MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE RESOURCES SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2003 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM

 

Present :

 

Mrs M J Lloyd (Chairman), Mr J F Howe, Mr P D Joyce, Mr A J Mellor (deputising for Mr M J Cunningham), Mrs M J Miller, Mr V J Morey, Mr K Pearson, Mr R C Richards (deputising for Mr D T Yates), Mr I R Stephens, Mr R A Sutton

 

Apologies :

 

Mr M J Cunningham, Mrs B Lawson, Mr G P Price, Mr D T Yates

 

Portfolio Holder :

 

Mr R R Barry

 

Also Present (non voting):

 

Mr A C Bartlett

 

 

41.              MINUTES

 

RESOLVED :

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2003 be confirmed.

 

42.              DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

There were no declarations at this stage.

 

43.              BUDGET MONITORING AS AT END OF SEPTEMBER 2003

 

The Chief Financial Officer reported on revenue and capital expenditure for services within the Select Committee’s remit as at the end of September 2003.

 

Land Charges income was still significantly low although it now appeared to be picking up slightly.  The Select Committee discussed the underspend within the Policy Unit, there was some concern that funding for Ryde Skate Board Park and the Community Wardens did not appear to have been identified before being implemented.

 

Members commented on the improved layout of the revenue and capital summaries and considered this made them easier to understand.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the budget monitoring report be noted.

 

44.              CORPORATE POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PLAN

 

The Head of Corporate Policy and Communications outlined the Resource Bids that related to his service area.  Members expressed concern as to the inclusion of N/A for targets for the Annual Action Statement 2004/05 and the Mandatory Targets 2004/05.  They were advised that many of the targets were new and it was suggested that maybe one line of explanation could have been used instead.

 

The Select Committee questioned the bids of £80,000 for Community Wardens and £50,000 for the IW Economic Partnership.  Members were advised that the £80,000 would allow for the continuation of the two wardens already based in Ryde, plus two additional wardens for elsewhere on the Island.  It was suggested that the Community Wardens role be investigated to see if they had actually made a difference.

 

The bid for a Performance Management IT System would be of help to all service departments and would be used for to collate data from Performance Indicator’s.  The Select Committee wanted an assurance that any new system would be compatible with CRM.

 

RESOLVED :

 

THAT the Service Plan be noted.

 

45.              MEMBERS’ TRAINING BUDGET

 

The Select Committee were reminded that the budget available for members conferences and travel in 2003/04 had been reduced by £7,000.  Members believed that there was a difference between training and conferences and that attendance at conferences should be taken out of the training budget.

 

Members believed that all councillors should have a Personal Performance Review (PPR) and specific training and development would be based on the outcome of that.  It was also felt it would be beneficial for training to include the Select Committee’s relationship with the Executive and questioning techniques.  Members asked if there were any figures with which to compare to other authorities and were advised some comparisons had been made and although it was always difficult to compare on a like for like basis, in all comparisons the Isle of Wight Council performed significantly better than average in the level of resource available for members training.  There was also a question as to who arranged training for members and were advised that this was mostly done through the Members Support Officer.

 

RESOLVED :

 

(i)                  THAT National Conferences, and Conferences that were politically based, should not be included in the Members Training Budget.

 

(ii)                THAT future spends in budget arrangements for training should be identified in a Personal Performance Review.

 

(iii)               THAT the Comprehensive Training Programme as outlined in Appendix 3 of the report be supported.

46.              OUTSIDE BODIES

 

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reminded the Select Committee that at its meeting on 22 May 2003 it had identified a need to set a criteria in respect of appointing councillors to Outside Bodies.

He gave an outline of the proposed Project Plan and Terms of Reference and advised members that this would provide the basis for the gathering of information from relevant stakeholders and for subsequent consultation on the outcome of that initial evidence.

 

RESOLVED :

 

(i)                  THAT the Terms of reference for the exercise of Policy Development be adopted.

 

(ii)                THAT the Project Plan be agreed to deliver the Terms of Reference.

 

47.              MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME

 

Mrs M J Miller asked if a report could be brought back to the Select Committee on printing arrangements within the Council.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN