Meeting documents

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Deborah Croney, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education, Learning and Skills.

Members 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 24 January 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2018 were confirmed and signed subject to the deletion of the word ‘minor’ in Minute 48, under the Reason for Decision paragraph.

To receive any questions or statements by members of the public.

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).

To consider a report by the Coast and Countryside Service Manager.  This item will also include presentations on The Healthy Places Project (Rupert Lloyd),

Stepping into Nature (Julie Hammon), Social, Economic and Environmental initiatives on our Coast (Bridget Betts) and The Low Carbon Dorset Project (Antony Littlechild).

The Committee considered a report from the Coast and Countryside Service Manager which included a summary of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan and showed how these were relevant to all four of the County Council’s corporate outcomes.

Members also received the following presentations:-

·         The Healthy Places Project - which gave members a focus on natural environment and prevention, along with an overview of collaborative work with Public Health and Dorset County Council.

·         Stepping into Nature – which highlighted the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on Stepping into Nature project to deliver health and wellbeing benefits for older people. It was a partnership of cross sector organisations. The increase in wellbeing and quality of life was highlighted.  The Chairman was keen for members to receive regular updates to see how this work was progressing.

·         Social, Economic and Environmental Initiatives on our Coast - This Partnership was hosted by the County Council but funded by a number of organisations. The litter free coast and sea campaign was highlighted to reduce the environmental, social and economic impacts of marine and beach litter. The Plastics Surgery campaign was highlighted which was a campaign throughout the whole of Dorset.  Litter Free Dorset aimed to reduce the environmental, social and economic impacts of litter in Dorset and had been running for around a year. Park yoga had been a very successful project which was free for people to attend. The Dorset Coastal Connections Project was all about businesses and having good public places.

·         The Low Carbon Dorset Project - Helping Reduce Dorset’s Footprint with the aim to stimulate growth in Dorset’s low carbon economy.

In respect of the healthy side of the agenda, it was commented that in the past the promotion of cycling and walking had been aimed at more energetic people, a better approach would be to design routes closer to people’s homes to avoid reliance on cars and public transport. The Service Director for Economy, Natural and Built Environment advised that the Health and Wellbeing Board were currently discussing these issues and what improvements could be made.  It was all about localities, making small improvements that could make a huge difference.  The Director highlighted that the real challenge was to work with those groups who chose not to access and to then try and remove those boundaries.

The Vice-Chairman highlighted that with the removal of stiles and gates being put in place, the biggest group affected would be the elderly and she urged officers to ensure that the gates were accessible.

One member made reference to the huge network of horse riders and the difficulty they had with the increasing amount of traffic when trying to get to the areas that they needed to get to. The Service Director emphasised the importance of looking at all users and all modes to ensure access for all.

Following a discussion about the future in respect of Local Government reorganisation (LGR), the Service Director advised that colleagues in Planning were in constant discussion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To consider a report by the Corporate Director for Environment and Economy.

The Committee considered the fourth and final monitoring report against the 2017-18 corporate plan which also included the most up to date available data on the population indicators within the ‘Prosperous’ outcome.

The Senior Assurance Manager highlighted to members that the rate of start-up of local business was showing a marginally improving trend. He also advised of the opening of the Dorset Innovation Enterprise Zone on 26 January 2018 which supported business start-ups and growth.

An issue of concern was the percentage of children achieving the ‘Basics’ measures at Key Stage 4.  There had been a decline over the last 2 years in educational attainment.  It was noted that the People and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also focused on this and it was suggested that it would be sensible to let the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board decide where this area was best scrutinised in order to avoid any duplication.

The Advisor from Children’s Services highlighted that whilst some schools in Dorset had declined, around half had either stayed the same or improved. There were specific concerns around the 4 schools in the Weymouth and Portland area. Two of these were Academies (The Wey Valley Sports College and the Atlantic Academy) and two were still maintained by the Local Authority (Budmouth College and All Saints School). Different levels of support had been offered to the schools but there was a wider issue around social mobility.  The social mobility index covered the whole life span of people and not just those in school.  The Director added that across the County 4 out of the 6 district council areas had gone down in the indices with particular hot spots in Weymouth and Portland but in essence it was an issue for most of the County to consider.

One member highlighted the substantial drop in funding being experienced by schools in Weymouth and Portland but was pleased to hear that additional funding was trying to be secured to support school improvement.

Following a question from the Vice-Chairman about the length of time the Local Authority had been involved with these particular schools, the Advisor noted that the Wey Valley Sports College and Atlantic Academy had been a concern for some time, although the Wey Valley Sports College was showing signs of improvement. All Saints School required improvement and their decline had been more recent.  This year’s results had impacted on Budmouth College quite significantly.  With both of these schools, there was clearly an issue around their leadership management going forward and officers had been working closely with both of them.

Following a discussion about Ofsted and their reputation for increasing the bar over time, officers did not feel these schools were necessarily victims of this, it was more about changes due to policy change impacting on curriculum planning.

Members discussed apprenticeships and noted the need for young people to have a good Maths and English base.  The Service Director for Economy, the Natural and Built Environment advised members of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

To receive a verbal update from Councillor Derek Beer on the Review of Integrated Transport held on 26 February 2018.

Members received a verbal update from Cllr Derek Beer on the recent Review of Integrated Transport event that was held on 26 February 2018.  He advised members that delegates from all walks of life, transport providers and the health service had attended. The aim was to promote local transport to do their job better and to ensure that good community transport schemes could be shared and as a networking event had been very useful.  It was anticipated that a report would be presented to members of the Committee in due course to show how the work was progressing

The Service Director for Economy, Natural and Built Environment noted that a lot of the frustrations in the community were health transport related and he felt that communications needed to be promoted more and it was more about communities working together.

Cllr Beer noted that there were reasonably effective transport groups around the County and felt there was a need to promote the schemes that were available.

The Chairman added that whilst the event was a success, for any future events it would be worth considering the venue in respect of the presentation screens being accessible for all.

Noted

To consider the Committee's work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme and gave consideration to the inclusion of a number of items which had been discussed earlier in the meeting.

The Service Director for Economy, Natural and Built Environment highlighted a recent conference he had attended on Rural Productivity and felt that it was a subject that members could consider at one of its meetings.  Following a discussion, members agreed that the main item for the meeting on 28 June 2018 would be the Industrial Strategy. Whilst the strategy would not yet be ready for any formal discussion it could include presentations within it on Rural Productivity, the Western Growth Corridor, the Innovation Park, Dorset Leader and Dorset Growth.

Members agreed that it would be helpful to host a joint Housing Enquiry Day with District and Borough Colleagues.  This would provide a good opportunity for all officers and members to come together and discuss housing before the new Unitary Council was created next year.

The Chairman advised members of a recent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) meeting he had attended and was disappointed to see that Dorset was one of the lowest funded.  He felt it was important to work closer with the LEP to ensure Dorset received a fair amount of funding.

Resolved

That the Committee’s Work Programme be updated accordingly.

To answer any questions received in writing by the Chief Executive by not later than 10.00am on 21 March 2018.

No questions were asked by members under Standing Order 20(2).