Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2021 be approved.

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. Therefore the deadline for written questions will be Monday 15 November 2021.

Members of the public are invited to make representations to the Committee regarding its workplan, either in writing at any time or at a meeting under this item.

No public questions were received.

The Chairman to give an update on progress with outcomes and recommendations from previous meetings.

There had only been one previous meeting for the current Committee. Issues relating to progress on regeneration projects to date would be dealt with when dealing with the Regeneration Update which had been circulated separately.

RESOLVED:

To note the report

To consider key performance and budget issues in respect of the service areas coming within the remit of the Committee, including:-

The Committee was advised that previously the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reviewed the performance report. That Committee had now indicated that it would be more appropriate now for the Policy and Scrutiny Committee to deal with this as the services fell within its remit.this Concern was expressed that Island Roads were being blamed for Wightfibre’s works. An explanation was given that an improvement notice had been issued to Wightfibre and Island Roads were trying to work in partnership with them and avoid carrying out works where it was known that Wightfibre works were due.

In response to other questions raised it was confirmed that, following completion of the St Mary’s junction works a review had taken place of the flow of traffic down to Coppins Bridge. Although traffic build-up in the outside lane was at times quite lengthy, it was known to clear fairly quickly.

It was also confirmed that there was a large backlog of Traffic Regulation orders (TROs) to be processed, although some schemes were now coming forward. There were only 1-2 Full Time Equivalent staff working on TROs, as well as other duties, and due to a delay in recruitment, these had been prioritised based on safety issues. It was believed that a small amount of investment by way of additional staff could bring rewards, even if for a fixed term. In 2017 Town and Parish Councils had been asked to provide the top 3-5 TROs required in their areas and it had been suggested that they may be processed if Town and Parish councils were to contribute towards their implementation.

A report on the TRO process to a future meeting of the Committee was requested.

It was suggested that any meeting with Wightfibre be a formal meeting, as requested by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:

i)       An item to be included within the workplan relating to the co- ordination of highway works.

ii)      The Cabinet Member for Transport and infrastructure be recommended to consider approaching town and parish councils to assist in funding towards the costs of staff processing traffic regulation orders for their respective areas to assist in reducing the list of outstanding restrictions and public frustration.

iii)    The Director of Neighbourhoods circulate a report to the committee on the process involved in processing requests for traffic regulations.

The Corporate Scrutiny Committee had indicated that an item should be included within this committee’s workplan to look at works by utility companies, particularly Wightfibre and this would be progressed.

In response to questions from the Committee, it was confirmed that there was a specific process for dealing with missed collections where the crew noted the reason for the missed collection. CCTV was available when required. There were sometimes an increase in missed collections at the start of the summer holidays from second-home use. The data was monitored on a monthly basis.

There had been an average number of FOI requests, all of which had been responded to within the 20 days.

There was around 5,000 tons of food waste per year. 22 per cent of refuse in the general bins was food waste. Weekly food bin collections would continue to be promoted.

RESOLVED:

To note the report for Quarter 2 2021-22.

At Full Council on 15 September 2021 the following motion was agreed :-

“On 18^th November 2020, Council asked the then Cabinet to explore the cost and feasibility of acquiring mobile average speed cameras for future use on the Island. On 24^th February 2021, Council approved a budget for 2021/22, which included an allocation of £300,000 for purchasing these cameras.

Given that this capital allocation is for the current financial year, Council urges the Cabinet to proceed with the development of a business case to investigate these mobile average speed cameras, identifying the costs and effectiveness of the use of the cameras across the Island, taking advice from the Policy Committee for Regeneration and Transport. “

The Committee is therefore requested to formulate comments for submission to the Cabinet on the acquisition of mobile average speed cameras.

Some research had been carried out into the availability of mobile average speed cameras. A trial had been carried out in 2011 in Hampshire, but it was not certain whether this had continued. It was not believed that there were any in use in the UK at present. There did not appear to be any evidence of the successful application of mobile average speed cameras. The Committee believed it would be more prudent to spend the money on the speed review which was due to end in March 2022

The Committee understood that the majority of deaths on the roads on the island mainly involved single vehicles, suggesting that speed was the main factor.

It was intended that the results of the speed review would be reported to the Cabinet in about a year’s time, and that an item should be added to the Committee’s work plan for an update at the October 2022 meeting prior to the Cabinet meeting.

RESOLVED:

i)       To recommend to Cabinet that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with a business case for the acquisition of mobile average speed cameras as the technology is not currently available.

ii)      To consider the outcome of the speed review at the Committee’s meeting in October 2022 prior to any consideration by Cabinet.

That the Director of Neighbourhoods circulate the scope of the        speed limit review to the Committee.

It was agreed at the July 2021 meeting that the Plan would be submitted to the Committee for any comment.

The government had urged councils to enter into an Enhanced Partnership with bus operators in March 2022. This would enable access to a £3 million funding pot to deliver more frequent services, more routes, improved shelters and real time information. The local bus operator had provided a wish list of proposals.

It was believed that if the use of buses increased it may result in a reduction in fares, and that incentives should be given to attract people to use buses more. Discussions were ongoing and the Committee requested an update be provided at their meeting in May 2022 and felt it would be beneficial for Southern Vectis to be invited to the meeting.

RESOLVED:

i)                 To note the content of the Bus Improvement Plan.

A review of progress with the delivery of the plan and the enhanced partnership be included in the Committee’s workplan for 5 May 2022 meeting and a representative of Southern Vectis be invited to attend.

To consider progress with the action plan contained within the Housing Strategy as approved by Cabinet in October 2020.

The action plan formed part of the strategy from the previous administration and built on the positive elements with the aspirations of the new administration. It demonstrated the commitment made in the Corporate Plan, including bringing empty properties back into use and consideration of temporary modular housing. Invitations for Expressions of Interest to provide these had gone out, including  local providers. It was hoped that more funding from Homes England would be sought to provide affordable housing for local people. £1 million had been obtained to clean up three brownfield sites. There were currently 2485 people on the housing list and of these, 1249 needed one-bedroom accommodation. There were to be more Housing Board meetings looking at all available sites. There was concern that developers were not addressing local need and planning had been refused for some applications as they were not for the right type of housing.

In response to a query regarding whether the council was on course to meet the targets in the action plan, it was confirmed that Camp Hill was not currently progressing, however the Community Hub in Newport, Ryde Village and Green Meadows in Freshwater had been delivered. Other projects were generally on track for delivery.

More information was requested on the Tenancy Academy mentioned by the Assistant Director of Regeneration.

RESOLVED:

i)       To note the progress made to date and include a further report in the Committee’s workplan for 5 May 2022.

That the Assistant Director of Regeneration (Housing) circulate details of the proposed tenancy training to the Committee

To be advised of progress with key projects.

An update was given. Levelling Up funds for East Cowes had been received and some open days were to be held in December for the public to be able to give feedback on proposals for use of the funding.

A meeting had been held with the Arts Council which had been very promising. The wealth of culture on the island was recognised and the council had been encouraged to be visionary and come up with big ideas. Three priorities would be identified for further consideration with the Arts Council.

The results of the consultation on Newport Harbour Supplementary Planning Document would be considered by Cabinet on 16 December and could include the provision of a conference centre for community use.

The Committee believed it would be useful to have interim steps in place to measure progress with each project so that any delays can be highlighted and actions taken.

RESOLVED:

The next update to include timescales to enable the Committee to effectively monitor progress with schemes.

To identify topics for inclusion in the committee’s future workplan, including issues where it is believed that an informal briefing would be beneficial.

The Corporate Plan had now been approved at Full Council and the Committee were invited to pick out anything they felt would be useful to be included in their workplan, including suggestions that had been made at this meeting.

RESOLVED:

That an item would be included in the workplan at an appropriate time relating to the future proposals relating to any redevelopment of Culver Parade, Sandown.

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 16 November 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.

There were no Members’ Questions.