At Wednesday’s Isle of Wight full council meeting, someone spoke clearly, succinctly, and with purpose. Sadly, it wasn’t one of our esteemed councillors.

Cooper Woodford and Finlay Diffey, members of the Island’s Youth Council, had ventured into the council chamber to ask for help with bus fares for young people after the government announced a fare hike from £2 to £3 per trip. Their question was simple, the response from Cllr Jonathan Bacon was long and convoluted.

Chairman, Cllr Karl Love, sensing their understandable confusion, suggested Cllr Bacon send over a written transcript. I’m not sure that will help – but this might. An accurate summary might read, “The IW Council is as skint as you students, but we’ll pop it on next year’s wish list.”

Asked afterwards whether he might consider becoming a councillor in the future, 13-year-old Cooper said diplomatically “I might think about it”. Cooper, you’re too good for them. Stick to simpler pursuits, like applied astrophysics.

Both the youngsters sensibly scooted off during a convenient break in proceedings. But to be fair, observing the grown-ups at work isn’t for the faint-hearted. There are unspoken rules to these meetings — Cllr Geoff Brodie argues with the monitoring officer, Chris Potter, about the constitution, rather like two cats bickering over the sunny spot on the sofa. Cllr Clare Mosdell argues with the chairman, only to be overruled, and sit muttering loudly, and Cllr Chris Jarman reminds everybody about his growing collection of hosted Ukrainian families. Apparently, he’s now on his fifth lot – you can’t help wondering if they’re quietly requesting a transfer.

Often one wonders if the councillors understand what they are voting for. This week we found out the answer. After a discussion about butterflies, Cllr Ian Ward asked if a briefing meeting could be arranged to explain the differences between the new and the old AONB management plans – everybody nodded in agreement and it was duly promised. But then they unanimously voted the new one through anyway.

Cllr Ed Blake proposed an important motion on suicide prevention among young men. But despite it being judged too long to read out, the chairman had to ask him to clarify if he wanted more money spent now, or was he suggesting they find some more? It turned out that he wanted them to rummage down the back of the council sofa.

The final item on the agenda was Matt Price’s plea for more help for small businesses. Cllr Bacon sensed an early escape route.

Should those who owned small businesses declare an interest and leave the discussion he asked hopefully? The monitoring officer said he thought it would probably be OK for them to stay. True to form, Cllr Brodie disagreed with Mr Potter, saying that the IW Council wasn’t representative of most Islanders.

You have to agree Cllr Brodie has a point. Most Islanders had far better things to do with their time on a chilly Wednesday evening in November.