MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2007 COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM

 

Present :

 

Cllrs Geoff Lumley (Chairman), William Burt, Deborah Gardiner, Heather Humby, Brian Mosdell

 

Co-opted Member (voting):

 

Mrs Sue Poston

 

Co-opted Member (non-voting):

 

Mr Bob Blezzard

 

Apologies:

 

Cllr Anne Bishop

 

Also Present (non-voting):

 

Cllrs George Brown, Erica Oulton, David Pugh, Ian Ward

 

 

 


61.             MINUTES

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2007 be confirmed subject to an amendment to Minute 57, bullet point 5, to insert ‘in towns’ and replace ‘less attractive’ with ‘higher’.

 

62.             DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

Councillors Geoff Lumley, William Burt, Deborah Gardiner, Heather Humby, Brian Mosdell, Mr Bob Blezzard and Mrs Sue Poston declared a personal interest in Minute 65 - Members Allowances - as they were in receipt of an allowance from the Isle of Wight Council.

 

Mr Bob Blezzard declared a personal interest in Minute 64, 65, 66 and 67 as he was a Member of Sandown Town Council and the Isle of Wight Association of Town and Parish Councils.

 

63.             PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

 

There were no public questions.

 

64.             CAR PARKING ENQUIRY SC13/06

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport attended for this item. The Chair explained that the enquiry would review the effectiveness of the Council’s policies for on street/off street and residents parking in order to ascertain whether the policies are meeting the needs of all Island residents, businesses and visitors. The enquiry was due to conclude in April 2007.  

 

Members of the Committee posed questions to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport regarding the cost of the parking permit, the lower than anticipated take up of the permit, and increased charges at parking meters.

 

The Cabinet Member stated that the cost of the parking permit was higher than originally intended as it needed to cover administration costs. It was explained that the higher charges at parking meters only really affected those people parking for long periods of time. The Cabinet Member stated that the prices were reasonable and that the Island was below the national average for car parking charges. The Cabinet Member stated that the permit had provided people with a choice. The Cabinet Member made reference to low incomes on the Island and stated that higher parking charges would penalise people on low pay.  

 

The Committee asked if there would be an increase in parking charges from April 2007 and the Cabinet Member stated that this information would be available shortly when the budget was set. The Cabinet Member also confirmed that there were no current plans to introduce roadside parking charges in Sandown High Street. 

 

The Committee asked whether the control of congestion was managed by parking charges and the Cabinet Member explained that it was not the intention to penalise motorists in this way. The current focus was on expanding car parking capacity and public transport alternatives. The Cabinet Member had looked into Carbon Dioxide emission charges but was not in favour of this as it penalised the motorist. The Cabinet Member intended to provide some incentive for green cars.  

 

The Cabinet Member was disappointed with the low take up of the parking permit and stated that it would be promoted more effectively in 2007. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the take up of parking permits included the number of staff permits purchased.

 

The Cabinet Member stated that the parking permit would not be extended to include on street parking at the current price. The Cabinet Member was in favour of residential parking zones but these could only be implemented if 70% of residents were in favour of it.  

 

The Cabinet Member had considered park and ride options but there were issues around cars accessing supermarkets which would need to be resolved before a park and ride scheme could be implemented.  

 

The Cabinet Member had requested that the Commissioner for Economy, Tourism, Regeneration and Transport look into the potential for multi storey car parks.

 

The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that there was no formal method of monitoring congestion.

 

The Cabinet Member’s attention was drawn to the Mott MacDonald report which suggested that more disabled parking bays should be provided and that there should be electronic information boards informing people of available spaces in car parks.  The Cabinet Member was in favour of electronic information boards.  

 

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the income from parking charges was not ring fenced.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the evidence be noted.

 

65.             MEMBERS ALLOWANCES SC 17/06

 

The Committee received the final report on the Members Allowances enquiry. A formal enquiry had been initiated by the Committee in November 2006 following the Full Council meeting in October 2006 where the report on Members Allowances was agreed.

  

The Chair outlined the purpose of the enquiry which was to review the processes involved in the consideration by Full Council of the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel regarding Members allowances and expenses, and to investigate whether the recommendations of the Remuneration Panel had been fully taken into account in the Council’s decision making process. It was noted that the Council had a statutory duty to have regard to the advice received by the Independent Remuneration Panel.

 

The Committee were informed of the key issues identified in the report. It was stated that there was a lack of consistency in communicating the recommendations of the panel, there was no clarity around the role and terms of reference of the panel, the appendices that went to Full Council with the recommendations of the panel had different authors, there was no clear audit trail, an inaccurate letter had been published, and the Special Responsibility Allowances for Member Champions had not been through the proper process.

 

The Committee noted that the Chief Executive had written to the Independent Remuneration Panel apologising for incorrect statements. The Committee expressed concern that the Independent Remuneration Panel had been poorly treated.

 

The following amendments to the report were proposed and agreed:

 

Paragraph 2, line 3 – to remove ‘as’ and ‘as it should have been’, and paragraph 2.6, line 1 - to insert ‘reinstated and’.

 

The Committee formally agreed the final report on the enquiry and requested that the report be put to the Full Council.

 

RESOLVED:

 

                              i.          That the final report on Members Allowances be agreed subject to the above amendments

 

                            ii.          That it be requested that the report be put to the Full Council.

 

66.             PROGRESS REPORT ON CURRENT ENQUIRIES

 

Enquiries were ongoing and there were no issues to report.

 

67.             FORWARD PLAN

 

Members considered the Forward Plan for March 2007 to July 2007.

 

It was noted that the Forward Plan had been republished and that the 8 items which had appeared on the previous months Forward Plan for the Council agenda in March, had now been reduced to 5.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Forward Plan be noted.

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN