58. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2005 be confirmed.

59. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations at this stage.

60. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Mr I R Stephens advised members that a question had been received from Mrs W Hague which had been sent to the Support Manager for Complaints, therefore the Select Committee were unable to deal with the matter that had been raised.

61. FORWARD PLAN

The Head of Select Committee and Review Team advised members of the items of relevance which were contained in the Forward Plan for the period March – June 2005.

62. BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF DECEMBER 2004

The Portfolio Holder for Adult and Community Services presented the budget report which set out the spending position on revenue for services within the Committee’s remit, as at the end of December 2004.

The position remained unchanged from the previous month and there were still problems with overspends for both Community Care and Housing. The housing overspend was approximately £500,000 which was held down by using other budgets within the service. It was anticipated that the outturn at the end of the year would be £200,000 over budget.

Members asked if bed blocking had had any affect and were advised that there were none in acute therefore no fines had been paid. The Island had one of the best records in the country.

There had been underspend of approximately £92,000 on the Free Nursing Care Pooled budget and it was anticipated that Social Services would receive something in the order of £70,000. The Portfolio Holder for Adult and Community Services indicated that it was unlikely the Council would get credit from the Pooled budget in future years.

There was some discussion with regard to the number of Nursing Home Care Beds and whether the proposed new development at Godshill and the Abbeyfield scheme would help in future years. It was believed there was sufficient capacity within the system to cope with the anticipated demand.

The Portfolio Holder advised the Select Committee that Ryde Theatre had had to be closed for emergency repairs and all events had been moved to alternative venues where possible. Although it was a building maintenance issue theatres came within the Select Committee’s remit.

63. REVIEW OF HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND HOMELESSNESS

The Acting Head of Housing advised members of the similarities between National trends and those of the Island. As a consequence of homelessness increasing and a lack of new build on affordable housing there was some difficulty in meeting the needs of the homeless. A range of preventative measures had reduced the number of acceptances and slowed the increase of households in temporary accommodation. 2005/06 would prove to be difficult as there was a need to reduce the number of people in temporary accommodation and a need to move them into permanent accommodation.

An analysis showed that only 2% of the Statutory Homeless could afford shared ownership accommodation. The Island’s primary need was for affordable social rented housing. Members asked if the Housing Department could identify if there was anyone in the private sector who would like to take advantage of shared ownership housing and if so could it be progressed.

It was noted that Pan Village was only predicting 30 units per annum. Members asked if that was a reasonable figure and were told it had been a realistic target at the time but would be updated when more details of the development were known. There was some discussion with regard to Section 106 Agreements, at present there were over 20 schemes that Housing were confident would come about although there were in fact 85 currently in existence. Increasing completion on the building programme would see a correlating reduction in the spend on homelessness. There was a proposal that time limited clauses could be included within any future recommendations made in respect of Section 106 Agreements.

The Select Committee asked why there was a difference in the unit cost figures and were advised it was associated with the purchase cost of the land. Members asked if a position statement in respect of Section 106 Agreements reviewing the individual status of each scheme could be supplied to members of the Select Committee.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR ADULT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES :

Details be supplied of the number of affordable units built as a result of Section 106 Agreements during the current financial year and a comparison of those details with those for Portsmouth and Southampton.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE :

Consideration be given to including time limited clauses within any future recommendations in respect of Section 106 Agreements when that Select Committee reviews its procedures.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF HOUSING :

A position statement in respect of Section 106 Agreements to review the individual status of each scheme be supplied to members of the Adult and Community Services Select Committee.

64. MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME

Mr R G Mazillius asked why a training day for Licensing had been arranged for the same day as the South East Plan and Regional Housing Strategy Awayday on the 11 March 2005.

Mrs B D Clough asked if a reminder on empty properties could be sent to all councillors.

CHAIRMAN