Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2022.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2022 be approved.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

Cllrs Jarman and Fuller declared an interest in minute item 39a as they were both Justices of the Peace, sometimes dealing with cases of Domestic Abuse.

Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk, no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Normally, Cabinet is held on Thursday, therefore the deadline for written questions will be Monday 10 October 2022.

There were no public questions received.

The Leader, Chief Executive and Cllr Lilley had signed the Mental Health Pledge for staff and island residents On the same day the second round of small grants had commenced which would see £50,000 spent on mental health projects.

That Cabinet approves to spend up to £2,500,000 for the Isle of Wight Council’s contribution to the new contract. This is based on up to £350,000 per annum for a contract up to five years plus two single year extension options, commencing 1 October 2023.

That Cabinet approves the plans for the 2022/23 DLUHC domestic abuse allocation. It is recommended that decisions on future spend of DLUHC allocations in relation to domestic abuse responsibilities are delegated to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member and Director of Adult Social Care on an annual basis.

Local authorities had a new responsibility with respect to domestic abuse. Grant funding of £292,848 had been allocated by the DHLUC and the planned spend was set out in the report. Currently the service was jointly funded with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. The Leader and Deputy Leader had visited the current service providers, the You Trust, and had been very impressed with the service.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approves to spend up to £2,500,000 for the Isle of Wight Council’s contribution to the new contract. This is based on up to £350,000 per annum for a contract up to five years plus two single year extension options, commencing 1 October 2023.

That Cabinet approves the plans for the 2022/23 DLUHC domestic abuse allocation. It is recommended that decisions on future spend of DLUHC allocations in relation to domestic abuse responsibilities are delegated to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member and Director of Adult Social Care on an annual basis.

That Cabinet notes the current contract value of the Substance Misuse Treatment Service as £7,381,915 (5-year value) and approves an additional £275,155 plus Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) £100,684 for 2022/23.

That Cabinet approves additional spend under the Substance Misuse treatment contract in line with Government funding for years 2023-2025 of up to £1million.

That Cabinet delegates authority to approve this additional spend to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, and Director of Adult Social Care on an annual basis for 2023/24 and 2024/25, considering anticipated funding received from Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) and Rough Sleepers Initiative as outlined in this report.

Funding had been allocated to all local authorities to increase the capacity and quality of substance misuse services. It was anticipated that for the IW Council this would be in the region of £973,000 over the next three years. It was intended that a new multi-agency drug partnership would be set up. The approval of Option 1 in the report would provide assurance in the short term and allow for continuity of service. Thanks were expressed to all those involved in drug and alcohol services on the island.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet notes the current contract value of the Substance Misuse Treatment Service as £7,381,915 (5-year value) and approves an additional £275,155 plus Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) £100,684 for 2022/23.

That Cabinet approves additional spend under the Substance Misuse treatment contract in line with Government funding for years 2023-2025 of up to £1million.

That Cabinet delegates authority to approve this additional spend to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, and Director of Adult Social Care on an annual basis for 2023/24 and 2024/25, considering anticipated funding received from Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) and Rough Sleepers Initiative as outlined in this report.

That Cabinet approves the Isle of Wight Council Procurement Strategy contained at Appendix 1 of this report.

This report had been discussed at length at the Corporate Scrutiny Committee meeting two days previously, when it was requested that consideration be given to moving the section of value for money forwards in the strategy to highlight the importance of this key principle. Local community wealth building would be embedded into all processes to encourage resources to remain in the local community. Further detailed documents and processes would be formulated to put the strategy into effect. It was noted that the Corporate Scrutiny Committee had formally supported the recommendation.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approves the Isle of Wight Council Procurement Strategy contained at Appendix 1 of this report.

That Cabinet notes the Housing Strategy 2020-2025 Action Plan Progress Report 2022 contained at Appendix 1 of this report.

The six strategic priorities listed in the report and action plan, which were the same as those under the previous administration were highlighted. The council was now a registered provider and a part time Housing Manager had recently been appointed. Five units has been purchased under the Rough Sleepers Accommodation Project. Three sites had been put out for Expressions of Interest under the Brownfield Release Fund. It was planned to purchase up to 25 properties by Spring 2023. Before the housing company could start trading it would be necessary to carry out a review of the council’s assets which was being done by the council’s legal department and outside legal advisors. Formal documents would follow when the asset review was complete.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet notes the Housing Strategy 2020-2025 Action Plan Progress Report 2022 contained at Appendix 1 of the report.

Cabinet approves the proposed restriction that is subject to this report in relation to The Isle of Wight Council (Various Streets, East Cowes) (Traffic Regulation) Order No1 2022 as proposed.

The implementation of the TRO being approved, be subject to Saunders Way being entirely opened to vehicular traffic.

Hawthorn Meadows was currently unadopted. The developer would pass adoption of the estate to the council to provide residents with highways support. A safety audit had been carried out on the roads to be adopted. There would be a nil cost to the council at the present time.

Concern was expressed that there should be a review of the traffic flow within 6-12 months of Saunders Way being opened. Confirmation was given that there was a TRO review process, the timescale for review would be discussed with the local councillor.

RESOLVED:

Cabinet approves the proposed restriction that is subject to this report in relation to The Isle of Wight Council (Various Streets, East Cowes) (Traffic Regulation) Order No1 2022 as proposed.

The implementation of the TRO being approved, be subject to Saunders Way being entirely opened to vehicular traffic.

To invite Cabinet Members to provide a brief update on matters concerning their portfolio.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Digital Transformation, Housing, Homelessness and Povertyannounced that he and the Leader had attended the ‘Winter is Coming’ event at the Riverside Centre, meeting representatives from various organisations offering help to residents over the winter period. A list of their services had been included in a compendium which would be published on the council’s website from the following week.

Information was also being gathered regarding organisations and places offering warm spaces over the winter, including libraries, churches and leisure centres. This list would be published at the end of October.

A visit had also been made to Pan Together with the local member, Councillor Brodie, and met a very supportive team there.

Ten new advisors had been recruited to the Citizens Advice Bureau helpline. The council had given some financial help to the Footprint Trust and it was hoped that it would do the same for Citizens Advice.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Enforcement announced that several councillors had asked for an update report on the Island Planning Strategy, and read out a statement with the next steps.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage, Human Resources and Legal and Democratic Services reported that in response to queries received regarding Dark Skies status, the criteria had changed and a refreshed application would be submitted before the end of 2022. Applications for membership of the Biosphere Steering Committee were open until the following day. There had been a good number of applications.

Following speculation that the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, was coming to the island to visit a renewable energy company, it was confirmed during the meeting that the visit had taken place and members expressed disappointment that he had not made contact with the council.

The Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourismreported that the council had been allocated £536,000 from the Rural England Shared Prosperity Fund, for small businesses and rural communities. An Investment Plan would be drawn up in November for allocation of the funds.

The first island cultural conference was to take place, which would see the launch of the cultural strategy consultation. A wide range of speakers would be attending.

Sandown and Shanklin Town Councils had agreed to contribute to a place plan for their area. Lake Parish Council would be considering it at their meeting the same evening. The High Streets Task Force had given a clear steer to regenerate Sandown High Street with focus on derelict and empty sites. A vision for the town was being developed.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills had attended the IW Safeguarding Children Partnership annual conference. Links had been strengthened with the island’s Youth Council and Youth MP. The Cabinet Member had also been visiting schools around the island, building relationships with staff and finding out their issues.

There was to be a jobs, careers and education fair at the IW College on 26  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Cabinet Members to identify decisions which need to be amended, added or to be removed from the Forward Plan.

The contents of the Forward Plan were noted with no amendments made.

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 5pm on Tuesday 11 October 2022. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

There were no Members’ questions received.