Hampshire County Council short listed for prestigious MJ award

Hampshire County Council has been short-listed for a prestigious award which recognises outstanding public services.
Competition to become a finalist for an MJ Local Government Achievement award was extremely tough, with local authorities fighting for a short listed place in one of the 16 categories.
The Council won a finalist position in the: Promoting Active Communities Achievement category. It was also commended in two other MJ awards categories: Transforming Public Services Achievement of the Year and Best Use of Resources Achievement of the Year.
The promoting active communities achievement entry tells how Hampshire County Council is encouraging people to be more active and take more responsibility for themselves as they put health and wellbeing at the heart of community life.
Staff are at the forefront of helping deliver this agenda to the public through promoting healthy eating in schools and encouraging more exercise among young and older people. Internally a workplace activities scheme for county council employees has attracted some 21,000 visits in two years to various exercise classes.
Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage, Councillor Margaret Snaith, said: “I was absolutely delighted to find out that the Recreation and Heritage team has been short listed for this accolade of Promoting Active Communities Achievement of the Year award by the MJ.
“Every department in the authority is putting our ‘maximising wellbeing’ policy into action. The feedback from staff has been particularly positive as they see the young, old and disadvantaged in Hampshire get more active with a renewed zest for life.
“Achieving a short listed position at the awards is not only a credit to our staff but also shows how Hampshire County Council is providing the highest possible standard of service to the people of Hampshire.”
Hampshire County Council was also commended in the Transforming Public Service Achievement Award for its innovation, imagination and ambition in transforming the public library service. Embarking on an ambitious programme to regenerate old libraries, deliver Discovery Centre’s, extend opening hours and re-branding the library service were all part of Hampshire’s determination to tackle the decline in library use.
Councillor Snaith added: “You only have to look at our brand new Winchester Discovery Centre to see Hampshire’s dedication to reversing the decline in library use. Since it opened in late November 2007 it has attracted over 175,500 visitors, 60% more than the same period in 2005.Not only is it a fabulous modern library, there is also two galleries, a café, learning spaces and numerous computers all under one roof – a real cultural destination in itself, so no wonder the crowds are flocking!”
The Council was also commended in the Best Use of Resources Achievement of the Year award for its savings through modernisation in Adult Services. Through a forward thinking programme of savings which combined spending reduction with modernisation to such effect that the Council has moved from two to three stars for Adult Social Care with excellent prospects for improvement.
Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber CBE said: “Congratulations to everyone who has helped put Hampshire County Council on the MJ map as one of the best performing local authorities.”
The winners will be announced at a gala awards night on June 26 in London, by Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow.
This is the fifth year the MJ has run the awards.
Other short listed authorities for the Promoting Active Communities Award are: Birmingham City Council, Caradon DC, East Ayshire Council, Lambeth LBC, North Tyneside MBC, North West Leicestershire DC, Walsall MBC.Hampshire County Council owns thousands of acres of beautiful countryside and parks and is using them to promote the benefits of increased levels of exercise and activity.

Where did the money go?

KEITH House, Eastleigh's Lib. Dem Council leader, stated that income from land disposal in Eastleigh is only used for new facilities for residents (Daily Echo, Thursday March 27). Could he please inform readers of this paper what exactly the reputed £20 million was spent on which was obtained from the sale of South Street Allotments in Eastleigh? Please also tell us exactly how much was received for the sale of these six hectares. The public who live around South Street have a right to know what has happened to this money - so far they have seen no benefits, just noise, mess, pollution and growing traffic problems.

Dr Andrew C Ross, Eastleigh. (As published in Southampton Daily Echo 3/4/08)