants, with only a small contribution from the Council.

Members were informed that an audit trail was required to receive any grant from Advantage West Midlands (AWM) necessitating much work from officers.  Concerned by the amount of time it took to process applications the Director of Policy and Community had met with AWM representatives to discuss ways to simplify the grant application process.

The Director of Policy and Community commented that the majority of funding received from agencies such as AWM was now capital and not revenue.  Officers were discussing with AWM ways in which the Council could work around this.

Councillor Mayson commented that the outcome of the Haskins Review on ‘Modernising Rural Delivery’ was likely to have an impact in simplifying the grant application process for rural areas.

Mrs. Newman (Herefordshire Association of Local Council’s (HALC) Co-opted Member) informed the Committee that through her status as a member of the English Rural Networks Panel she had been nominated to sit on the Rural Panel.   One of the roles of the Rural Panel was to scrutinise AWM.   Mrs. Newman therefore invited Members to channel any questions or issues regarding AWM to her so she could raise them at future meetings of the Panel.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Mayson for his report and the Committee congratulated him on his handling of smallholdings issues in the County.

The Cabinet Member (Rural Regeneration and Smallholdings) will report on the programme area.

The Cabinet Member (Community and Social Development) reported on his programme area, a report on which was made available at the meeting as set out at Appendix 1 to these minutes.

Following the Cabinet Member’s presentation discussion took place concerning the Community Building Grants Scheme.  It was noted that the scheme required Community Groups to fund a proportion of the cost of their individual schemes from their own resources.  It was confirmed that grants were only made after  rigorous scrutiny of their accounts.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for his comprehensive report to the Committee.

The Cabinet Member (Economic Development, Markets and Property) will report on the programme area.

The Cabinet Member (Economic Development, Markets and Property) reported on his programme area a report on which was made available at the meeting as set out at Appendix 2 to these minutes.

Following the Cabinet Member’s presentation discussion took place concerning the possibility of pedestrianising Hereford City Centre.  The Committee was informed that this idea was at an embryonic stage and much consultation with affected groups would need to take place before any decision could be made.  The final decision would be the responsibility of the Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation).

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for his report to the Committee.

To report on sickness absence and other matters for the Policy and Community Directorate for the year to 31st July 2004.

The Committee was updated on sickness absence and other matters for the Policy and Community Directorate for the year 1st August 2003 - 31st July 2004.

The Director of Policy and Community reported that there had been a reduction in the number of days lost per full-time equivalent employee and that the number of days lost was still less than the current number of overall days lost per employee by the Council as a whole.

The Policy and Community Directorate still showed a high level of staff turnover. Members were informed that this was because some members of staff performed more than one role.  And as members of staff left, each post was counted separately, hence the actual levers are less than those recorded.

Concern was expressed regarding the high number of stress related absences and whether this could be linked to the current situation regarding ‘Job Evaluation’.  The Director of Policy and Community commented that the stress related absences were generally related to a diverse number of personal issues.  She reported that, when considered necessary, the Council offered a counselling service to all its employees.

The Director informed the Committee that while exit interviews were carried out this was not done comprehensively.  She also reminded Members that the Human Resources function was monitored by the Strategic Monitoring Committee.

RESOLVED:            THAT the report be noted.

To inform Members of the performance of the non-corporate functions of the Policy and Community Directorate against their national and local performance indicators for the first four months of 2004/05.  To outline the key areas for improvement identified by each Service for this year and to detail the main areas of activity undertaken by those services during the first four months of 2004/05.

Members were informed of the performance of the non-corporate functions of the Policy and Community Directorate against their national and local performance indicators for the first four months of 2004/05.  The report outlined the key areas of activity undertaken by each service for this year and detailed the main areas of activity undertaken by those services during the first four months of 2004/05.

Comments on a number of areas identified in the report for improvement had been referred to earlier in the meeting by the Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED: THAT the Directorate’s first four months, 2004/05 performance indicator information be noted.

To consider an update on the economic situation in Hereford City.

The Committee received an update on the economic situation in Hereford City.

The Head of Community and Economic Development reported that since consideration of the issue by the Committee in January and February 2004 a significant amount of progress had been made in taking forward issues to address the future health and vitality of the City.  This progress was outlined in the report.

Members were also informed that the approved Asda development in Hereford was proceeding, with meetings planned with architects due within the next month.

RESOLVED: THAT the contents of the report be noted.

To update members with reference to the Creative Industries and Tourism Enterprise programmes that are due to finish in March 2005.

The Committee was updated on the Creative Industries and Tourism Enterprise programmes that were due to finish in March 2005.

The Cultural Services Manager informed Members that the Tourism Enterprise and Creative Industries programmes in Herefordshire were primarily funded by three-year grants, sourced regionally and from the European Union.  Both programmes had had a significant impact on these two sectors and the wider County economy.  The programmes had been entered into on the understanding that further funding may not be forthcoming and were therefore seen as stepping-stones to further development.

The Committee was informed that proposals had been made to secure funding through Advantage West Midlands (AWM) via the Rural Regeneration Zone (RRZ); however, AWM’s current emphasis was on capital projects rather than revenue projects.

The Cultural Services Manager reported that if RRZ funding was not forthcoming for tourism, expenditure would drop from the current average of £500,000 per year to the sum of £100,000 provided from the Council’s own budget plus possible contributions from the private sector.  Tourism was worth £272 million a year to the County with 800 directly supported jobs.  However, Herefordshire was the least successful destination in the West Midlands in terms of visitor spend.  Appendix 1 to the report outlined which programmes would be able to continue on the reduced budget.

The Creative Industries programme was also set to see its budget vastly reduced from approximately £450,000 to £30,000 as external funding dropped out.  It was reported that the Arts Council was interested in supporting this programme area.  However, this would still require a large number of initiatives to be dropped unless RRZ funding was to be forthcoming.  Appendix 2 to the report outlined which programmes would be able to continue on a reduced budget.

The Cultural Services Manager expressed concern that even if funding could be secured it would arrive too late to secure the long-term futures of staff on fixed term contracts.

RESOLVED: THAT the content of the report be noted.

To update the Social and Economic Development Scrutiny Committee on the recent Rural Strategy published by DEFRA in July 2004.

The Committee was updated on the recent Rural Strategy published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in July 2004.

The Policy and Commissioning Manager informed Members that the new Rural Strategy had been published following the recommendations of the Haskins Report on Modernising Rural Delivery.  The revised strategy set out future policy direction for rural services.  A number of significant recommendations were outlined in the strategy, including:

·         The move to a smaller and more focused Countryside Agency

·         The development of an Integrated Land Use Agency, pulling together the remit of the Countryside Agency, English Nature and the Rural Development service.

·         A greater divide between policy development and delivery.

·         Devolving rural delivery to the regional and local level.

·         The rationalisation of rural funding streams from 100 current schemes to 3 major funding programmes.

From the West Midlands region, Shropshire County Council had been selected to be the pathfinder area.

The Committee was disappointed that Herefordshire had not been chosen as the regional pathfinder area but hoped to gain valuable feedback from Shropshire County Council as their pathfinder approach was developed and implemented.

RESOLVED: THAT the report be noted.

The Committee considered undertaking a Scrutiny Review into the funding arrangements of the Courtyard Theatre.

Members discussed the draft scoping statement for the review, including the proposed terms of reference as attached at Appendix 1 of the report.

RESOLVED:

THAT (a)  a review  of  the  funding  arrangements  of  the  Courtyard Theatre be undertaken and the scoping statement as attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved;

(b) Councillors H. Bramer, Mrs S.P.A. Daniels, J.G.S. Guthrie and J. Stone be appointed to serve on the Courtyard Theatre Review Group; and

(c)      Councillor J. Stone be appointed as Chairman of the       Courtyard Theatre Review Group.

To advise Members of the actual net revenue expenditure against budget for Social, Community & Economic Development programme areas to period 5 of the financial year 2004-2005.

The Committee was advised of the actual net revenue expenditure against budget for the Social, Community and Economic Development programme areas to period 5 of the financial year 2004-2005.

The Principal Accountancy Manager presented the report, a detailed monitoring report was attached at Appendix 1.  The report showed the revised budget, including carried forward over and underspends from 2003/04 with actual performance, variances and projected out-turns for the main service areas within Social, Community and Economic Development.

The Principal Accountancy Manager identified three service areas with variances, these were:

·         Parks and Countryside – the overspend of £161,000 incurred during 2003/04 had been written off against the commuted sums reserve.  For 2004-2005 an extra £79,000 had been allocated to the service, however, it was unlikely that this would fully address the budget shortfall. 

·         The Youth Service underspend continued due to problems with staff recruitment.  This also impacted on operational budgets in the current year as the reduced staff numbers led to uncompleted projects.

·         The Director of Policy and Community reported the Youth Service was proving to be a very difficult area to recruit in and that was a national problem.  A Government Green Paper on the future of the service was expected to be published shortly.

·         The Leisure Services Contract’s also showed a deficit due to unanticipated maintenance costs during the year.  A recovery plan had now been put in place to enable the deficit to be reduced in full over the next 2 to 3 years.

RESOLVED: THAT the position be noted.

To receive an oral report on progress following the recommendations of the Festivals Review Group and following this seasons festivals.

Further to its recent review of festivals, the Committee received a report on progress following this year’s festivals.

The Chairman read a short statement on the Ross International Festival:

“The Ross International Festival brought something very special and unique to Herefordshire which makes it extremely sad to hear that it has become insolvent.

We’ve worked with the organisers for a number of years to support the Festival and only last year agreed a three-year funding package to give it some kind of financial stability, at least in the medium term.

Herefordshire has a fine tradition of festivals which appeal to all sections of the community and adds to the vibrancy and cultural diversity of the County.

The Ross-on-Wye International Festival was well loved by many people and had become a key element to the county’s cultural calendar.”

The Cultural Services Manager informed the Committee that the Ross International Festival was due to meet its creditors and that she was unable to comment further at this time.  The Herefordshire Photography Festival was currently taking place and she hoped it would be a successful festival.  It had not been Herefordshire’s turn to host the Three Choirs Festival this year.

Members were informed that the Leominster Festival had reported a 9% increase in ticket sales and had been attended by 2,500 people despite being a very small and self-contained festival.  The Cabinet Member  (Community and Social Development) congratulated the organisers of the Leominster Festival and echoed its call for new, younger volunteers to aid the organisers so that the festival could build on its current success.

An Annual Review of the Ledbury Poetry Festival was due later in the year but it was already estimated that 5,000 people had attended this year’s festival.  The Festival had learnt from previous years and it no longer overlapped events in order to increase attendances.  The Cultural Services Manager repeated that the Ledbury Poetry Festival still wished to enter into a Service Level Agreement with the Council for the festival in order for it to increase its financial stability and aid its  planning.

The Cabinet Member (Community and Social Development) reported Herefordshire’s success in ‘Britain In Bloom’ and the Committee congratulated its local organisers.

RESOLVED: THAT the position of the County’s Festivals be noted.

To advise the Committee of the current position on the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000 in respect of service responsibility within the Social Development portfolio area.

The Committee was advised on the current position on the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) in respect of service responsibility within the Social Development portfolio area.

The Countryside and Leisure Development Manager reported that the CRoW Act was a complex piece of legislation and that responsibilities under the Act fell across two Directorates (Environment and Policy and Community).

In relation to conservation and wildlife, he reported that those sites directly managed within the Parks and Countryside Service, were deemed stable with management regimes that were likely to lead to progressive enhancements of both species and habitats.

In relation to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), he reported that the Council’s obligations with respect to the production, adoption and publication of the statutory AONB Management Plans had been successfully met in full.

He further reported that a project to survey newly designated access land and those Section 9 Commons which fell into Council ownership within the next two years had been initiated.  This exercise also incorporated conservation and wildlife assessments.  When the work was completed it would form the basis of a report to Cabinet on the Council’s newly acquired legal and property obligations and provide options for the resourcing framework that would be required to discharge the Council’s duties.

The Countryside and Leisure Development Manager reported that Leaders briefings on the further implications of the Act were being prepared for the autumn.

RESOLVED:

THAT (a) the report be noted;

and

(b) the Committee be advised of future developments following the proposed Leaders briefing on corporate progress.