Before the commencement of the meeting the Chairman
advised Members of Canon Buckett’s recent 80th birthday, presenting
him with a gift on behalf of the Council.
The Chairman also presented the Isle of Wight Disability and Advice Line
award for Outstanding Achievement to Rosie Barnard.
39.
MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2006 be confirmed.
40.
DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST
Cllr Margaret Webster declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 –
Gambling Act 2006 Statement of Licensing Policy - as she held a liquor licence
on a club.
41.
PUBLIC QUESTION
TIME
Questions
were put to the Chairman as follows :
Mr M White of Newport asked a question relating to the responsibility
for setting taxi fares on the Island. The Cabinet
Member responded, advising Council that Licensing policy was set by officers
under delegated powers. A written
response would be provided following a scheduled meeting with the taxi trade.
Mr J Wortham of Brighstone asked a
question about the apparent delay in making QP Consultants report on
procurement available to elected Members.
The Leader advised that an independent report had been requested, the
results of which would be shared with the public, elected Members and the
District Auditor.
Mr Bob Blezzard
of Sandown asked a question relating to the recent report about Sandown in the County Press. The Cabinet
Member advised that the Council was taking active steps to support Sandown.
42.
CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT
The Chairman had
provided a written report, but further commented on:
·
the Chairman’s
Challenge, which he had reintroduced to raise funds for the Chairman’s Charity,
The Earl Mountbatten Hospice. Members were
encouraged to support this event, which would be advertised for all staff.
·
Sofia Roberts who had recently left Cowes High School
had been chosen by the Japanese Foreign Office as one of 10 ambassadors to
represent the United Kingdom
on their annual intercultural programme. During the visit to Japan Sofia would
meet with the Emperor and Empress of Japan as well as the Japanese Prime
Minister.
·
The receipt of a petition from Mr Peter Lloyd
of East Cowes regarding the old Frank
James Hospital. The Local Member additionally informed
Members that an enforcement officer had recently met with English Heritage on
site and a letter had been forwarded to the owner. The Chairman advised Council that the
petition would be passed to the Head of Planning Services.
43.
MOTIONS SUBMITTED
UNDER PROCEDURE RULE 11
(a)
By Cllr David
Williams
Cllr Williams moved a motion relating to the Safer
Neighbourhoods initiative. This was duly seconded.
During the debate on the motion concerns were raised
about the recent reduction in Government funding for Police Community Support
Officers and the impact on the Island
community.
The Cabinet
Member advised that he would discuss these concerns with the Council’s
representative on the Police Authority.
Following further debate it was
RESOLVED:
THAT
the Isle of Wight Council:
(i)
welcomes the introduction of the Safer
Neighbourhoods initiative.
(ii)
recognises that the Council, local members,
parish and town councils and the police must work together to make Safer
Neighbourhoods both a success and a reality, to improve the quality of life
enjoyed by Island residents.
(iii)
is particularly pleased to see the support
given by parish and town councils to their local beat officers and encourages
the continued development of these working relations.
(iv)
however expresses disappointment at the recent
announcement by the Government that they will be significantly reducing the
funding for Police Community Support Officers, when these have been
demonstrated to be a key element of the Safer Neighbourhoods initiative.
(v)
urges the Cabinet
Member for Safer Communities and the Council’s representative on the Police
Authority to make representations to the Government to reverse their decision.
(vi)
despite the above, the Council is still
committed to providing additional funding of £169,000 towards Police Community
Support Officers on the Island.
(b)
By
Cllr Geoff Lumley
Cllr Lumley moved the following motion:
“Council notes that the Protocol
on Publicity and the Media contained within its own Constitution states
at para. 28;
“Wight Insight is a non-political
publication, and will not ordinarily feature individual councillors or ventures
of officers.”
Council notes that the Constitution has not been
changed to take into account the name change of Wight Insight to ‘One Island’.
However, Council additionally notes that the second edition of ‘One Island’,
published in December 2006, featured numerous individual councillors, all but
one from the Conservative group.
This Council resolves to strictly maintain the
Constitutional requirement of its own publications being non-political and not
ordinarily featuring individual councillors nor ventures of officers.
We resolve this in the strong belief that to relax
that requirement would be tantamount to allowing political promotion at the expense
of the Council Tax payers.”
The Motion was duly seconded.
During the debate Members were informed that later in
the agenda Council would be asked to consider and approve a new protocol for
media and communications. However, the
items referred to in One
Island had only been
relevant to the Members’ position and remit within the Council, and therefore
did not conflict with the Constitution.
Following
further debate and the vote, the motion was lost.
44.
GAMBLING
ACT 2005 STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY
The Cabinet
Member for Safer Communities and Fire and Rescue Modernisation presented his
report recommending the adoption of a Statement of Licensing Policy under the
Gambling Act 2005.
Following a debate and vote it was
RESOLVED:
THAT the Statement of Licensing Policy (as attached at
appendix 1 to the report) be adopted.
45.
CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENTS – FULL COUNCIL PROCEDURES
Members considered the report of the Director of
Policy Performance and Partnerships and Deputy Chief Executive on a number of
constitutional changes required to improve the effectiveness of public
accountability and communications from the Council.
Following debate and the vote, it was
RESOLVED:
THAT the Council’s Constitution be amended (under the existing
delegated powers) to give effect to the following:
(i)
Motions can be considered alongside “any other business specified in the
summons to the meeting”;
(ii)
That there be the provision for the acceptance of petitions subject to
them meeting the criteria as set out in paragraph 7 above.
(iii)
That the current Protocol on
Publicity and the Media be deleted from the council’s constitution.
(iv)
That Cabinet revises the media protocol and agree a new
communications protocol at its meeting on 6 February.
(v)
That the constitution
should contain revised paragraphs as set out in Appendix 1 to replace the existing Protocol on Publicity and the media
as at page 199 of the constitution.
(vi)
That Article 11 of the Constitution be amended by the addition of a paragraph
under the functions of the Monitoring Officer and the functions of the Chief
Financial Officer making it clear that they are responsible for ensuring that
all reports that are submitted to Members for consideration meet the required
quality of accuracy and assessment of the issues to be considered.
46.
APPOINTMENT
OF COMMISSIONER TO THE POLICY COMMISSION FOR ECONOMY, TOURISM, REGENERATION AND
TRANSPORT
Under the Constitution votes for appointments are
usually carried out by secret ballot.
However it was proposed and seconded that Members agree to vote by a
show of hands. Following a vote it was
RESOLVED:
THAT
Procedure Rule 18 (7) be suspended for this item so that the appointment can be
determined by a show of hands.
Two
nominations were received and seconded, Cllr Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond and Cllr
Lora Peacey-Wilcox.
Following
a vote it was
RESOLVED:
THAT
Cllr Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond be appointed Commissioner of the Policy
Commission for Economy, Tourism, Regeneration and Transport.
47.
DATE FOR
ANNUAL COUNCIL
It
was proposed and seconded that Annual Council be held on 18 April 2007.
RESOLVED:
THAT
Annual Council be held on Wednesday,
18 April 2007 at 6pm.
48.
CABINET
Reports of the Cabinet Members
(i)
The
Leader
A written report had been
circulated and in addition the Leader mentioned the key challenges facing the
Council in the next few months were value for money and high quality services
for Island residents. Council was advised that the re-organised Directors Team was almost complete and the budget
was currently being prepared for the Council meeting on 21 February 2007.
The result of the consultation on
the future of the Fire and Rescue Services was awaited and a meeting with the
Minister would take place in the near future.
The Leader also informed Council
that he had been accepted on a development programme of authority leaders.
Cllr Miller asked the Leader when
the Directors Team
would be complete and if there were further appointments to be made. The Leader advised that he was unable to
comment on individuals, but John Lawson was taking a career break.
Cllr Hancock asked if copies of the
recent staff survey would be made available to Members and who would be funding
the Leader’s participation with the Leeds
Castle development
programme and how much time would be involved.
The Leader confirmed that the staff survey would be published in its
entirety. The Leeds Castle
development programme would be funded by the Leadership Centre, the programme
included a series of seminars and the time commitment would be discussed with
colleagues as more information became available.
(ii)
The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Learning
The Cabinet Member reported
that he had forwarded two emails to the Secretary of State and was currently
awaiting a response.
Cllr Hancock asked if the Cabinet
Member intended to provide written reports in the future. The Cabinet
Member replied that it was not his intention to provide a written report when
he was available to attend the meeting.
(iii)
Cabinet
Member for Assets, Planning and Housing
The Cabinet Member had
provided a written report and added that disposal of buildings that were
surplus to requirements, or unfit for purpose, had been a priority. A disposal programme would provide capital
receipts for reinvestment in maintaining other Council properties. In addition,
the Council needed to build relationships with potential developers in order to
provide the accommodation needed for Island
residents.
Cllr Hancock asked for assurance that the Cabinet
Member would consider community needs when determining which assets should be
sold. The Cabinet
Member responded that capital receipts were acquired to fund community needs.
Cllr Sutton asked how much backlog of repair costs were inherited from
the last administration. The Cabinet Member advised that this was in excess of
£40 million.
Cllr Mazillius asked if the Cabinet
Member would join him in congratulating the Asset Management Team, whose
performance had much improved over the past eighteen months. The Cabinet
Member was pleased to concur.
Cllr Miller congratulated the Cabinet
Member on the progress with enforcement issues and called for a corporate
enforcement policy to monitor and protect, particularly for listed
buildings. The Cabinet
Member agreed of the importance for an articulated policy and planning
conditions which were properly enforced.
(iv)
Cabinet
Member for Safer Communities and Fire and
Rescue Modernisation
A written report had been circulated and the Cabinet
Member added that the Fire Service consultation exercise was almost
complete. The Charter Mark for Trading Standards had been achieved and
congratulations were offered to the Head of Consumer Protection and his staff
for their hard work.
Cllr Gardiner asked if the Cabinet
Member would be inviting the Minister responsible for the Fire Service to visit
the Island.
The Cabinet Member advised
that he would await her latest decision before meeting with her.
Cllr Joyce asked if the Cabinet
Member could urge the police to address low level crime on the Island. The Cabinet Member advised that it was intended that
PCSO’s would deal with low level crime issues on the Island, but the recent
reduction in funding would make this more difficult to achieve. Low level crime resulted in costs for the
Council and therefore the tax payer.
Cllr Hancock asked the Cabinet
Member to investigate why a Council Member had not as yet been appointed to the
Isle of Wight Youth Justice System. The Cabinet Member agreed to investigate.
(v)
Cabinet
Member for Environment and Transport
The Cabinet
Member had provided a written report and highlighted his attendance at a recent
South East England Regional Assembly meeting, which was also attended by the
Government Office of the South East.
Cllr Miller asked whether it would be
possible to have a policy about installing Perspex windows in bus shelters
instead of glass. The Cabinet Member agreed to investigate this issue and
discuss with the Director.
Cllr Hancock asked what more could be done
about the issues surrounding planning gains and the proposed pooling of funding
for the South East Region. The Cabinet Member was currently discussing 106
Agreements with the Director.
Cllr Gardiner asked a question about the
relationship between the Council and Southern Vectis,
advising that an irrational timetable appeared to exist in her ward and there
had also been reports of vehicles being damaged by buses. The Cabinet
Member advised that these issues would be discussed at the next meeting with Southern Vectis.
Cllr Mosdell asked the Cabinet
Member whether another tax would be applied to 106 contributions should they be
paid in cash and the Cabinet Member
was unable to answer the question at this point in time.
(vi)
Cabinet
Member for The Economy, The Customer,
Communications, Leisure and Tourism
The Cabinet Member had
provided a written report and added that following the One Island
consultation a series of meetings had been arranged to cover three identified
themes, pride, respect and value. The
meeting dates would be published in the County Press
and all Members were encouraged to attend.
(vii)
Cabinet
Member for Island Health and Community
Wellbeing
The Cabinet Member had
provided a written report, highlighting the hard work of social services and
other staff who had worked over the Christmas and New Year period. Congratulations were also offered to the
Social Services staff who had obtained two stars following the recent
inspection. The current priority was the
number of mainland placements, which was currently being investigated.
Cllr Gardiner asked why the ‘capacity to improve’ section of the recent
inspection had been down-graded. The Cabinet Member would discuss with the Director and
provide a written response, but assured the Member that this did not reflect on
current performance.
Cllr David Whittaker asked the Cabinet
Member if she would agree that a number of local authorities had been
down-graded from two stars to one star whereas the Isle of Wight Council had
done well to retain two stars. The Cabinet Member agreed that retaining two stars and
receiving positive comment from the inspectors provided confidence of moving in
the right direction. The staff was
thanked for their hard work.
Cllr Hancock asked if the Cabinet
Member could provide Members with a report about the Looked After Childrens’
opinion on the quality of the service provided.
The Cabinet Member would
discuss with the Director at their next meeting.
Cllr Mazillius asked the Cabinet
Member to join him in congratulating those who organised the recent Mental
Health event at the Riverside Centre. The
Cabinet Member was pleased to
concur.
Cllr Sutton asked about the rules governing the social services
inspection, where retention of two stars was equivalent to a move upwards. The Cabinet
Member confirmed that the Island was
performing better in some areas than other authorities with a three star
rating.
(viii)
Chairman
of Scrutiny
A written report had been provided and Members were additionally
informed that the Committee had advertised in the County
Press requesting that Island residents put forward ideas for
investigation. The Chairman asked that
Members of the Liberal Democrat and Independent Groups consider taking up seats
on the Scrutiny Committee.
(ix)
Cabinet
Member for Resources and
Town/Parish Council Empowerment
The Cabinet Member had
previously presented her apologies, but had provided a written report for
Council’s information.
CHAIRMAN
