Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Record of Decision of the meeting held on 13 January 2022.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2022 be approved.

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

The Monitoring Officer confirmed that a General Dispensation had been granted on 21 January 2022 for the next four years to all councillors that would enable them to discuss and vote on the budget and council tax setting and any other financial matters in which they may have an interest, for example as council tax payers, or subscribers to the green waste or Wightcare services.

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 7 February 2022.

No written questions were received.

Julia Lowson representing Save Our School group from Chillerton and Rookley Primary School asked what was the council’s fear behind consideration of creating a mat/map with the Island Free School building a model of excellence for primary education on the island which would prevent small rural schools being closed.

The Cabinet Member responded and said she had listened to the points raised, the comments of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and the request to defer the decision. Following discussion she had undertaken more research and made further enquiries and the Cabinet would be asked to defer the decision in order for further options to be explored. She apologised for the ongoing uncertainty, however it was important to take into account any new information and not make a decision until all avenues had been explored.

The Chairman announced the upcoming departure from the council of the Chief Executive, John Metcalfe after 25 years at the Isle of Wight Council, six of them as Chief Executive, and gave a tribute to him for all his support and for everything he had done for the council and for the island. Detailed announcements as to what would happen would be made in due course. A new clear Corporate Plan was in place setting out the council’s aims for the next four years. The council was hoping to create a new approach based on local investment, support for residents and a creative approach to finance and growth. The proposed budget had been largely welcomed at various public meetings and at CSC. The recent ‘levelling up’ settlement from government had still failed to recognise the island as a special case and the costs associated with being separated from the mainland. It offered no meaningful support for local pressures and had been profoundly disappointing.

To defer the decision pending further research into the options.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills proposed that a decision on this item be deferred pending further research into all the options.

That Cabinet approves the 2023/2024 admissions arrangements.

The School Admissions arrangements for primary, secondary and in-year admissions for 2023/24 were as detailed in the report. There was no change proposed to the arrangements currently in place.

It was noted that the Corporate Scrutiny Committee had made no formal comment.

Option 2: The Cabinet approves the Performance and Finance Report for the Quarter ended 31 December 2021, and the priority report detail as set out in appendices 1-9, together with the council’s financial position as set out at appendices 10 and 11.

It was noted that this was the first Quarterly performance report based on the new Corporate Plan. There was an appendix detailing performance for each portfolio.

The revenue budget was broadly on balance, and the capital budget was showing some slippage which would be carried forward into the next year’s draft budget.

There were a number of new measures for which there was no data yet, but these would be reported at the end of the next quarter.

Some points were highlighted, which included that there were currently only two known rough sleepers who were receiving support. The council had purchased five flats using S.106 funding to assist with the situation.

Funding of just under £1 million had been received from the Brownfield Release fund to help clear up three council-owned brownfield sites for potential housing.

£2.5 million had been proposed in the budget to start up a property company to start to provide affordable homes for local residents.

1.           It is recommended that the Cabinet endorse the following:

(a)   The recommendations to the Council set out below.

2.          It is recommended that the Council approve the following:

(a)    The revised Revenue Budget for the financial year 2021/22 and the Revenue Budget for the financial year 2022/23 as set out in the General Fund Summary (Appendix 1) which includes:

(i)      A Revenue Contribution to Capital of £2.0m, to support the provision of housing affordable to Island residents

(ii)    The COVID Contingency estimated at £9.1m, to guard against continuing and legacy risks

(b)    Any variation arising from the Local Government Finance Settlement 2022/23 or any further savings made in 2021/22 arising at the year-end (after allowing for specific carry forward requests) be transferred to the Revenue Reserve for Capital, COVID Contingency, Transformation Reserve, and General Reserves with the level of each transfer to be determined by the S.151 Officer.

(c)    That the level of Council Tax be increased by 1.99% for general purposes in accordance with the referendum threshold^[1] for 2022/23 announced by Government (as calculated in Appendix 2)

(d)    That the level of Council Tax be increased by a further 1.0% beyond the referendum threshold (as calculated in Appendix 2) to take advantage of the flexibility offered by Government to implement a "Social Care Precept"; and that in accordance with the conditions of that flexibility, the full amount of the associated sum generated of £905,600 is passported direct to Adult Social Care

(e)    That the amounts set out in Appendix 2 be now calculated by the Council for the financial year 2022/23 in accordance with Section 31 and Sections 34 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992

(f)     The S.151 Officer be given delegated authority to implement any variation to the overall level of Council Tax arising from the final notification of the Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Authority and Parish and Town Council precepts, and amend the calculations set out in Appendix 2 accordingly

(g)    The savings proposals for each Portfolio amounting, in total, to £3.0m for 2022/23 and continuing into future years as set out on the next page:

*Excludes the additional funding passported through to Adult Social Care of £3.7m (which if included would result in an overall increase of 3.7%) and the additional funding for Children's Services, Education & Skills of £2.3m (which if included would result in an overall increase of 7.3%)

** Excludes £19.4m of PFI grant funding, on a Gross expenditure basis the  ...  view the full decision text for item 98b

The proposed budget had undergone a lot of discussion, including with Town and Parish Councils and other groups and a public consultation exercise. There had been over 1000 responses which had been considered in the final draft. The focus of the budget was to meet the key objectives with three main areas – securing front line adult social care services, children’s services and the provision of affordable housing for rent.

Highlights picked out by councillors included:

·       Investment plans and a list of regeneration projects with a good record of accessing funding.

·       Investment of significant sums into education, including a new Yarmouth school in January 2023 and remodelling of The Bay secondary site in October 2022

·       Increased support for foster carers and improved housing options for care leavers

·       The provision of affordable housing and finding ways to fast track housing with the input of local councillors

·       £750,000 had been put aside for compulsory purchases to be used for island residents.

Thanks were expressed to Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council for their work in relation to planning enforcement ideas. Other Town and Parish Councils also wished to follow suit.

The Cabinet members were thanked for their work in bringing the draft budget together.

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

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Community Engagement reported that the Draft Island Planning Strategy was to be completed in March and it was hoped to hold members’ briefing sessions. The views of the Queen’s Counsel would be taken into consideration. The decision would be made by Full Council in April.

The Cabinet Member for Highways PFI, Transport and Infrastructure reminded councillors that events celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee would be taking place later in the year and that consideration was being given to the council obtaining a one-off Traffic Regulation order so that residents could apply to the council for street closures.

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Digital Transformation, Housing Provision and Housing Needs reported that of the 2357 people on the housing register, approximately 200 were in temporary accommodation and these were the most desperate for housing. Access to funding was greatly needed.

The Coroner’s Service was due to be moved to a different location and a better environment.

Regulatory Services staff were currently under pressure due to COVID.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Heritage and Waste Management reported that work was ongoing for a new Mission Zero hub and an announcement would be made in the next 4-6 weeks.

Progress had been made with the national coastal path. Some work had been completed and there was further work in other areas to start in April.

The Environment Agency were to announce flood protection works on the island, with £60 million of investment. The council would be contributing a small amount. Approximately 5000 homes would be protected following the works.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills reported that the Isle of Wight had been selected as one of the government’s 55 Education Investment Areas. The additional funding would help recruit and retain high quality teaching staff.

It was currently Children’s Mental Health Week. Cllr Lilley had been working to set up a consortium between the Youth trust, Barnardos and the NHS to provide mental health champions in all schools.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism reported that she had attended a meeting with the Chief Executive of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership regarding freeport status, and he would be visiting the island shortly for further discussions.

A further Arts Council grant had been received to help the Island Collection – the cultural industry and strategy.

The deadline for applications for the Omicron grant for the hospitality industry was fast approaching.

Discussions had been held with Town and Parish Councils regarding sites for pop-up businesses, the Tour of Britain preparations were under way and the Southampton City of Culture bid had been submitted which would benefit the island.

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

Consideration was given to the Forward Plan, and there were no matters to be added or removed.

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, 8 February 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.

Cllr Spink had submitted some written questions relating to the Draft Island Planning Strategy (MQ – 04/22) which were read out by the Leader. Written responses had been prepared which were also read out and a copy supplied to Cllr Spink, who asked two supplementary questions as follows:

Would the Leader press the government for a reply to two letters which had been sent to them regarding a ‘tilted balance’ as this had an effect on a motion which had been passed at Full Council which could not take effect until replies to the letters were received. The Leader agreed to pursue this.

Would the Leader consider publishing the Draft Island Planning Strategy a minimum of 10 working days before the Corporate Scrutiny meeting on 12 April, as he did not feel that 5 working days was long enough for the Committee to properly scrutinise what would probably be a very lengthy document.

The Leader indicated that she would enquire whether this was possible.