Patricia Stallard says "Earlier this year Cllr Roy Perry announced his decision to stand down as Leader of the Council and that role has now been taken on by Cllr Keith Mans. This has also resulted in a Cabinet reshuffle and I was very honoured to be asked by Cllr Mans to take on his previous Cabinet responsibility for Children & Young People’s Services. This is a large and extremely important Directorate which has now been officially recognised as providing Outstanding services to the people of Hampshire: an achievement of which we are all very proud."
Children’s Services are Outstanding
Ofsted’s recent inspection of HCC Children’s Services has resulted in a rating of outstanding across all areas – which means children in Hampshire’s care are safe and well looked after. Inspectors reported how the County Council’s social workers are highly skilled at building meaningful relationships with children and that children in care benefit from high-quality support, which is making a real difference to their lives. Alongside this, Ofsted credited the County Council’s strong political and corporate support – and how the well-targeted financial investment has enabled the Service’s leadership team to implement an ambitious transformation programme. All of which has led to strengthened services, ensuring that the right help is available at the right time from the right people.
The OFSTED report comes at a time when the County Council is working with over 10,000 children, young people and their families in need of specialist children’s social care services.
Your Views Sought
Hampshire County Council has launched a survey asking people for their views on options to help the Authority to prepare its budgets for April 2021 and beyond. The County Council has successfully found ways to deliver services differently and more efficiently, securing savings of £480 million over the past 11 years. Due to growing demand for council services, further reductions in Government funding, rising costs and inflation, the County Council faces a further estimated budget shortfall of £80 million by April 2021. This means more decisions will need to be made about what the County Council can and cannot provide in future. The Balancing the Budget consultation presents a range of options that could contribute towards balancing the budget. The consultation opened on Wednesday 5 June 2019 and closes at 11:59 pm on 17th July 2019.
People can take part in the consultation via the online response form on the webpage: www.hants.gov.uk/balancingthebudget . Paper copies can be requested by emailing insight@hants.gov.uk or calling 0300 555 1375, and will also be available from local Hampshire libraries.
Recycled Plastic Kerbing
Hampshire Highways teams are trialling recycled plastic kerbing as an alternative to concrete to reduce carbon emissions and promote more sustainable ways of delivering services to Hampshire residents. We are currently trialling small areas of recycled plastic kerbing in areas which see a high number of heavy vehicles, to test the resilience of the material. This innovative use of recycled plastic kerbing, which is durable but much lighter than the concrete equivalent, results in 40% less carbon during manufacture. It can be easily installed manually, reducing the need for mechanical handling equipment.
The recycled plastic kerbing contains 88% recycled material and is cut with hand tools which does not create crystalline silica dust, as working with concrete would do. These plastic kerbs have been BBA/HAPAS approved meaning they are manufactured to the highest standards for the Hampshire network. With its light weight features the Highways team can lay four times faster than traditional methods.
