ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL
Chief Executive Officer
County Hall
Newport
Isle of Wight
PO30 1UD
1 July 2003
To:
ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
You
are hereby summoned to attend a MEETING of the COUNCIL to be held on WEDNESDAY,
9 JULY 2003 in the COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT
commencing at 10.00 am for the transaction of the business set out in
the agenda below.
PRAYERS
1.
To approve as a correct
record and to sign the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 11 June 2003 (Paper A).
2.
To
receive any declarations of interest.
3.
To
deal with any questions from members of the public.
Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full
reply at the meeting, the question must be delivered in writing or by
electronic mail to Committee Services no later than 10.00 am on Monday, 7 July
2003.
4.
To receive any official communications and
correspondence submitted by the Chairman.
5.
To consider the
following business as deferred from the last Council meeting:
To consider the attached motion from Mr A Sutton (Paper B).
6.
Motions submitted under
Procedure Rule 11:
(a)
By Mrs D Gardiner CC :
“This Council, noting with concern the low voter turnouts at the 2001
elections and particularly at the recent by-election, determines to conduct the
2005 local elections entirely by postal ballot, provided:
1.
there is not a general election on the
same day;
2.
the cost of such an election is not
significantly more than the usual running costs.”
(b)
By Mr D Knowles CC :
“THAT all Members be
reminded of the Council’s Crime and Disorder Strategy as adopted by the Council
at its meeting on 20 March 2003 and that particular emphasis be placed on the
tackling anti-social behaviour (that frequently leads to crime and disorder) by
all the agencies involved. In agreeing this emphasis the Council calls upon all
agencies and partners (with particular reference to those Licensed to sell
alcohol) to work together to reduce anti-social behaviour and where necessary
to issue Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and/or Acceptable Behaviour Contracts.”
7.
Possible
Extension of the Eastern Boundary of Wootton Parish Council
To consider the attached
report (Paper
C) from the Portfolio Holder for Resources.
8.
Recommendations
from the Standards Committee
MEMBERS’ INDEMNITY AND INSURANCE ARRANGEMENTS
The
Committee considered a report from the Monitoring Officer setting out the
current arrangements for Members indemnity and insurance and suggesting ways
that this cover might be extended to ensure maximum protection for Members
whilst undertaking their official duties in a responsible manner.
It
was noted that with regard to outside bodies the Resources Select Committee of
the Council had commissioned some work to identify which outside bodies it
would be appropriate for the Council to appoint to and what conditions should
be attached to any such appointment. A
further report would be submitted back to this Committee once this work had
been completed.
On
the issue of extending the indemnity and insurance arrangements for Members the
Committee considered that these should be slightly more restricted than
recommended to ensure that the Council could (on the recommendation of this
Committee on a case by case basis) not extend the indemnity when the
circumstances justified it.
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE COUNCIL :
(a)
THAT the following
policy be adopted with regards to Members indemnity in defending libel actions
against Members:
(i)
That the Council may
meet, in cases where the insurance cover for defending defamation cases
applies, the percentage of uninsured costs or damages where it is advised it is
legally able to do so, on a case by case basis.
(ii)
That no indemnity is
offered to Members defending defamation cases where insurance cover does not
apply.
(iii)
That indemnity for the
costs of defamation proceedings brought by a Members will only be considered by
the Council following receipt of legal advice sought and paid for by the Member
concerned which advises there is a substantial defamation and good prospects of
successful proceedings.
(iv)
That the Standards
Committee make a recommendation in any case (including whether an excess should
be applied) where funds are likely to be committed by the Council to indemnify
a Member in any of the above circumstances.
(b)
THAT the Council adopt
the following policy for the payment of a Member’s costs in defending
themselves against an allegation to the Standards Board:
That the Council indemnifies Members for reasonable
costs of defending themselves against a complaint to the Standards Board where:
(i)
The Member has been
cleared of all or part of the allegation; and
(ii)
The Council is advised
it is legally able to do so, on a case by case basis, and
(iii)
That the Standards
Committee make a recommendation in any case where funds are likely to be
committed by the Council to indemnify a Member under this policy.
(A copy of the report
considered by the Standards Committee is attached at Paper D)
9.
EXECUTIVE :
(b)
Recommendation from
the Executive held on 18 June 2003:
Best Value
Performance Plan 2002/03
The Executive
considered the Best Value Performance Plan for adoption by the Council. This
was an annual document setting out the Councils performance against a range of
indicators as required by the Audit Commission.
RESOLVED TO
RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL :
THAT the Best
Value Performance Plan be approved.
(A copy of the
report considered by the Executive is attached at Paper E)
(c)
Portfolio
Holders to give an update on major issues and to answer written and oral questions on budget or policy
:
(i)
The Leader (Mrs S A Smart)
(ii)
Deputy Leader (Mr P G Harris)
(iii)
Economic
Development, UK and EU, Regional Issues (Mr H Rees);
(iv)
Education
and Lifelong Learning (Mrs J L Wareham);
(v)
Fire,
Emergency Planning and Consumer Protection (Mr D J Knowles);
(vi)
Resources
(Mr R R Barry);
(vii)
Social
Services and Housing (Mr G Kendall);
(viii)
Sustainable Development,
Environment and Planning Policy (Mrs T Butchers);
(ix)
Tourism
and Leisure (Mr J Fleming);
(x)
Transport
(Mr E Fox).
To guarantee a full reply Members must submit a question in
writing or by electronic mail to Committee Services no later than 10.00 am on
Tuesday, 8 July 2003. A further period of 10 Minutes will be allowed for oral
questions to each Portfolio Holder.
M J A FISHER
Chief
Executive Officer