Meeting documents

An apology for absence was received from Rebecca Knox.

In the absence of the Chairman, Cllr Jill Haynes chaired the meeting.

Councillors are required to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 regarding disclosable pecuniary interests.

§     Check if there is an item of business on this agenda in which the member or other relevant person has a disclosable pecuniary interest.

§     Check that the interest has been notified to the Monitoring Officer (in writing) and entered in the Register (if not this must be done on the form available from the clerk within 28 days).

§     Disclose the interest at the meeting (in accordance with the County Council’s Code of Conduct) and in the absence of a dispensation to speak and/or vote, withdraw from any consideration of the item.

The Register of Interests is available on Dorsetforyou.com and the list of disclosable pecuniary interests is set out on the reverse of the form.

There were no declarations by members of disclosable pecuniary interests under the Code of Conduct.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 July were confirmed and signed.

Public Speaking

There were no public questions received at the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 21(1).

There were no public statements received at the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 21(2).

Petitions

There were no petitions received at the meeting in accordance with the County Council’s Petition Scheme.

The Cabinet considered the draft Forward Plan, which identified key decisions to be taken by the Cabinet on or after the next meeting. 

The Cabinet Member for Community and Resources advised members that it was likely that the Quarterly Asset Management report was likely to be withdrawn for the 26 September 2018 meeting as it had no substantial content.

To receive the minutes of the following meeting:

The following minutes were received:-

To receive the minutes from the meeting held on 11 June 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2018 were noted.

The Cabinet Member for Natural and Built Environment highlighted the Finance and Performance Report and noted the forward worry in respect of the budget.

Noted

To consider the following recommendations:

(a)          Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Recommendation 37 –         Approval of the Youth Justice Plan for 2018/19

(b)          People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Recommendation 35 -          Homelessness in Dorset: Review of Evidence

Recommendation 38 –          Social Isolation: Final Report of the Member Working Group

The Cabinet considered the following recommendations:-

Cllr Haynes advised members that this paper would also be presented to the Shadow Executive for approval as this was an ongoing cost for the new Council. She also raised concerns about reductions in government funding for the Youth Justice Service going forwards.

RECOMMENDED

That the recommendation of the Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5 July 2018 be recommended to County Council for approval as set out below:

Recommendation 37 – Approval of the Youth Justice Plan for 2018/19

That Cabinet be asked to recommend the County Council to approve the Youth Justice Plan for 2018-19.

Reason for Recommendation

The draft Youth Justice Plan meets statutory requirements.  The Plan reviewed achievements in the previous year, details the structure, governance and resources of the Youth Offending Service, and sets out the priorities for 2018-19.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Care noted that a lot of hard work had been put into understanding homelessness in Dorset.  In respect of the Emergency Local Assistance funding this was no longer available in the Adults’ budget for the next financial year and would need to be agreed by the Shadow Authority. There would need to be discussion on this fund at both the Budget Task and Finish Group and the Shadow Executive Committee. 

Cllr Hilary Cox as the Chairman of the County Council commended the efforts that had been put into this piece of work and Cabinet agreed this was a very important area of work and noted that a full report had been produced. 

Following a comment from Cllr Steve Butler as the Cabinet Member for Safeguarding regarding funding through the housing budget with the district and borough councils, Cllr Haynes advised she was not aware of any joint work as yet with the new Council in this regard.

Resolved

That the recommendation from the People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 4 July 2018 be approved as set out below:-

Recommendation 35 – Homelessness in Dorset: review of Evidence

That the County Council’s Cabinet and Dorset Shadow Executive consider the Committee’s recommendation that the Emergency Local Assistance Funding be renewed.

Resolved

That the recommendation of the People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 4 July 2018 be approved as set out below:-

Recommendation 38 – Social Isolation: Final Report of the Member Working Group

1. That the Committee agreed that the key issues identified in the report and addressing them at a strategic level across council activities and expenditure will combat social isolation and was recommended to the Cabinet (as set out in Appendix 1, paragraph 4.3 of the report).

2. That the Cabinet’s attention be drawn to the potential benefit of further action being taken on a corporate basis informed by the toolkit of the Campaign to End Loneliness (asset out in Appendix 1, paragraph 6.1b of the report).

3. That the Cabinet consider the recommendations with a view to drawing these findings and associated action to the attention of the Shadow Executive for the new Dorset Council and to the Health and Wellbeing Board (as set out in Appendix 1, paragraph 6.2 of the report).

To answer any questions received in writing by the Chief Executive by not later than 10.00am on Friday 31 August 2018.

Two questions were received from Cllr Nick Ireland, one to the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Education, Learning and Skills in respect of the ‘Partners in Practice’ initiative and one to the Cabinet Member for Natural and Built Environment regarding school transport. 

Both questions and answers are attached as an annexure to these minutes.

In respect of the question regarding the joining of the ‘Partners in Practice’ initiative, Cllr Haynes advised that at the Cabinet meeting in July 2018 a report on Special Educational Needs was discussed and the Director for Children’s Services asked Cabinet if it was appropriate for Children’s Services to work with Essex County Council. The Cabinet agreed this should be investigated further. It was confirmed that there would be no additional cost to the County Council.

Cllr Daryl Turner as the Cabinet Member for Natural and Built Environment advised members that he had recently received an email in respect of Cllr Ireland’s question concerning school transport which he undertook to share with members outside of the meeting.  He added that the school transport team worked extremely hard to achieve the transporting of school children to their destinations with relatively few problems. He also shared with members a recent compliment that had been received by the team with regards to school travel in the Beaminster area.

To consider passing the following resolution:

To agree that in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting in relation to the business specified below it is likely that if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Resolved

That in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting in relation to the business specified in minute 104 as it was likely that if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

To consider an exempt report by the Cabinet Member for Natural and Built Environment.

The Cabinet considered an exempt report by the Cabinet Member for Natural and Built Environment which articulated the need for additional funding to be allocated to both the revenue and capital budgets to arrest the deterioration in condition now being experienced across the highway network.

A Policy Development Panel (PDP) had been established, from members of the Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to examine the current funding strategy in relation to the management of highway maintenance and this report and recommendations was the culmination of a series of meetings with officers from within the highway service.

The Chief Financial Officer advised members that the financial resilience of local authorities was under very close scrutiny. The £1.4m funding was not in the current budget and would either increase the overspend or reduce the general balances which would adversely affect the County Council’s position.  This report would also be presented to the Shadow Executive Committee as approval of the recommendations would affect the new Council going forward.

Cllr Haynes added that the repairs and work done now could save money for the new Council in the future.

Cllr Jon Andrews, was a member of the PDP, and supported the need for the immediate cash injection of £1.4 million for the current financial year.  He supported the proposal going forward to the Shadow Executive for the additional year on year funding for highways and believed that if the council did not support this it would cost more in the long run. Every one of the council’s customers (council tax payers) when they step out of their front doors stepped on to a service that the County Council provided.  He continued that as most, if not all councillors, would tell you their email inboxes were full of complaints about the highways and pavements.  Year after year the decline in the standards of our roads, due to the lack of preventative maintenance and the decline of our major infrastructure, due to the fact that the Council was spending capital money on revenue requirements and at the same time the loan repayment of approximately £1million per year was coming out of highways budget and not the corporate budget. The report spelled out quite clearly what investment was needed to prevent Dorset’s roads very quickly becoming unsafe. This would not be good for the Council’s economic future as attracting business and tourists was so important.  He therefore implored the Cabinet to support the recommendations as set out in the report.

Cllr Hilary Cox as the Chairman of the County Council also strongly supported the recommendations, especially the outcomes set out at paragraph 5.1 of the exempt report.

Cllr Dunseith was also a member of the PDP and supported the recommendations. In respect of the £1.4m requested she felt it showed some visible support to the majority of council tax residents. This would affect thousands of Dorset residents and she felt they would thank the Council for making their lives that little bit better.

Cllr Tony Ferrari  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.