Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Mary Penfold, although she did attend later on in the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

To receive questions or statements on the business of the committee

from town and parish councils and members of the public.

Public speaking has been suspended for virtual committee meetings

during the Covid-19 crisis and public participation will be dealt with

through written submissions only.

Members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation

within the Dorset Council area, may submit up to two questions or a

statement of up to a maximum of 450 words. All submissions must be

sent electronically to helen.whitby@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by the

deadline set out below. When submitting a question please indicate

who the question is for and include your name, address and contact

details. Questions and statements received in line with the council’s

rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the

agenda.

Questions will be read out by an officer of the council and a response

given by the appropriate Portfolio Holder or officer at the meeting. All

questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the

minutes of the meeting.

The deadline for submission of the full text of a question or

statement is 8.30am on Tuesday, 8 December 2020.

There were no statements or questions from Town and Parish Councils and members of the public.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to consider the budget proposals on behalf of the residents of Dorset, and  provide constructive challenge to decision-makers before a final decision is made.

The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director, Corporate Development which provided a summary of progress to date on the budget strategy and process in order to enable the Committee to review the budget assumptions and actions being proposed to deliver a balanced and sustainable budget for 2021/22.

The Chairman stated that the focus for the meeting would be on budget proposals for the Adult and Housing and Children's Services Directorates.  Budget proposals concerning the Place and Corporate Resources Directorate would be considered at the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting which would following this meeting. 

The Interim Executive Director of People - Adults and Housing gave a short presentation on cost pressures for her directorate, the increase in demand for services as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, information about transformational work being undertaken to provide the right services in the right place at the right time in order to support people to live at home and work  with health partners on funding streams and work to grow community support across Dorset.  The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health added that the budget enabled people to transform their lives by maintaining their independence for longer and she gave examples of the costs of different types of care provided by the Directorate.  The proposed budget was realistic but if additional funds were forthcoming these could be used to support future cost pressures.  

The following comments and responses were made: