65.
MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 8 October 2003 be confirmed.
66.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Interests were declared in the following matters:
Mrs T M Butchers declared a personal interest in Minute 68 - Implementation of Electronic Government – 3rd Annual Report For The Isle Of Wight – in respect of the Fire Authority, as a member of her family was a firefighter.
67.
URGENT BUSINESS – CHANGES TO THE CURRENT FORWARD PLAN
The Chairman agreed for the Portfolio Holder for Transport to update members on a report that would be brought to the next meeting regarding funding which was required in order to carry out urgent road repairs.
RESOLVED :
THAT the update be noted
68.
THE FUTURE OF TOURISM SERVICES
The Executive received a wide-ranging report, which
reconsidered the decision to externalise
Isle of Wight Tourism in the light of a number of new factors. The report also
gave consideration to the recruitment to a new Head of Tourism.
The report outlined the recent issues affecting
Isle of Wight Tourism. These included
the purchasing of a destination Management System, Great Access to Great
Services, current levels of outsourcing, recent findings from the Ombudsman as
well as issues surrounding the Regional Tourism Board. All these had taken
place since the Executive had taken the decision to externalise Tourism at its
meeting in July 2002.
The Executive considered that a lack of a
full-time Head of Tourism had restricted the service’s ability to rise to
challenges in the Community Strategy and Corporate Plan and were advised that
the costs associated with the appointment of a Head of Tourism had been already
allocated within existing budgets. Some
members expressed concern over the lack of clarity regarding the future
structure of Isle of Wight Tourism.
During the debate, an amendment was proposed and
seconded that although a new Head of Tourism would initially report to the
Strategic Director of Education, given likely changes in Children’s Services
and impact this would have on the Education Directorate, where the post lay
within the Council structure, would at some stage need to be reassessed.
RESOLVED :
(i)
THAT
to enable the service to positively respond to the challenges facing it for the
wider benefit of tourism on the Island, the externalisation of Isle of Wight
Tourism would not proceed
(ii)
THAT
an appropriate procurement exercise be conducted, applying the emerging
national procurement strategy and locally emerging good practice, and to
identify:
·
The
specification for the service for a 3-5 year period
·
The best value delivery mechanism for delivery of that specification
And to also adopt a Tourism Development Plan to deliver the specification through the preferred mechanism. A draft Tourism Development Plan would to be delivered within 6 months of a new Head of Tourism taking up their post
(iii)
THAT
given the significance of the tourism industry to the Island, and the Tourism
Development Plan to the development of that industry to recommend to Full
Council:
“That the Tourism Development
Plan be added to the Policy Framework in Article 4 of the Constitution in order
that Full Council can determine the strategic development of support and
leadership to the Tourism industry through the application of the Budget and
Policy Framework Procedure Rules”
(iv)
THAT
a new Head of Tourism reporting to the Strategic Director of Education and
Community Development be recruited, it being recognised however that this post
would need to report elsewhere once changes had been made to reflect the
children’s services agenda
(v)
THAT
all the options must be subject to ongoing medium term budget planning currently
under way and no ongoing spending commitments (including salary) would to made
69.
IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT – 3RD
ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE ISLE OF WIGHT
The Executive were informed that the Council,
including the Fire Authority, were required to submit a return, known as Implementing Electronic Government
Statement to the ODPM showing corporate progress, actual and forecast, towards
delivering 100% of its services which can be delivered electronically by 31st
December 2005. The previous two returns
each successfully attracted £200,000 of funding and the Fire Authority
attracted funding of £50,000. Members
were aware that achieving most of the targets were conditional on funding being
made available.
RESOLVED :
THAT the submission
of the Corporate and Fire Authority IEG3 statement as being a reflection of the
Council’s aspirations for modern service delivery for the Isle of Wight be
approved, recognising that the resourcing mechanism to achieve that vision will
be determined through the correct medium term budget planning exercises
CHAIRMAN