News Release
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Havant’s Public Service Village moves forward
Plans for Havant’s new Public Service Village (PSV) will move
ahead this Easter when a planning application for the new
development is due to be submitted.
Once the application is validated, members of the public will be
able to give their feedback on the plans which are the result of a
ground breaking partnership between Hampshire County Council and
Havant Borough Council. The new
PSV
will bring together public and
voluntary services in one location and transform the area into a
high quality, welcoming and attractive place helping to regenerate
the town.
The partnership has been awarded £5.1million from the
Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families
Co-Location Fund towards the
PSV
. This will help to meet the
costs of a complete refurbishment of Havant’s civic offices, making
it more energy efficient and capable of accommodating over 250
social care staff and other front line staff from Hampshire County
Council, who will relocate from other offices in the area. It will
also enable better visitor facilities to be built at the building’s
reception area.
Residents will be able to access a wider range of local services
from the refurbished civic offices, which will include housing and
homelessness services, community safety, social care, health
information and advice for young people. The Citizens Advice
Bureau, Connexions and Havant and East Hants Learning Disability
Services have already relocated to the civic offices at Havant and
further opportunities for other organisations to deliver a service
from the
PSV
are
currently being considered.
The
PSV
also
strengthens the drive to regenerate the Borough by attracting
investment into the area, protecting existing jobs, creating local
jobs through the future expansion of the
PSV
as we attract other partners
and improving the links with Havant Town Centre.
Both councils are contributing to this innovative project. The
current budget for the building project is £13.057million. The £5.1
million awarded by the Government’s Department for Children,
Schools and Families Co-Location Fund will go towards this cost.
Hampshire County Council will provide some of the remainder through
capital receipts from those buildings which will become surplus
following relocation. Havant Borough Council will fund its share by
borrowing, and expects to meet those costs through the ongoing
efficiencies.
To meet the requirements of the government funding, the
co-location of the relevant Hampshire County Council services with
Havant Borough Council staff, and the new visitor facilities, must
be complete by the beginning of September 2011.
Councillor
Tony Briggs, Leader of Havant Borough Council said, “By working
together in partnership Hampshire County Council and Havant Borough
Council will create a Public Service Village to deliver twenty
first century affordable and efficient services from refurbished
civic offices. We will provide our residents with the opportunity
to access the services of both authorities and other partner
organisations from one central location.
This exciting project will transform service delivery whilst
making more efficient use of public buildings and lead to greater
overall savings across both organisations, without any additional
burden being placed on the tax payer.”
Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber
said: “Partnership working is the backbone of efficient and
effective public service provision and the Public Service Village
is a fantastic example of where this approach will deliver real
benefits for the people of Havant.
“By working together with our Hampshire Senate partners and
sharing services, this means we can deliver not only greater value
for money to the taxpayer but also deliver more cost efficiencies
and savings, by sharing premises and adopting flexible and more
sustainable working practices.”