The old saying 'a camel is a horse designed by committee' is one which I wholeheartedly agree with. As a result of this I was somewhat sceptical about sitting in on the latest Hampshire County Council meeting, lavishly held in the grounds of Winchester's Great Hall. Indeed this feeling was somewhat increased upon seeing the selection of councillors entrusted with the decision making of the county, without wishing to be unkind they could all be found queueing in the post office on a Thursday morning. I wouldn't like to guess at the total age of the predominantly male council but 1,204 wouldn't be far off. The original conversations that I overheard concerned stereotypical comments on cricket and the weather. Given that 'broadband' was also on the agenda I questioned how much knowledge the room would possess on this, especially as there were technical issues from the start and the speaker questioned why his voice was 'so echoey' after inadvertantly turning his microphone on.
The first issue discussed (and at over an hour in great detail), was 'The Contribution Policy for Adult Social Care'. The proposal was to adapt the current system in order to consider each case individually, potentially leading to 1/3 of disabled adults having to pay more for social care (although 40% would still pay nothing). It was agreed that the maximum weekly charged of £440 per week be removed whilst plans to raise the expense to 100% of net income and charge carers for their service were rightly rejected.
After this came the discussion on improving broadband in the Hampshire area. Far from being the technological neanderthals I was expecting - most of the council proved to have a detailed knowledge on 'computers' with one gentleman even flashing an i-phone and all agreeing that faster broadband should be provided in rural areas.
The next item on the agenda was a brief discussion on the budget, with special emphasis on the expense of gritting the roads during the snowy weather and the financial costs of restoring the Gosport village green. The meeting was then over for us as the next item was not available for public viewing - stirring up all sorts of images of what was being discussed.
In all seriousness however, the people at the Council were very welcoming, giving us a tour around the building, refreshments and ensuring that everything that was discussed was explained so that we could understand and I would like to thank them for their generosity.
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