Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Record of Decision of the meeting held on 9 November 2023.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 be approved.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 be approved.

Cllr Jarman asked a question arising from the Minutes in relation to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme, to which the Leader agreed to provide a detailed response.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

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. The deadline for written questions will be Monday 8 January 2024.

There were no public questions.

Cllr Lilley asked a question at this point regarding the Independent Island Living Strategy and asked why it had not been considered by the Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Health and Social Care.

The Leader confirmed that senior staff had been reminded that these important items should come before the relevant Scrutiny Committees and would do so as far as possible in the future, and that a written response would be provided to Cllr Lilley’s question.

The Chairman confirmed that he was continuing to work with the chief Executive and the Corporate Management Team in relation to a review of the Corporate Plan.

That Cabinet adopts the Isle of Wight Independent Island Living Strategy attached at Appendix 1.

Confirmation was given that the date of the strategy was 2023-2038, not 2028 as stated in the report. A wide consultation had been carried out. The strategy established the current and future demand for extra care housing and had determined a shortfall of an average of just over 35 units per year across the 15 years review period. Approving the strategy would enable the council to be better informed of and meet the extra care housing needs of the Island.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet adopts the Isle of Wight Independent Island Living Strategy attached at Appendix 1.

The decision was deferred to the next meeting of Cabinet due to extra work being required on some of the proposed schemes.

This item was deferred by the Chairman to the next meeting of Cabinet on 8 February for more work to be carried out on some of the proposed schemes.

That Cabinet recommends that Full Council adopts Options 1 and 4 within this

report, namely that:

Backdating provisions which mirror the current legislative backdating rules are adopted within the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy. Awards will be considered from the date the application is received.  In exceptional circumstances consideration may be given to awarding rate relief for a retrospective period where the ratepayer can demonstrate good cause for not submitting the application earlier, subject to the following constraints relating to discretionary awards:

i)                 If the application is received by 30 September, the award can be backdated to 1 April of the previous financial year.

ii)               If the application is received after 30 September, the award can only be backdated to 1 April of the current financial year.

iii)              that relief can be amended or ceased by the Council at any such time (determined on a daily basis) as the Council considers that the ratepayer no longer meets the criteria for receiving the relief.     

and

That any future changes required to the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy are passed for delegated decision to the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance and the s151 Officer, in conjunction with the Monitoring Officer, if appropriate.

The policy would allow backdating of claims for the previous financial year provided they were received by 30 September in the current year. The difference between mandatory and discretionary reliefs was explained. Adopting the policy would help charities and small businesses.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet recommends that Full Council adopts Options 1 and 4 within this

report, namely that:

Backdating provisions which mirror the current legislative backdating rules are adopted within the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy. Awards will be considered from the date the application is received.  In exceptional circumstances consideration may be given to awarding rate relief for a retrospective period where the ratepayer can demonstrate good cause for not submitting the application earlier, subject to the following constraints relating to discretionary awards:

i)   If the application is received by 30 September, the award can be backdated to 1 April of the previous financial year.

ii)  If the application is received after 30 September, the award can only be backdated to 1 April of the current financial year.

iii) that relief can be amended or ceased by the Council at any such time (determined on a daily basis) as the Council considers that the ratepayer no longer meets the criteria for receiving the relief.     

and

That any future changes required to the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy are passed for delegated decision to the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance and the s151 Officer, in conjunction with the Monitoring Officer, if appropriate.

That the 2024/25 school funding formula and wider Dedicated Schools Grant budget allocations detailed in Appendix 1 and 2 to this report be approved.

This was a yearly paper setting out the council’s principles for the distribution of the funding from government. Consultation had taken place with schools and the proposed principles had been formally considered and agreed by the IW Schools’ Forum.

RESOLVED:

That the 2024/25 school funding formula and wider Dedicated Schools Grant budget allocations detailed in Appendix 1 and 2 to this report be approved.

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

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Corporate Functions gave some clarification on a query which had been earlier raised by Cllr Jarman in relation to the minute regarding the Local Council Tax Support Scheme. He also reported that he had attended an event to mark the ending of the partnership with Hampshire County Council and to celebrate the good things that had come from the partnership. The new Director of Children’s Services was in attendance and would be taking up his post from 1 February 2024.

The Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration, Culture and Leisure reported that there had been a successful bid to augment the budget for ‘The Department’ in Ryde. A bid was also to be made shortly to Historic England for the Newport Guildhall.

The Bay Place Plan had launched on Monday 8 January and the event had been well attended.

Solent Cultural Strategy consultation had taken place in December at the Quay Arts, which had also been well attended.

The Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services, Community Protection and ICT reported that she had just returned from attending the launch of the Violence Reduction Partnership which sets out the obligations the partners have to deal with violent crimes and exploitation, particularly in the under 25s. Th partnership would be re-launched when the new Service Director for Communities was in post and a further update would be given at that time.

Cowes Police station would be reopening shortly.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Coastal Protection and Flooding reported that many comments had been made regarding the lack of medical infrastructure on the island when considering housing developments, and confirmed that a draft Health Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was being prepared which would seek contributions for developments of over 20 units, and it was hoped that these may help to extend current GP practices.

A draft Sustainable Drainage Systems SPD to prevent water from entering the sewerage system was also being worked on with expert consultants and the Environment Agency.

Three LCWIPs would be coming to Cabinet in May for consideration.

A Statement of Community Involvement would be published in the near future to address how the council engages with the public as highlighted as an issue in the recent planning peer review.

The draft Island Planning Strategy (DIPS) had been further delayed as a result of changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the Newport Harbour Masterplan had therefore been further delayed pending the outcome of the decision on the DIPS.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Finance reported that he was still working with officers to provide a balanced budget. He had spent a day at the Dementia Hub in Cowes and had been very impressed with all that was taking place there.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health reported that she had visited the Adelaide re-enablement centre and had spoken to staff and residents and had also visited the Alcohol and Drug Service and had been impressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161.

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

There were several amendments required to be made to the Forward Plan:

• District 2 TRO – Newport and Carisbrooke – slip from this meeting to 8 February

• District 4 TRO – (Alverstone, Arreton, Lake, Newchurch, Sandown, Shanklin)- Slipped from 8 Feb to 9 May to allow for public consultation, feedback summaries and report

• District 6 TRO – (Brighstone, Freshwater, Rookley, Shalfleet, Shorwell, Totland Yarmouth) Slipped from 14 March to 13 June to allow for public consultation, feedback summaries and report.

• Adoption of the Newport Harbour Masterplan – slip from 8 Feb to 9 May to await update on determination of Island Planning Strategy.

• Adoption of 3 x LCWIPs as SPDs – slip from 14 March to 9 May due to delay in undertaking the consultation due to officer resources bringing forward other SPDs.

New Items to be added;

• Disposal of the former Yarmouth School – 14 March
• Disposal of the former Weston School Academy – 14 March
• Draft Health Contributions SPD – 9 May
• Draft Sustainable Drainage Systems SPD – 9 May

Sale of Plot A2 at the Island Technology Park (delegated decision)

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 9 January 2024. 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.

Cllr Lucioni asked whether the Joint Needs Assessment for the partnership had yet been sent. It was confirmed it had not been and Cllr Lucioni would chase this up.

Cllr Jones-Evans asked what would be happening to the Household Support Fund. No announcement had been made for the next financial year. It had now transferred to ASC portfolio and that historically there had been very little notice when new funds were being granted and the situation was being closely monitored. Any further funding coming forward would support as broad a range of services as possible.