Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Sarah Howard (Vice-chair), Jan Britton, Paul Dempsey and Marc House.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2025 were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure 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 interests were made at the meeting.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via Microsoft Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  For further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected] by 8.30am on Friday, 6 February 2026.

When submitting your question or statement please note that: 

·         You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

·         a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

·         It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

·         Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

·         when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder) 

·         Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting. 

·         questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda. 

·         all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.   

There was no public participation.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  

Councillors can submit up to two valid questions at each meeting and sub divided questions count towards this total.   Questions and statements received will be published as a supplement to the agenda and all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting. 

The submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected] by 8.30am on Friday, 6 February 2026. 

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13 

There were no questions from councillors.

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 urgent items.

To consider a report by the Commissioning Manager.

The Corporate Director for Commissioning and Improvement introduced the report on day opportunities. He summarised the key themes which were raised during the public consultation and explained how the consultation and engagement have shaped the new model and proposals. The new model for day opportunities would contribute to the Council plan priorities and make the best use of the council’s assets.

Following the introduction, Board members discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         There was going to be further engagement with communities and service users about providing services closer to communities.

·         Limiters in the past for people to access day opportunities provided by the voluntary sector, was that they were not promoted well enough, so people did not know they were available. A next step for day opportunities was thinking about the wider model and involving the voluntary sector so that these opportunities could be developed further.

·         Natural communities for family hubs may not be the same as those natural communities for older people. However, in some places, co-locating these services would work well. Thought needed to be given to the assets which were already available and how these could be meeting the needs of communities.

·         The next step would be to revise the commissioning model with Care Dorset and then to progress providing day opportunities closer to communities. There would be continued engagement with service users.

Following the discussion, the Corporate Director for Commissioning and Improvement explained that the proposals would be revised in the final Cabinet report, so that Purbeck Connect would remain open.

The Board agreed the future intentions for day opportunities and the draft Cabinet report.

To receive a presentation on the NHS Dorset ICB 5-year Commissioning Plan.

The Deputy Director of Modernisation and Place (BCP), NHS Dorset, introduced the item and gave a presentation which was included in the agenda pack. The presentation included the national requirements for the commissioning plan and its purpose, how the plan has been developed and engagement exercises, and the key priorities in the plan.

The Board discussed the NHS Commissioning Plan. During the discussion the following points were raised:

·         Using the place-based partnership would be next step for working together, rather than the NHS Commissioning Plan just being health led. The Health and Wellbeing Strategy and a shift from treatment to prevention can help assist this.

·         It was a challenging time for system working due to the incoming Integrated Care Board cluster arrangements. However, place-level strategy should still continue at pace.

·         Both NHS and Local Authority partners would need to value and invest in the place-based partnership for it to be successful. It would also be critical for the success of a funding shift from sickness to prevention.

·         There was also a need for the NHS and Local Authority to be aligned on preserving and delivering their statutory responsibilities and being aligned on these whilst other work was delivered.

To consider the Health and Wellbeing Board Work Programme.

The Director of Public Health outlined the purpose of bringing a report on Health Literacy to the board’s next meeting.

The Board noted its work programme.

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 are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.  

There was no exempt business.