Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Newport, Isle of WIght

Contact: Sarah MacDonald  Email: democratic.services@iow.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

102.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 304 KB

To confirm as a true record the Record of Decision of the meeting held on 10 February 2022.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022 be approved.

103.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

Cllr Jones-Evans declared an interest in item 5 (a) relating to the Armed Forces Covenant as both her parents were military veterans.

 

Cllr Jarman declared an interest in Item 5 (a) relating to the Armed Forces Covenant, as his father was a military veteran, and also in Item 7 (b) relating to the Dementia Strategy as his father was under the care of the local authority and Wightcare.

 

The Leader declared an interest in item 5 (a) relating to the Armed Forces Covenant as her husband was an ex veteran along with other family members.

104.

Public Question Time - Maximum 15 Minutes for Written Questions and 15 Minutes for Oral Questions pdf icon PDF 10 KB

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 March 2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A written question to the Leader had been submitted by Charlie Sherwood (PQ 04-22). A written reply would be sent.

 

A written question was submitted by Mathew Ambrosini (PQ 05-22). The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism gave a verbal response.

 

 

105.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that as part of National Women’s Day the suffragette flag had been raised at County Hall. The Chairman had attended a meeting of the unions earlier in the week

 

The Alliance group had donated money to the Ukraine appeal and had been helping to collate items to be sent to those affected. The group would continue to work with senior management to make preparations in the event that refugees were to be sent to the island. The IW College students had been loading up trucks to go to the Ukraine with items donated. The Alliance group would continue to wear flags of support.

 

The Chairman had attended a meeting with a government minister regarding an upcoming announcement in relation to the marine industry. A press release would be issued shortly.

 

The Chairman had been invited to speak to a group of mainly teaching staff regarding women in leadership roles. Thanks had been expressed to them for keeping children educated through the pandemic.

 

The Chairman had attended a Safer Streets Meeting and was delighted that £450k for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight had been won for a Violence Against Women campaign. Better CCTV coming to the island to make people feel safe.

 

The Chairman was expecting a new granddaughter and may soon be taking a short time out to spend time with her family.

106.

Report of the Leader of the Council

106a

Armed Forces Covenant pdf icon PDF 405 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet approves the signing of the Armed Forces covenant and that the Leader of the Council be given delegated authority to effect the signing.

 

Minutes:

The Leader stressed how was important it was to support the Armed Forces, and she was pleased that the island now had a veterans’ hub in Ryde. It would soon be the 40th anniversary of the Falklands war and the Leader would be keen to mark the event in some way.

107.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education and Lifelong Skills

107a

Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Grant Recommendations Easter 2022 pdf icon PDF 876 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

 

Cabinet approves the award of grants to the organisations identified in Appendix 1 to this report to a total value of £63,344.80.

 

In the event that a provider is unable to fulfil the funded number of places or has to amend its offer in the light of Covid, it is recommended that the Cabinet Member delegates approval to the Director of Children’s Services to reallocate any underspent Easter HAF grant funding to ensure an Isle of Wight wide offer, within the grant allocation for Easter of £64,223.  Any such reallocations will be determined in consultation with the Cabinet Member.

Minutes:

 

Ten providers had come forward from community and voluntary groups to provide a variety of holiday activities for children across the whole of the island. Although it was primarily aimed at children in receipt of free school meals, any spare places could be offered to children in the wider community. Clarification was given that, although the provision in rural areas depended on providers coming forward, groups across the whole island had been approached.

 

 

108.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

108a

Director of Public Health Annual Report pdf icon PDF 494 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

To note the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2021.

 

To approve the report recommendations made by the Director of Public Health as set out in the report.

 

Minutes:

The effect of COVID19 on mental health and wellbeing was the focus of this year’s annual report, which contained a number of recommendations that had been drawn up in consultation with partners.

108b

Isle of Wight Dementia Strategy pdf icon PDF 696 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet approves the system wide Isle of Wight Dementia Strategy, enabling the strategy to progress for approval by the Integrated Care Partnership.

 

Minutes:

The strategy was the result of ongoing consultation over many months with colleagues and partners from the health and independent sectors. If approved, it would be underpinned with an action plan to ensure the strategy was workable for the future.

 

It was noted that the strategy focused on family and unpaid carers and the lack of adequate respite care. Clarification was given that steps were being taken to recruit and train professionals to specialise in dementia. It was recognised that nationally there was a challenge to recruit and retain staff in this area, and it was hoped to commission expert training in dementia care.

 

More emphasis was to be put into prevention to enable more people to live happy, healthy lives.

 

It was agreed that this was needed now for the island’s ageing population and it was good to see that more respite care was planned. Thanks was expressed for the work in preparing the strategy.

109.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Community Protection, Digital Transformation, Housing Provision and Housing Needs

109a

Isle of Wight Council Digital Strategy 2021-2026 pdf icon PDF 582 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That Cabinet approves the Isle of Wight Council digital strategy 2022 – 2027 and establishes a programme board led by the portfolio holder for digital transformation. That board will be responsible for the establishment of the associated strategy action plan in line with stated outcomes and provide the strategic oversight of business case developments and resulting project delivery.

 

Minutes:

The council’s current strategy was coming to a natural end. The new strategy was the result of wide ranging internal and external consultation, and a framework had been established with a working group proposed to be set up to co-ordinate the programmes and plans within it. There were four key themes of Digital Island, Digital Council, Digital Citizens and Digital Intelligence.

 

ICT was ever changing therefore nothing was set in stone but would evolve with new legislation and new ways of working.

 

The work done to prepare for agile working had been heralded a success as the island had not felt the challenges of other local authorities who had not been so well prepared for the lockdown and remote working.

 

It was suggested that the heading at the top of pages 302 to 313 of the strategy ‘Digital Island Potential Activities’ be deleted so as to indicate that they were substantive, rather than potential items. This was accepted.

 

110.

Cabinet Member Announcements

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

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Community Engagement reported that, following a motion agreed previously at Full Council a letter had been sent and a response received from the Rt Hon Stuart Andrew, which had been circulated to Cabinet members this afternoon. The next day the first briefing relating to the Island Plan would be delivered to all members of the council with a further briefing on 25 March which would include representatives from IWALC. Following this, a report would be prepared and the plan shared with the Corporate Scrutiny Committee before Cabinet would make recommendations to Full Council. Following this, there would be further consultation by the Planning Inspectorate. The council would ensure that residents were made aware of the further consultation.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills reported that there had been an excellent response to the consultation on term times for the year 2023/24, which was due to end on 18 March. A report would be prepared for Cabinet on 12 May 2022.

 

The Cabinet Member for Highways PFI, Transport and Infrastructure reported that despite what had been written in the press and on social media, the council had not walked away from mediation in relation to the floating bridge, it was continuing via the mediator.

 

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Corporate Resources and Transformational Change reported that a letter had been received from Secretary of State Gove regarding the situation in Ukraine. It was confirmed that the council was ahead of the game and reassurance was given that none of the council’s pension investments were with Russia.

 

A streaming service had been established at the crematorium, which tied in with the Commercial Strategy. When the strategy was considered by Cabinet within the next few months this would be examined more fully. Public praise had been received for the direct cremation service at £450, which it was believed would help many people with the current financial challenges.

 

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health reported that it was World Social Workers’ Day on 15 March and on 17th a day of remembrance was to be held to remember the social care workers who died during the pandemic.

 

All care homes run by the local authority had received a CQC rating of ‘good’.

A meeting had been held with Integrated Care Systems (ICS) which was progressing well, with a strategy being developed and moving forward. Thanks were expressed to the council’s Scrutiny Officer for his work at a national level with scrutiny and how it would work within the new ICS.

 

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Digital Transformation, Housing Provision and Housing Needs reported that the council’s Beta website was up and running in some areas. There would be a ‘soft’ launch for councillors in the near future. The installation of new Teams software and equipment was being rolled out across County Hall meeting rooms. The council’s current telephony contract was coming to an end and replacement systems  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

111.

Consideration of the Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 225 KB

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

Minutes:

The Forward Plan was noted and no amendments were made.

112.

Members' Question Time pdf icon PDF 22 KB

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 March 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.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Four written questions had been received from Cllrs Hendry (MQ 06-22), Spink (MQ 09-22), Pitcher (MQ 10-22) and Brodie (MQ 07-22)

 

Cllrs Hendry and Spink were not present and their questions would receive a written response.

 

Cllr Pitcher was present and the Leader read out his question and the written response.

 

Cllr Brodie was not present and the Leader read out his question. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health gave a verbal response, a copy of which would be sent to Cllr Brodie following the meeting.