Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chair of Council for the 2025/26 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland seconded by Cllr R Hughes that Cllr S Jones be elected Chair of the Council for the 2025/26 municipal year.

 

There were no other nominations.

 

Decision

 

That Cllr S Jones be elected as Chair of the Council for 2025/26 municipal year.

 

The Chair thanked the members of Council and in particular Cllr L Fry for his support as Vice-chair. She then made and signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

To elect the Vice-chair of Council for the 2025/26 municipal year.  

It was proposed by Cllr N Lacey-Clarke and seconded by Cllr R Hughes that Cllr L Fry be elected Vice-Chair for 2025/26 municipal year.

 

There were no other nominations.

 

Decision

 

That Cllr L Fry be elected as Vice-Chair of the Council for 2025/26 municipal year.

 

Cllr L Fry thanked the Council for their support and then made and signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

 

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th April 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2025 were confirmed 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.

 

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

(a)  To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council.

(b)  To receive a short presentation by members of the Youth Council on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Chair of Council announced the death of Cllr B Trite. Cllr Trite had been a Purbeck councillor since 1996, a Swanage councillor for more than 34 years and had held the office of Swanage Mayor on three occasions. He became a member of Dorset County Council in 2009 and became the Vice-chair of Dorset Council in 2023-2024. Tributes to Cllr Trite would be made at the next meeting of Full Council in July.

 

The Chair invited those present in the Council Chamber to stand for one minute of silence in his memory.

 

The Chair welcomed representatives of the Youth Council, who addressed the Council on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

To consider a motion on notice submitted by Cllr Duncan Sowry-House. 

Full Council received the following Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr D Sowry-House, seconded by Cllr C Sutton and supported by Cllr Belinda Bawden, Cllr Les Fry, Cllr Hannah Hobbs-Chell, Cllr Pete Roper, Cllr Rob Hughes, Cllr Kate Wheller, Cllr Paul Kimber, Cllr Noc Lacey-Clarke, Cllr Nick Ireland, Cllr Stella Jones, Cllr Ryan Hope, Cllr Steve Robinson, Cllr Gill Taylor, Cllr Simon Clifford, Cllr Bridget Bolwell, Cllr Dave Bolwell, Cllr Louise Bown, Cllr Will Chakawhata, Cllr Neil Eysenck, Cllr Beryl Ezzard, Cllr Scott Florek, Cllr Alex Fuhrmann, Cllr Sally Holland, Cllr Jack Jeans, Cllr David Taylor, Cllr David Tooke, Cllr Sarah Williams, Cllr Matt Bell, Cllr Andy Todd, Cllr Richard Crabb and Cllr Chris Kippax.

 

Motion Narrative and Action Required

 

This council recognises the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a fundamental framework for the protection and promotion of children's rights globally. As Dorset Council, we are committed to ensuring that all children and young people within our jurisdiction are afforded the rights and protections enshrined in the UNCRC.

 

Background:

 

The UNCRC, adopted in 1989, outlines the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children. It emphasises the importance of children's voices in matters that affect them and acknowledges their right to a safe environment, education, and health care.

 

Whereas:

·       The UNCRC has been ratified by 196 countries, making it the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history.

·       Children are a vulnerable group requiring specific rights and protections to ensure their well-being and development.

·       Upholding the UNCRC aligns with our commitment to human rights, social justice, and the welfare of all residents.

·       The local authority has an obligation to consider the best interests of the child in all decisions and policies affecting them.

 

Motion

That this Council: -

1.   Affirms its commitment to the principals and provisions of the UNCRC and integrates these into local policies and practices, complimenting the delivery of Dorset Council’s 10 yr plan for children, young people and families, aiming to be a Rights Respecting Authority.

 

2.   Establishes a Children’s Rights Committee to oversee the implementation of the UNCRC within our authority, ensuring that children’s voices are heard and considered in decision-making processes. This will include developing some of our young people as ‘Rights Respecting Ambassadors as well as a Children’s rights impact assessment.

 

3.   Signposts training and awareness programs for council members and staff on the importance of children's rights and the UNCRC.

 

4.   Engages with local communities, schools, and organisations to promote understanding of children's rights and encourage active participation from children in matters that affect them.

 

5.   Declares that Corporate Parents as duty bearers, capturing all our children and young people, we uphold the United Nations Convention of The Rights of The Child and identify as a Rights Respecting Authority.

 

6.   Requires that all policies, procedures and interactions involving our children and young people are mindful of relevant articles from the UNCRC

 

By adopting this motion, we reaffirm our dedication to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To elect the Leader of Council for the 2025/26 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr D Beer seconded by Cllr L Bowen that Cllr N Ireland be elected Leader of the Council 2025/26.

 

Decision

 

That Cllr N Ireland be elected as Leader of the Council 2025/26 municipal year.

The Leader of Council to report the appointment of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet members.

The Leader of the Council announced the following appointments:

 

Deputy Leader – Cllr R Biggs

Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth – Cllr R Biggs

Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care – Cllr S Robinson

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills – Cllr C Sutton

Cabinet Member for Corporate Development and Transformation – Cllr B Wilson

Cabinet Member for Customer, Culture and Community Engagement – Cllr R Hope

Cabinet Member for Finance & Capital Strategy – Cllr S Clifford

Cabinet Member for Health and Housing – Cllr G Taylor

Cabinet Member for Place Services – Cllr J Andrews

Cabinet Member for Planning and Emergency Planning – Cllr S Bartlett

 

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

 

Following on from the item above, the Leader of the Council set out some of the work currently being carried out within the portfolios across his Cabinet membership.

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 12^th May 2025. All submissions must be emailed to [email protected] 

 

When submitting your question or statement please note that:

·       You can submit 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting;

·       A question may include a pre-amble to set the context, each question, including the pre-amble can consist of up to 450 words and you will be given up to 3 minutes to read out your question;

·       Sub-divided questions will not be accepted;

·       When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for, i.e. the name of the Cabinet member;

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

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

 

Before submitting your question or statement please read the Council’s Procedure Rules paragraphs 9.1 – 9.12 to ensure that your question/statement is compliant.

Part 2 Rules of Procedure - Council and Committee Procedure Rules.pdf

      

 

There were two questions from members of the public and these were set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

At this point in the meeting, several members temporarily withdraw from the meeting and subsequently rejoined prior to the commencement of the deputation on the “Pathways to Work” green paper.  

 

1.     To receive a deputation – to be presented by deputation lead Rob Ferguson
  

2.     To receive a deputation – to be presented by deputation lead Siobhan Lennon-Patience.  

 

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

The Issue: Dorset Pension Fund Investments in companies enabling crimes against humanity in Gaza and the West Bank, and violations of Palestinian rights.

 

A deputation was submitted by Rob Fergurson and Lisa-Jameela Musleh regarding Pension Fund Investments enabling crime against humanity.

 

In response to the deputation, the Chair of the Pension Fund Committee, Cllr A Canning, thanked Mr Fergurson for taking the time to speak to the Council on such an important and emotive subject. 

 

Dorset Council had delegated its responsibilities as a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authority to a Pension Fund Committee, in common with most other LGPS administering authorities. Cllr Canning indicated that this valid matter of concern would be considered in more depth at the next Pension Fund Committee meeting on 24 June 2025. (A copy of the full statement and response is attached at Appendix B to these minutes.)

 

Deputation on the Pathways to Work green paper

 

A deputation was submitted by Siobhan Lennon-Patience on the government’s Green Paper “Pathway to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working”

 

In response to the deputation, the Cabinet Member of Adult Social Care advised that Dorset Council prided itself on having a strengths-based approach to how it worked with people in need of social care support. It was important that the Council added its comments to the consultation process and the Cabinet member confirmed that officers would work collaboratively across Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Economic Development and other relevant teams to co-ordinate such a response. (A copy of the full statement and response is attached at Appendix B to these minutes.)

To consider a report by the Democratic Services Team Leader.

The Director of Legal and Democratic presented a report setting out the proposed allocation of committee seats, in line with political balance rules and, in accordance with the Council constitution, to make appointments to committees, joint panels and boards.  The report also included, at Appendix 4, the proposed Chair and Vice-chair nominations of ordinary committees for the forthcoming year.

 

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland seconded by Cllr S Robinson

 

Decision

 

(a)    That the allocation of committee seats and the appointments to committees and joint boards and panel, as nominated by the political group leaders be approved for 2025/26, as set out in the report Appendices 1, 2 & 3 respectively.

 

(b)    That authority be delegated to the Director of Legal & Democratic, in consultation with the appropriate political group leader, to make in-year changes to committee, joint panels and board appointments.

 

(c)    That Full Council appoints committee Chair and Vice-chairs for the 2025/26 municipal year (nominations set out in Appendix 4).

To consider a report from the Independent Remuneration Panel on the review of Members’ Allowances.

The Director of Legal and Democratic presented the Independent Remuneration Panel’s findings and recommendations following their review of the Dorset Council Scheme of Member’s Allowances.

 

He further advised that the Dorset Council Scheme of Members’ Allowances had previously been reviewed in 2020.

 

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland and seconded by Cllr A Parry

 

Decision

 

(a)           Basic Allowance (BA): That the basic allowance be increased to £16,000 per annum with effect from 1 April 2025

 

(b)           Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA’s): That the following SRAs be payable as from 1 April 2025:

 

Leader of the Council	£38,000;
Executive / Cabinet Members (including Deputy Leader)	£23,500;
Chair of the Council	£11,000;
Vice-Chair of the Council	£5,500;
Chairs of Audit and Governance Committee, Overview committees, Scrutiny committees, and all planning committees (including strategic)	£11,000;
Chair of the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee	£7,500;
Chairs of all other committees listed in Article 8 and the Dorset Police and Crime Panel and the Corporate Parenting Board in Article 11 of the Dorset Council Constitution	£5,500;
Minority Group Leaders      (Note: Minority Parties must have a membership of not less than 10% of Dorset Council for their Leader to receive an SRA).	£5,500.

 

 

(c)           Indexation of Allowances:

 

(i)             That both the BA and SRAs be updated annually to reflect the annual pay award to staff and that this indexation commence from 1 April 2026.

 

(ii)           That where a consolidated fixed sum pay award be made, the BA and SRAs be increased by the percentage increase applied to salary scale point 43.

 

(iii)          That indexation of BA and SRAs continue for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.

 

(d)           Co-opted and Independent Member Allowance:

(i)             That no further increase be applied to the Co-opted and Independent members’ allowances.

 

(ii)            That these allowances be updated annually, commencing on 1 April 2026, to reflect the indexation increases applied to the BA and SRAs; and

 

(iii)          That indexation of the Co-opted and Independent Members allowance should continue for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.

 

(e)           Dependant Carer’s Allowance: That the Scheme incorporates a Dependant Carer’s Allowance and to include:

 

(i)             A distinction between formal specialised care and informal care

 

(ii)            For formal specialised care the allowance should provide for the reimbursement of the actual expenditure, subject to prior agreement with the Service Manager for Democratic and Electoral Services and the provision of appropriate invoices/receipts

 

(iii)          For informal care, the maximum allowance payable should be the national minimum wage and is payable subject to the carer providing a written receipt (the process to be agreed by the Service Manager for Democratic and Electoral Services and the member making the claim)

 

(iv)          In respect of informal care, the claimant’s own household should not be excluded, subject to where a person acting as a carer already has joint caring responsibilities, payment would be subject to the prior agreement of the Service Manager for Democratic and Electoral Services.

 

(v)           Both elements of this allowance be payable for the care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To consider a motion on notice submitted by Cllr Simon Gibson.

Full Council received the following Notice of Motion proposed by Cllr S Gibson, seconded by Cllr James Vitali and supported by Cllrs Monks, L Beddow, J Somper, T Coombs, M Parkes, A Parry, S Flower, P Brown, V Pothecary, A Skeats, S Jespersen, R Bryan, J Haynes, B Quayle, B Goringe, S Murcer

 

Motion Narrative and Action Required

 

Dorset, like the wider United Kingdom, is experiencing difficult economic headwinds that are negatively impacting our local economy and our businesses. A combination of stubbornly low growth rates, increasing cost of employment and darkening global trading conditions are causing widespread concern. A recent report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants highlighted plummeting business confidence. The number of new businesses registrations has reduced and winding up orders increased to the highest level since the financial crash.

After the Spring Statement, the OBR halved its growth forecast for 2025 from 2.0% to 1.0%. And since inflation has regularly outpaced growth in recent years, real living standards are deteriorating, which for businesses means less consumer demand even whilst their own prices are rising.  Growth rates have been historically low in recent years and once population increases are considered, GDP per capita has actually fallen. Economic growth in Dorset sits below the regional average and the national average. Dorset has a productivity deficit. Our ageing population and reducing number of younger people further exacerbates the issues facing businesses and their ability to grow.

Increases to employers National Insurance Contributions, reductions in Retail, Hospitality and leisure business rate relief, increasing energy costs and global tariffs have made life increasingly difficult for our businesses and the families that rely on them for income and employment.

A thriving economy allows businesses to grow, to hire more staff and to pay better wages. Confident businesses invest in their infrastructure and better train their employees.

Dorset Council is well placed to show leadership and support for our businesses and local economy. As we produce our next Economic Growth Strategy, we must look urgently at anything that the Council can do to improve growth, support businesses and jobs.

 

Motion

 

Dorset Council therefore commits to: Declare an ‘Economic Emergency’ that requires urgent action.  Furthermore, the Council commits to:

1.    A thorough and urgent review of all existing Council policies to more fully assess the impact on economic growth in Dorset and the impact on local businesses and jobs.

 

2.    Ensuring that all future major policy has a more detailed assessment of the various economic factors included in the reports similar to the successful Climate Change ‘colour wheel.’

 

3.    Establish a permanent Executive Advisory Panel that will meet regularly, on a cross party basis, to build upon the work of the task & finish group that has been supporting the forthcoming Economic Growth Strategy.

 

4.    Create a strategy for Business Rates that seeks to grow the number of businesses across the Dorset Council area. With consideration given to a percentage of any increase in business rate revenue being set aside to improve our local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Monday 12^th May.

There were 7 questions from councillors. Questions 3 to 7 were not read out as the councillors concerned had left the meeting.  However, a copy of all the questions and responses are set out in the Appendix C to these minutes.

 

 

To consider any items of business which the Chairman 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 items of urgent business to report.

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 3 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 was no exempt business.