An urgent review of the Isle of Wight Council’s constitution will get underway soon.
The constitution sets out how the council operates, how decisions are made and the procedures that should be followed to operate democratically, accountably and transparently to local residents.
However, since its last review 20 months ago in November 2020, more areas where clarification or improvements are needed have been highlighted — particularly in the planning department.
At a meeting of the council’s audit committee on Monday, the body was notified the review will start shortly to address the matters and told every councillor would be consulted.
Minor revisions have been made along the way on an ad hoc basis, the council says, with a ‘snagging list’ kept when issues are mentioned or happened upon through the working of the council.
In the council’s recent planning peer review, carried out by the Local Government Association (LGA), it was recommended the council undertakes an urgent review of the constitution, particularly the code of practice ‘to effectively deliver the council’s democratic function’, due to issues seen in the planning committee in the last year.
Speaking at the planning committee on Tuesday night, Councillor Geoff Brodie said the current code of practice is in disrepute and there would always be tensions in the planning committee until it was fixed, calling for the matter to be dealt with as soon as possible by the planning committee.
The findings of the review will be reported to the audit committee and the changes then recommended to full council for approval, as soon as possible.
A deeper and wider review is being separately considered as part of an informal ‘Transformational Change Working Group’, who will also report back to the audit committee at a later date.
About time , maybe it’s time to give a little something back to island residence,
as all it seems is waste waste waste take take take
You could not make this up, here, we have a council that reviews itself,never a good idea, makes its own recommendations, again not best practice and then spends another 20 months deciding they forgot something the first time around.
It’s how the institution operates. Jobs that are worth going for are reserved for family and close friends. Reviews are done in house, as are awards and pay rises.
Bad workers blame their tools. Represent the public, or clear off.
The problem is not the workers it is certain members who think they can act as dictators, constantly running their own personal agendas which have nothing to do with the genuine needs of Islanders. They can review as many times as they want but what we need is stronger officers who will stand up to certain members and put them in their place, they do have the power, they just need the guts to use it, but I suppose they are all thinking of their salaries, pensions etc and will not rock the boat, only sufferers here are the Islanders in genuine need now. Time to stand up to the members because we have nearly another 3 years of this lot
Seems like a personnel thing to me as much as a constitution thing. Perhaps when they review the constitution, they should review the councillors on the committee, and have a clear out with a new start.
Councillors’ behaviour won’t change, and certain personalities have too much influence, simple as that.
A deeper and wider review is being separately considered as part of an informal ‘Transformational Change Working Group
…
naturally, an opportunity for councillors to claim expenses for being part of this group and all of them, collectively will ensure that progress is at a glacial pace for one reason and one reason only – the longer the transformational change takes, the more meeting fees and expenses they can claim.
Totally agree, there’s not one of these worried about cost of living , and it’s not because they are very intelligent people holding top jobs down , it’s the fortunate/lucky position they are in which enables perks as expenses etc etc etc to be given on a plate without scrutiny
It is amazing what expenses you can claim for on a zoom meeting, they are experts at it.
Councillors cannot claim individual expenses – what they get paid is based on a formula rather than the number of meetings they attend, which makes it much worse when they don’t actually bother to turn up.
Councillors cannot claim expenses – they just get a fixed amount every year irrespective of how much or little they do. There’s a lot of dead wood in the council, but I’m all for accuracy. There are some councillors who have only been to 8 meetings in over a year (e.g. the rep for Binstead) – each appearance therefore costing more than £1000 per showing.
And let me guess they will find nothing wrong with how it operates
Take the Westridge Farm case. One year on from that disastrous decision to approve the planning application of 400 odd houses, the IWCC have yet to finalise the Section 106 agreement, hence a judicial review can not yet happen. This is a deliberate attempt to try and allow the “Save Westridge Farm” campaign to go cold. What are the IWCC hiding and why should they be so frightened of a judicial review? Unfortunately for them the supporters of this campaign will never forget or give up the fight…
There is no democratic function as far as our council is concerned, they are a law unto themselves. Nothing will ever change, even a change of political party will still result in more of the same, just as it always does.
There’s a code of practice from LGA (Local Government Association) which is adhered to by most councils. If a decision is made in a democratic fashion, then the decision must be upheld, unless there is an appeal for a judicial review.
Any member who struggles to abide by a democratic decision should be removed from the committee. Councils need to be transparent and democratic. Members are in the position to help residents, not further their own agenda
Do the council leaders actually know this !!
The problem is you can even inform the Council that certain members who are in decision making positions are clearly abusing their position, constantly going against what is the Council’s own clear rules on impartiality but they still take no action. The only course of action that will resolve this is the same as that other Authorities have taken on the mainland when they had members who only ever worked to thier own agendas. The officer’s, if they so wish, can call for the relevant department within the Council to be placed into special measures, then the who lot is cleared out and we start again as it should be with officers having the control they should have. The only problem with this is the officers are those who can instigate this but some would likely loose thier positions so are they going to be brave enough for the good of the Island, this exact scenario happened in Poole years back when they had members who only had thier own agendas in mind , please special measures, like schools, its the only way they come off the bottom
ABSOLUTLY LOOK AT THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT !!!!!!!!
Exactly!
Planning and transparency are two words never used in the same sentence.
All cloak and dagger until it’s to late to dispute the decision!
How about being held responsible for the flagrant waste of taxpayers money, the floating bridge being the worst but closely being followed up by the farce of the Ryde esplanade works which have narrowed the road by half a lane to cater to the lycra bike mob, come winter less than a dozen cyclists a day would be using the bike lane whilst motorists have to contend with the disgusting state of many of our roads, the Duver from Seaview to Puckpool being an example.
The money they throw away is not their money but is ours and they are supposed to be using it to benefit the people i an open and accountable manner.
Quote: ‘Councillor Geoff Brodie said the current code of practice is in disrepute and there would always be tensions in the planning committee until it was fixed. . . ‘. That’s rich coming from one of main protagonists and consummate merchant of claptrap.
Wonder if the review will find any intellect!
I can tell you how they act without any investigation CORRUPT
Maybe the only way forward is a campaign for the planning department to be placed into special measures to end the corruption
About time, I do wonder if the Council needs an idiot guide book to explain the process and the next steps to achieve the aim of the Residents, not the total needs of Council members. It is quite obvious that some representatives have their own agenda’s at times and hell bent on delay tactics and putting the knife in. About time they all grew up and tried to stay detached and view the whole picture. I know sometimes in certain areas on the Island the council rep is put under pressure by his electorate but if at his local briefings with members of his constituency he explained why such action was taken then acceptance would become easier.
the council should join forces with Hampshire. Some mainland brains will get rid of the islands idiotic, thick, backward way of thinking
This island and everything on it is so backward it should have mainlanders running it.