Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Megan Tuckwell  Email: democratic.services@iow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 240 KB

To confirm as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2021.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2021 be confirmed as a true record.

16.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

No declarations were received at this stage.

17.

Public Question Time - 15 Minutes Maximum

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. 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, Corporate Scrutiny is held on a Tuesday, therefore the deadline for written questions will be Thursday, 2 September 2021.

Minutes:

No questions were received. 

 

18.

Progress on outcomes and recommendations from previous meetings pdf icon PDF 216 KB

The chairman to give an update.

Minutes:

The chairman presented the report which provided an overview of the progress against outcomes from previous meetings.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the progress report be noted.

19.

Role and Responsibilities of Southern Water in Dealing with Flooding

To consider an overview from Mr Keith Herbert, Area Manager for Southern Water, in relation to recent flooding experiences on the Isle of Wight. A representative from both the Council’s Highway Team and Island Roads will also be attending to assist in this item.

Minutes:

Representatives of Southern Water were invited to provide the committee with an update in relation to the recent flooding experiences on the Isle of Wight. Discussion took place with regards to flooding and pollution, weekly Environment Agency water quality testing, statistics on flooding and discharges, targets for leakage reduction, and the frequency of flooding.

 

Questions were raised in relation to Southern Water’s ongoing involvement with the Island Planning Strategy consultation, infrastructure, water supply resources, consideration of planning applications ensuring new builds are water efficient, and liaison with other utility companies for planned maintenance to reduce disruption.

 

Discussion took place with regards to nitrates and the Sandown water treatment plant. It was agreed that the Chairman of the Draft Island Planning Strategy Task and Finish Group would meet with the Area Manager of Southern Water to discuss the matter in depth.

 

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Transformational Change provided an overview of the outcomes of a recent meeting held between Southern Water, other Council representatives and the Island’s MP. It was agreed that the Council would continue to work closely with Southern Water particularly in relation to the development of major plans and strategies.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the actions being taken by Southern Water to alleviate instances of flooding be noted and supported.

 

20.

Items due to be considered by the Cabinet

To review items due to be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 9 September 2021. This will enable the Committee to make comments, or recommendations, that it believes should be taken into account by the Cabinet when making a decision. The items currently shown on the latest forward plan at the time of publication of this agenda are :-

 

a)         Council support to Visit IOW in progressing D BID 2

b)         Quarterly Performance Monitoring Report - Q1

c)          Ryde Transport Interchange Consultation Feedback

d)         Climate & Environment Strategy

e)         Referral of Motion from Full Council - Newport City Status

f)           Deployment of Discretionary Business Support Grant

g)         Housing Civil Penalties

h)         Review of options to identify investment proposals for regeneration of Culver Parade tourism opportunity area

Minutes:

a)    Ryde Transport Interchange Consultation Feedback

 

It was advised that this item was now due for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting in October 2021. 

b)    Housing Civil Penalties

 

It was advised that this item was now due for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting in October 2021. 

 

c)    Review of options to identify investment proposals for regeneration of Culver Parade tourism opportunity area

 

It was advised that this item was now due for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting in October 2021. 

 

d)    Quarterly Performance Monitoring Report - Q1

 

Consideration was given to the report which provided a summary of progress against Corporate Plan activities and measures for the period April to June 2021.

 

Questions were raised regarding the Council’s financial position, particularly in relation to the level of savings from 2020/21 set to be transferred to the Revenue Reserve for capital. The Deputy Leader reassured that the budget setting process was underway which would include an element of reallocation.

 

Discussion took place in relation to Adult Social Care, including the number of households in temporary accommodation and the steps being taken to address the lack of affordable rented housing. Clarity was provided regarding the ring-fenced funding for Brookline House and the revenue budget position related to care packages and the management of these.

 

Concerns were raised in relation to the factors behind the rate of number of looked after children when compared with the south east average, and it was suggested that future reporting contain a comparator with similar local authorities.

 

Discussion took place regarding agile working, and the possible correlation between the impact of home working and the reduced average number of days lost due to sickness per permanent employee.

 

The ongoing cost pressures in relation to Cowes Floating Bridge were noted, and concerns were raised in response to budget pressures due to the overall loss of £3.3m in income generation as the result of Covid. Discussion took place regarding the Covid Contingency Fund and the Income Protection Scheme.

 

 

e)    Deployment of Discretionary Business Support Grant

 

sought the Cabinet’s support for the remaining COVID-19 discretionary business grant funds, with details to be agreed by the Cabinet Member in consultation with the Isle of Wight Economic Development Board Executive. No questions were raised.

 

 

f)     Council support to Visit IOW in progressing D BID 2

 

Cllrs Jonathan Bacon and Richard Quigley declared an interest and withdrew from the meeting for this item.

21.

Workplan

21a

Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 527 KB

To identify any item contained within the published forward plan that would benefit from early consideration within the Committee’s own workplan or one of the policy and scrutiny committees.

Minutes:

The committee were invited to identify any item contained within the published forward plan that would benefit from early consideration within the Committee’s own workplan or one of the policy and scrutiny committees. No comments or questions were raised that this stage.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the forward plan be noted.

21b

Corporate Scrutiny Workplan pdf icon PDF 142 KB

To discuss any amendments to the current workplan for 2021-22.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the current workplan for 2021-22.  It was agreed that Cllr Quigley would be the lead member for the item related to social value in the Council’s procurement and commercialisation processes, and a lead member for the Investment Strategy review would need to be identified.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the workplan be noted.

22.

Members' Question Time

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. A question must be submitted to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 5.00pm on Friday, 3 September 2021.

 

Minutes:

No written questions were received.

 

Cllr Quigley asked a question in relation to looking at new streams of income generation. The Chairman indicated that this could be included within the item on the commercialisation strategy due to be considered at the 12 October 2021 meeting.

 

Cllr Stephens asked that if any member had any suggestions on how the information contained in the forward plan could be improved then they could contact him.