After the announcement of role reorganisation in the Executive of the currently-ruling Independent at the Isle of Wight council, some questions were raised in the OnTheWight comments about the future of the Head of Planning.
To help clarify this, we hope these words below, via Julia Baker-Smith, will help.
The summary is Cllr Julia Baker-Smith will remain as Chair of the Planning Committee, when she takes up her new role in the Executive.
The detail
The new Executive Member for Planning and Housing, Cllr Julia Baker-Smith has announced that she intends to retain her role as Chairman of the Planning Committee.
The Council has taken advice, both from internal Legal officers and the Local Government Association and has confirmed that a dual role is acceptable, subject to approval by the Planning Committee at their next meeting.
Cllr Baker-Smith Said
“I will be delighted to extend my role in this way. Over the last year the previous Executive Member, Cllr Paul Fuller and I have increasingly found there has been an overlap in our roles.
“It, therefore, makes sense to merge the roles together, providing a streamlined and joined up approach to Planning. I will be transparent and on the rare occasions where I am involved in decision making as executive member that conflicts, I will declare an interest and abstain from voting on that application.”
This innovative move by the Independent administration will also provide a cost reduction during difficult financial times by saving one special responsibility allowance.
