RESOLVED:
THAT Mr Effemey be elected Chairman of the Council
for the ensuing year.
The Council then adjourned for a short time to allow
the Chain of Office to be passed to the new Chairman.
Following the recommencement of the meeting, Mr
Effemey thereupon took the Chair, formally declared his acceptance of the
office of Chairman, and thanked Members for his election. Canon Palmer was formally appointed as
Council Chaplain, with Canon Bucket deputising when necessary. The Earl Mountbatten Hospice was nominated
as the Chairman’s charity for the year.
The Chairman then presented his Consort, Mrs Effemey, with her Badge of
Office.
The new Chairman and a number of Elected Members paid
tribute to the outgoing Chairman, Mrs Jarman, who responded accordingly and
presented a cheque for £3,500 to her nominated charity, the Kidney Patients
Association.
4.
ELECTION OF VICE
CHAIRMAN
Mr Chapman was duly proposed and seconded to undertake
the role of Vice Chairman of the Council.
There were no further nominations.
Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED :
THAT Mr Chapman be elected Vice Chairman of the
Council for the ensuing year.
The Chairman presented the Vice Chairman with his
Chain of Office and Mr Chapman formally declared his acceptance and thanked
Members for his election.
5.
MINUTES
The minutes from the Council meeting held on 13 April 2005 were presented for approval.
The Council was informed that the meeting held on 13
April 2005 had closed at 10.35 am, and not pm.
Mr Adams advised that he had attended the meeting, but his name had not
been included in the minutes.
RESOLVED
THAT subject to the two amendments mentioned, the
minutes of the meeting held on 13 April 2005 be approved.
6.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations received at this stage.
7.
APPOINTMENTS AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
(a)
It was proposed and seconded that all references to the post of
Deputy Chairman of the Council be deleted from the Constitution. Mrs Miller paid tribute to the former Deputy
Chairman, Mr Bartlett, for his commitment to his work for the Island.
RESOLVED:
THAT the role of
Deputy Chairman be deleted from the Council’s Constitution.
(b)
The Chief Executive Officer referred Members to Appendix 1 of
Paper B which contained the results of the Isle of Wight Council election held
on 5 May 2005.
Members
congratulated and thanked the Chief Executive Officer, and the staff involved
in the election, for a well conducted election process.
RESOLVED:
THAT the report
be received.
(c)
Election of the Leader of the Council
It was proposed
and seconded that Mr Sutton be elected Leader of the Council. There were no further nominations. Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT Mr Sutton
be elected Leader of the Council.
(d)
Cabinet – Size and
Appointments
Members discussed the proposals contained in Paper B
and suggested that the size of the Cabinet and appointment of Cabinet Members
should be delegated to the Leader of the Council. It was further proposed that portfolio titles and
responsibilities should be delegated to the Leader. It was requested that a report be brought to a future meeting
making the necessary consequential changes to the Constitution. Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT the size of the Cabinet, the appointment of
Cabinet Members, the portfolio titles and responsibilities should be delegated
to the Leader of the Council.
The Leader of the Council announced his intention to
appoint six Cabinet Members as follows:
i.
Mr Joyce as Deputy
Leader and Cabinet Member for Children.
ii.
Mrs Wood as Cabinet
Member for Resources, Audit and Customer Champion.
iii.
Mr Ward as Cabinet
Member for Environment, Transport and Planning.
iv.
Mr Abraham as Cabinet
Member for Safer Communities.
v.
Mrs Cousins as Cabinet
Member for Care, Health and Housing.
vi.
Mr Hunter-Henderson as
Cabinet Member for the Island Economy, Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure.
The newly appointed Cabinet Members addressed the
Council providing a brief statement of aims and objectives within their areas
of responsibility.
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children
Mr Joyce informed the Council that his priority would
be to raise the standards of Education at all key stages, with individual
schools being monitored within the existing three-tier system. He also reiterated his party’s commitment to
retaining primary schools within communities and ensuring that facilities were
utilised for the benefit of the whole community. Mr Joyce called upon all Members and Officers to work together to
support these priorities.
Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Planning
Mr Ward announced that in support of the manifesto,
parking charges relating to decisions made during 2004, would be
re-examined. In particular, parking
charges at the Heights Leisure Centre had been suspended with immediate
effect. An urgent report would be
presented to the Cabinet on 7 June 2005, recommending that charges would also
be suspended at Appley Park, Brannon Way Wootton, Carisbrooke, Seaview and
Puckpool Park.
Cabinet Member for Resources, Audit and Customer
Champion
Mrs Wood stated that all discretionary spending would
be suspended with immediate effect. It
was envisaged that all services would obtain evidence of value for money and
draw up efficiency improvement plans.
Strategic Directors would be expected to deliver sustainable, on-going
savings linked to long-term plans. The
combination of such value for money measures together with a clear focus on
priorities should support a reduction in the Council Tax increase for 2006 in
line with inflation.
Cabinet Member for Care, Health and Housing
Mrs Cousins informed the Council that a review of all
systems within her remit had been launched in order to ensure a high quality,
best value for money service. In
particular, the limited resources of housing allocation should be prioritised
for Island residents, so that local families were provided with the best
opportunities. The housing review would
be completed by mid June 2005. The
£50,000 grant to the Law Centre would be reinstated to enable this vital
service to be continued.
Cabinet Member for Safer Communities
Mr Abraham stated that the Safer Communities had a
clear agenda. A meeting had been held
with the Safer Communities Services Team Manager in order to bring forward the
policy for Community Support Officers and enable the authority to present a bid
to the Home Office. It was also
envisaged that the existing Traffic Wardens would be transferred to the Safer
Communities Team and would become Accredited Community Support Officers. A meeting had been arranged to discuss the
progress of the Fire Modernisation Agenda.
Cabinet Member for the Island Economy, Regeneration,
Tourism and Leisure
Mr Hunter-Henderson informed the Council that the
quality of the Island’s tourism product, together with marketing, would be the
immediate priorities. A meeting had
been arranged with the Strategic Director of Environment Services and
consultations would also take place with other officers to discuss future
plans.
(e)
Proportionality
It was proposed that the rule of proportionality
should be disapplied for the Scrutiny committee, the Regulatory Committee and
the Investment Panel. Seats of the
Policy Commissions were allocated in accordance with a revised table circulated
at the meeting.
|
Committee
|
Conservative
|
Ind. Scrutiny
|
Lib Dem
|
Labour
|
Cllr Foster
|
|
Economy, Tourism, Regeneration & Transport Commission
7 Seats
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Care Trust Delivery & Health Scrutiny Commission
7 Seats
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
Safer Communities Commission
7 Seats
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Children & Schools Results Commission
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Aggregate seats
28
|
20
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
Following a vote by a show of hands, with
no Member voting against, it was resolved:
THAT the rule of proportionality be disapplied for the
Scrutiny Committee, the Regulatory Committee, and the Investment Panel
(f)
Overview and Scrutiny
Committee and Policy Commissions
It was proposed that a Scrutiny Committee should be
established comprising eleven Members to undertake scrutiny of policy and
budget at strategic level.
In addition, it was proposed that four Policy
Commissions should be established consisting of seven Members each to consider
policy and service delivery issues. The
vote was taken by a show of hands, and it was therefore:
RESOLVED:
i.
THAT a Scrutiny
Committee be established comprising eleven Members.
ii.
THAT four Policy
Commissions be established.
(g)
Appointment of
Chairman and Vice Chairman to the Scrutiny Committee
It was proposed and seconded that Mr Mazillius be
appointed Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee and that Mr Stephens be appointed
Vice Chairman. There were no further
nominations. Following a vote by a show
of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
i.
THAT Mr Mazillius be appointed
Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee.
ii.
THAT Mr Stephens be
appointed Vice Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee.
(h)
Appointment of four
Commissioners
It was proposed and seconded that Mr Brown, Mrs
Oulton, Mr Williams and Mrs Swan be appointed as Chairmen of the four
Commissions. There were no further
nominations. Following a vote by a show
of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
i.
THAT
Mr Brown be appointed Chairman of the Economy, Tourism, Leisure Regeneration
and Transport Commission.
ii.
THAT
Mrs Oulton be appointed Chairman of the Care and Health Trust, Health Scrutiny
and Housing Commission.
iii.
THAT
Mr Williams be appointed Chairman of the Safer Communities Commission.
iv.
THAT
Mrs Swan be appointed Chairman of the Children and School Results Commission.
(i)
Appointment to Regulatory Committee
It was proposed and seconded that one Regulatory
Committee be established with one Chairman, who would take responsibility for
Development Control matters. Two Vice
Chairmen could then be appointed to lead on Licensing and Human Resources and
Miscellaneous issues respectively.
Mr Taylor was nominated for Chairman with specific
responsibility for Development Control.
Mr Cunningham was nominated as Vice Chairman with responsibility for
Licensing, and Mr D Whittaker was nominated as Vice Chairman for Human
Resources and Miscellaneous issues.
There were no further nominations.
Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
i.
THAT one Regulatory
Committee be established made up of fifteen Members and five named deputies.
ii.
THAT Mr Taylor be
elected Chairman of the Regulatory Committee with specific responsibility for
Development Control.
iii.
THAT Mr Cunningham be
elected Vice Chairman of the Regulatory Committee with responsibility for
Licensing issues.
iv.
THAT Mr Whittaker be elected
Vice Chairman of the Regulatory Committee with responsibility for Human
Resources and Miscellaneous issues.
(j)
The Standards
Committee
It was proposed that a Standards Committee be
established comprising 7 independent members, 2 Members of the Isle of Wight
Council and one representative of Parish and Town Councils. The terms of reference were set out in
Appendix 2 of Paper B. Following a vote
by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT a Standards Committee be established to include 2
Members of the Isle of Wight Council, 7 independent members and one
representative of Parish and Town Councils.
The terms of reference would remain the same as for the last Council.
(k)
Pension Fund
Investment Panel
It was proposed and seconded that Mr West be appointed
Chairman of the Pension Fund Investment Panel.
There were no further nominations.
Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT Mr West be appointed Chairman of the Pension Fund
Investment Panel.
(l)
Scheme of Delegation
Members were reminded that the Constitution requires
Full Council to determine a Scheme of Delegation at Annual Council. It was proposed that Full Council should
renew that part of the Scheme of Delegation, for which it was responsible,
without amendment. It was also suggested
that the Cabinet should renew the Scheme of Delegation for which it was
responsible, without amendment, at its first meeting. Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT the Scheme of Delegation for Full Council and the
Cabinet should be renewed without amendment.
(m)
Further
Constitutional Amendments
It was proposed that one of the consequential
amendments to the Constitution should include a guillotine of three hours for
all meetings. Following a vote by a
show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT all Council meetings will be limited to three
hours duration.
8.
APPOINTMENTS TO
OUTSIDE BODIES
Members noted that appointments to outside bodies were
usually undertaken by the Executive function of the Council. However, the Isle of Wight Police Authority
was run under strict proportionality rules and therefore required a
Conservative nomination. Mrs Tuson was
proposed and seconded for this appointment.
Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT Mrs Tuson be appointed to the Isle of Wight
Police Authority.
9.
TO APPROVE A
PROGRAMME OF ORDINARY MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR
It was proposed that with the exception
of Liquor Licensing, formal meetings during 2005/06 would not begin before 6.00
pm. However, opposition Members raised
concerns about the potential conflict with Councillors’ local commitments and
availability for constituents. In
addition, Members discussed whether evening meetings were more suitable for
local stakeholders or members of the public, particularly those with children
or responsibilities for caring for the elderly. Members also asked whether public transport would be available,
to support the Council’s ‘green’ policies.
Members were advised that the proposed approach would
be monitored and the Standards Committee could investigate whether there would
be an overall effect on Members’ attendance records and report back to the
Council.
Following a vote by a show of hands it was:
RESOLVED:
THAT all Full Council meetings would begin at 6.00 pm.
THAT the dates of future meetings of the Full Council
would be:
Wednesday,
22 June 2005
Wednesday, 20 July 2005
Wednesday, 17 August
2005
Wednesday, 14 September
2005
Wednesday, 12 October
2005
Wednesday, 23 November
2005
Wednesday, 21 December
2005
Wednesday, 18 January
2006
Wednesday, 22 February
2006
Wednesday, 15 March 2006
Wednesday, 12 April 2006
Wednesday, 24 May 2006
(Annual Council)
All Full Council meetings to commence at 6.00 pm and
to be held in the Council Chamber at County Hall, Newport.
The meeting closed at 12.30 pm.
CHAIRMAN
