Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Record of Decision of the meeting held on 15 July 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2021 be agreed.

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

Councillor Jordan declared an interest in Minute No. 32 – Quarterly Performance Report.

Councillor Bacon declared a pecuniary interest in Minute No. 34 as he was a D-Bid payer.

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 6 September.

The procedure for asking questions without notice is provided below:

Arrangements for Submitting Oral Questions at Meetings of Council and Cabinet:

The front desk “opens” for public wishing to attend the meeting half an hour before the meeting.

When signing in at the front desk as attending a Council or Cabinet meeting each member of the public is asked whether they wish to ask an oral question at the meeting AND/OR if the member of the public indicates themselves that they wish to ask an oral question.

In the circumstances that a member of the public wishes to ask an oral question, they will be given a form to complete which details their name, town/village of residence, email address and the topic of the question (not the question in full, unless they wish to provide this).

These forms will be numbered in the order they are handed back.

The time for registering questions will be for a 20 minute period (up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting). After that time expires the forms will be collected and given to the Chairman of the meeting.

If time allows after dealing with any written questions, the Chairman will then ask those who have submitted a form to put their question.  These will be in the order they were received.  As the subject matter is known, the Chairman should be able to indicate which member will reply.  If time permits the Chairman may accept further questions.

The option to ask a supplementary question will be at the Chairman’s discretion.

Once the defined period of time allowed for questions has passed (and assuming the Chairman has not extended this) then all remaining oral questions are left unanswered.

No oral question will receive a guaranteed written response, unless the member responding indicates as such.

A written question was received from Mr P Coueslant (PQ 38-21). The Leader indicated that a written reply would be sent.

No oral questions were received.

The Chairman reported that today had been Emergency Services’ Day. The Chairman’s thanks were expressed to the Chairman of the Council, Cllr Brodie, and staff for arranging to mark the day with a flag-raising ceremony to recognise the work of the emergency services. Cllr Brodie reported that it was the first time a recognition day had been held on the island and that a permanent flagpole was also being arranged for St Thomas’s Square in Newport. It was hoped that there would be some media coverage to raise public awareness.

The government were intending to develop county deals and devolve powers to local geographical areas and were looking for areas to undertake a pilot scheme. The council had not initiated any county deals discussions with other councils as its current focus of was the completion of the Island Deal.

The council had been successful in the Public Sector Transformation Awards and had been awarded Bronze in Communications for the roll-out of the NHS COVID app, and Silver in the Community category for the COVID response with partners, establishing 30 partner hubs. Both awards were a testament to staff and the benefits of partnership working in communities.

Option 2: Cabinet approves the Performance and Finance Report – Quarter ended 30 June 2021 and Finance Report Quarter ended 31 March 2021 and the priority report detail as set out in appendices 1-9, together with the council’s financial position as set out at 10-13.

The report covered the period to the end of June 2021. It was noted that the Corporate Scrutiny Committee had made some comments and it was confirmed that the budgetary situation was being reviewed in order to achieve the administration’s objectives, and that the points raised would be taken into consideration in meetings over the next few weeks and fed into that review.

Option A - To support the remaining COVID discretionary business grant funds being committed in the area set out in paragraphs 12 to17 above with details to be agreed by the Cabinet member in consultation with the Isle of Wight Economic Development Board Executive.

Funding had been received from the government to help businesses affected by COVID. There was still £273,947 to be spent by 31 March 2022. A number of activities and projects which would benefit from the funding had been identified following discussions with the Economic Development Board. The Corporate Scrutiny Committee had noted the proposal.

Option A - To support the D BID proposition, agree to run and manage the legal processes necessary to undertake the ballot of potential levy paying businesses, agree to cast its votes in favour of the D BID proposition and set aside the funds required to pay the levy if successful.

Cllr Bacon withdrew from the meeting for this item, having declared a disclosable pecuniary interest.

The Council had been asked to support Visit Isle of Wight in preparing for a ballot for the D-Bid. There was a strict formal process to be followed, and

voting was due to take place in September/October this year. As a payer of business rates, the cost to the council would be £13,000, however it was believed to be beneficial for tourism and for the island as a destination. If the ballot was unsuccessful further research into other funding sources would be undertaken. Members were happy to support the recommendation, however they felt it would be necessary to try and raise the level of satisfaction with the D-Bid’s outputs from 60%. Dissatisfaction was attributed to a number of factors including ferry performance and roadworks throughout the island. Smaller businesses would be encouraged to take up more of the advertising offered as part of the D-Bid.

The Corporate Scrutiny Committee had supported the proposal.

Option 3: Support the motion and lead the preparation of a bid contingent on assistance towards the development of the bid being provided as part of the Shaping Newport Steering Group. 

AND

Option 4: The bid to be approved by those delegated to act on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council, NCCC and the Shaping Newport Steering Group.

The Shaping Newport Steering Group had agreed with Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council (NCCC) that the bid should go forward. Members agreed with the proposal. The Corporate Scrutiny Committee had made no comment as the matter was to be debated the following week at Full Council.

Option 1: Agree to adopt and support the Climate Change and Environment Strategy and Action Plan with the following commitments:

(a)  The aim to meet the target dates, as set out in the Strategy, to be net-carbon zero:

          •         as a council by 2030,

          •         across the school estate by 2035 and

          •         as an Island by 2040;

(b)  To provide for the required staff resources to manage the co-ordination and the delivery of the Action Plan, of £94,314 (through the 2021/22 budget process).

(c)   The resources already committed within existing council service plans and budgets.

(d)  The development of business cases, applications for grants and other external funding for future projects to fulfil other council and community led actions.

(e)  A full Strategy review and update, for publication every two years.

(f)    The Action Plan is reviewed as and when required and in the first instance within the first nine months.

(g)  The delegation to commence the projects within the Action Plan, subject to available resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Heritage and Waste.

The Strategy was the result of a motion to Full Council in 2019 and was a very comprehensive document. The accompanying action plan contained 160 actions. Both documents would be continually reviewed and amended to correspond with scientific developments. Some of the actions were due to be completed prior to the first review after 9-months. The strategy was seen as part of a wider process ensuring sustainability for the island, fitting in with other existing and forthcoming strategies and plans, which would improve health, the environment and economic opportunity. Members hoped that any opportunity for offset would be dealt with locally, and it was suggested that offset arrangements for new home builds should be included in the Island Plan.  Grant funding and joint working would be necessary to achieve some of the actions proposed. It was believed that the target of 2035 for schools was realistic. Funding had already been obtained for upgrading some council buildings which would fulfil the commitment made. Branstone Farm was a good example of sustainability and it was hoped that there would be more mixed-use developments in the future.

Thanks were recorded to staff members Natasha Dix and Holly Jones for their work on the strategy.

The Corporate Scrutiny Committee had fully supported the strategy.

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

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Housing Needs reported that, following the recent announcement from government about measures to address Adult Social Care, he believed that, although a step in the right direction, it would not address the employment issues in the sector on the island. More information was still needed but it was believed that next year’s budget would still have to be cut. Other councils had similar concerns. The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Corporate Resources and Transformational Change was also dissatisfied with the announcement as it would have financial implications and additional burdens for the council. The government had failed to release a costing analysis and this was still awaited. The had been no indication of the island’s allocation but the majority of the funding would go to the NHS. A lot of the data would not be available until at least the fourth quarter. Although there would be some winners, it was believed that the island would be disproportionately disadvantaged.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills reported that there had been a focused Ofsted visit to Children’s Services, looking particularly at Children in Need and children subject to Child Protection Plans. The team had set up a new social work model and had received a favourable report which would improve children’s circumstances.

A report would come to Cabinet in October regarding options for the future of Chillerton and Rookley Primary School. It would be recommended that a 6-week consultation should take place and all responses would be fully considered before a report in Spring 2022 setting out the outcomes with the proposed next steps and timeframe.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism reported that work was continuing on the Culture and Regeneration Strategy, and that 20 Expressions of Interest for the Shanklin Spa site had been received.

The Cabinet Member for Highways PFI, Transport and Infrastructure reported that comments received regarding Ryde Interchange consultation were currently being considered and would be incorporated in the final draft scheme. There had already been some minor changes to the original scheme. It was agreed that although it was mainly a transport plan, there were some public realm issues within it

An update was given on the floating bridge. The matter would be moving to mediation before the end of November. A technical report was being commissioned to assess the extent of the problems and potential cost of rectification. No decision would be taken on the future of the floating bridge until the technical report had been received. May 2022 would be the fifth year of its operation and would be due an inspection by the MCA, the cost of which would have to be borne by the council.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Provision reported that Island Plan roadshows were taking place. 13 had been done and a further 27 were still to be held. A total of 365 residents had so far been engaged. Thanks  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

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

The forward plan was discussed. Although it was necessary to provide sufficient information on each item, the format would be reviewed to ensure that all information contained within it was factually correct before being published.

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 7 September 2021. 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 Garratt asked a question regarding St Mary’s junction (PQ 13-21) and a summarised response was provided verbally, a full reply would be sent in writing.

A supplementary question was asked regarding whether the Cabinet Member for Highways PFI, Transport and Infrastructure would carry out a full review of the scheme, including safety issues at the Forest Road pedestrian crossing, and bring a report back to Cabinet at a future date.

Cllr Garratt asked a further question regarding the Council Tax Support Scheme and how the poorer could be supported through the hardship fund. A full written reply would be sent.