Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th October 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2024 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

G Suttle declared a pecuniary interest in respect of agenda item 11, ‘Purbeck Pleasure Boat Byelaw Amendment’, as he had clients that would be affected by the decision.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council.

The Chair reported the recent death of Phillip Gaussen, former Dorset County Council councillor. The Chair invited A Skeats to say a few words in tribute.

The Chair thanked councillors for their support to White Ribbon Day 2024.

A period of 30 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to questions and statements on the business of the Council in the following order:

(a) Questions and statements from Town and Parish Councils;

(b) Questions and statements from those living or working in the Dorset Council area;

A person or organisation can submit either 1 question or 1 statement at each meeting. 

You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.  If you submit a statement for Full Council this will be circulated to all members of the council in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes of the meeting for the formal record but it will not be read out at the meeting.  The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received by Democratic Services will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline below:

The full text of the question or statement must be received by 8.30am on Monday 2^nd December 2024. All submissions must be emailed to susan.dallison@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk 

When submitting your question or statement please note that:

Sub-divided questions will not be accepted;

Each question can consist of up to 450 words, including a pre-amble to set the context of the question;

When submitting a question please indication who the question is for, i.e., the name of the Portfolio Holder;

You will need to include your full name, address and contact details;

All questions and statements will be published in full with the minutes of the meeting as a matter of public record.

There were 3 questions from the public and a copy of the questions and responses are set out at Appendix 1 to these minutes.

A period of 15 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to petitions in accordance with the council’s petitions scheme.

A period of 15 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to deputations in accordance with the council’s constitution.

The petitions scheme and procedures relating to deputations can be viewed at:

Council Procedure Rules

There were no petitions or deputations received.

To receive any announcements and reports from the Leader of Council and members of the Cabinet.

The Leader of Council made the following announcements:

·       The Government White Paper on devolution was awaited and a briefing for councillors would be provided once this had been received. Reports to Cabinet and Full Council would be considered at the appropriate time. It was noted that Dorset Council would continue to exist

·       Congratulations were offered to the Chief Executive, Matt Prosser who would be taking up a new role as Chief Executive of Wellington City Council in New Zealand in the spring of 2025. In response to a question regarding the appointment process for a new Chief Executive, the Leader confirmed that there would be cross-party involvement in the appointment.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Monday 2^nd December 2024.

There were 9 questions from councillors and a copy of these can be found at Appendix 2.

Further to the response provided, S Flower indicated that he would welcome a further discussion with the Cabinet member for Planning and Emergency Planning around the planning process referred to.

Responding to a supplementary question from B Goringe, the Cabinet member for Place Services indicated that he would meet with the ward councillors once clarification had been received on how the funding could be used.

In response to a supplementary question from L O’Leary, the Cabinet member for Place Services noted that he would visit the junction and discuss this further with the councillor.

Responding to a supplementary question from J Somper, the Cabinet member for Place Services noted that funding was not currently available for cyclic maintenance.

In response to a supplementary question from P Brown, The Cabinet member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth noted that decisions relating to any county farm would need to be considered on its own merits.

In response to a supplementary question from V Pothecary, the Cabinet member for Place Services noted that it had been agreed that, along with R Bryan, he would be meeting with the Chair of the government select committee to discuss the current issues with funding in this area.

Responding to a supplementary question from B Quayle, the Cabinet member for Place Services noted that requests for signage would be at the request of the local town or parish council and there may be a requirement for that council to pay for any signage.

Further to a supplementary question from B Quayle, the Cabinet member for Finance and Capital Strategy indicated that he would provide further information to the councillor following the meeting.

Responding to a supplementary question from B Trite, the Cabinet member for Place Services confirmed that the public inquiry would include an evening session in Wareham.

To consider a recommendation from Cabinet.

The Leader of Council presented and proposed the recommendation to adopt the Council Plan 2024-29. This was seconded by S Robinson. The Council Plan was the key strategic business plan for the council and set out the council’s vision, values and strategic priorities for the current council term and beyond.

Some concerns were raised about the focus of issues included in the Council Plan and how the comments of residents were being addressed through the document and as an amendment, it was proposed by S Gibson seconded by L Beddow that a 5^th strategic priority be added to the Council Plan as follows:

Providing high quality universal services

Dorset Council has a proud record of getting the basics right. Our approach to road maintenance and pothole management is proactive and has ensured that Dorset has some of the best maintained rural roads. Dorset Council also has an excellent track record on waste & recycling. Residents tell us that road maintenance and waste collection are the top priority areas within the services delivered by Dorset Council.

Targets

·       Maintain the Councils position as the top performing Unitary Authority for recycling rates

·       To maintain and improve our residents' satisfaction with our waste and recycling services which is currently 87.5%

·       To continue our positive trajectory and improve on the 60% of our waste already recycled 

·       Continue to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfill – currently 2%

·       Consistently achieve a pothole repair target of 90%

·       Ensure that the target of Principal roads requiring urgent attention is met – currently 2%

·       Maintain Dorset Councils position in the top 10 and top quartile of peer reviewed highway authorities under our Value for Money assessment.

Key Actions to deliver this priority

·       Deliver the new HRC facility in Blandford

·       Develop plans for a new HRC facility in the East of the County

·       Continue to support cross border HRC arrangements including Somerley

·       Deliver ‘Hedge to Hedge’ to better coordinate the work of the Highways Team, the Greenspace Team and the Waste Team to ensure roads are well maintained.

·       Invest in proactive maintenance units and our Community Highways Team

·       Deliver a new Local Transport Plan (LTP4)

·       Making roads safer by working with communities and Town & Parish Councils to roll out 20mph where there is strong community consent

Leadership and Partnership

·       We will work proactively with the Western Gateway STB to deliver the much needed M4 to the South Coast route to provide a better route for HGV traffic and reduce pressure on other local roads

·       We will continue to work in partnership with Dorset Police and other key stakeholders to improve road safety via the Road Safety Partnership

·       Work with Government and Industry to deliver better recycling rates and more sustainable waste management

·       Support Town & Parish Councils and community led groups to improve our recycling rates.

Stand up for Dorset

·       Lobby Government for improved highway funding. Much of Dorset Councils highway budget comes from the Department for Transport. However Dorset receives lower funding than many local Councils in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

To consider a recommendation from the General Licensing Committee.

Councillors received the recommendation from the Licensing Committee with regard to Street Trading Controls – Adoption of Schedule 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

It was proposed by N Ireland seconded by J Andrews

Decision

i)               That Schedule 4 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (as amended) be adopted and shall apply throughout the Dorset Council administrative area with effect from 6 December 2024, or such later date as is agreed by Council.

ii)              That all existing street trading delegations and designated streets remain in place subject to any future amendments.

Reason for the decision

Adoption of Schedule 4 of the Act, for the whole of the Dorset Council area would enable a new Street Trading Policy to be implemented which would be fair, consistent and equitable across the Dorset Council area. This would give the Council, as Licensing Authority greater control over street trading and would ensure that all traders are subject to the same application, enforcement and licence conditions regardless of where they trade.

There are currently existing designations for Street Trading in the former Weymouth & Portland, West Dorset, Purbeck and East Dorset Council administrative areas.

Each of the former District and Borough Council’s had their own policies and procedures for Street Trading and Officers intend to introduce a new Street Trading Policy covering the whole of the Dorset Council administrative area.

To consider a report by the Environment, Policy and Partnership Team Manager.

Councillors considered a report of the Environment, Policy and Partnership Team Manager with regard to a proposed amendment to the Purbeck Pleasure Boat Byelaw 2013.

It was proposed by J Andrews seconded by N Ireland

Decision

That officers be authorised to proceed with work to amend the Purbeck Pleasure Boat Byelaw 2013 and to carry out engagement with user groups through a formal public consultation and bring back to Full Council before going to the Secretary of State.

Reason for the decision

To protect people’s safety at Swanage and Studland in line with our byelaw and to help protect the seagrass beds within the voluntary marine no anchor zone at Studland.

To elect a new Vice-chair of the People & Health Scrutiny Committee. 

(The Vice-chair shall not be a member of the same political group as the Leader). 

It was proposed by A Parry seconded by L O’Leary that J Somper be appointed as Vice-chair of the People and Health Scrutiny Committee.

As Chair of the People and Health Scrutiny Committee, T Coombs thanked L O’Leary for his support on the committee and paid tribute to J Somper for her support to the committee to date.

Decision

That J Somper be appointed as Vice-chair of the People and Health Scrutiny Committee.

To consider any items of business which the Chair has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

There is no exempt business scheduled for this meeting.

There was no exempt business.