Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the year 2021/22.                                                                    

(Note: In accordance with the established protocol of the Board, the chairmanship rotates amongst the contributing authorities, with the Vice–Chairman, from a different authority to the Chairman, normally succeeding to the Chairmanship the following year).

Decisions

1. That in accordance with the terms of reference the chairmanship would move from BCP Council to Dorset Council and that the host council for the meeting would take the chair.

2. That Councillor Jill Haynes be elected Chairman for the year 2021.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the year 2021/22.                                                          

(Note: On the basis of the established protocol the Vice-Chairman should be a representative from a different authority to the Chairman).

Decision

That Councillor Mohan Iyengar be appointed Vice-Chairman for the year 2021.

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Lesley Dedman.

To receive any declarations of interest.

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

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2021 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman at a later date.

To receive questions or statements on the business of the Committee from town and parish councils and members of the public.

The deadline for submission of the full text of a question or statement is 8.30am on Friday 9 April 2021.

Details of the Council's procedure rules can be found at: Public Participation at Dorset Council meetings.

There were no submissions from town or parish councils or from members of the public.

To consider a report from the Service Manager for Archives.

The Board considered a report which followed a consultant led review of the Joint Archives Service’s (JAS) functions.

Members of the Board also received a presentation which is attached as an annexure to these minutes.

Areas of discussion following the presentation

Felt the service was not sufficiently recognised.

The challenge was to make what the archives services does relevant to the working lives of a large number of people.

How to make the service more relevant to more people.

If the service was made indispensable to more there would be less need to worry about the budget.

Making records more accessible to users and staff, possible digital portal.

The value of connection between the History Centre and Exeter and Bournemouth Universities.

Increase knowledge of the services to increase income.

Not focus too heavily on one side of the business to the detriment of another area of the business.

Constant issue of capacity highlighted.

Opportunity for interns to be used by the History Centre who want wider experience within the Archives world.

The amount of management time needed for volunteer staff.

Ideal scenario for the Archives service to work best would be to have it all in one place.

See how much work was actually duplicated and how much could be saved by doing things differently. This would be a good initial area to explore.

The need to highlight the importance of the Archives Service to both councils.

The Board thanked the consultants for their work on putting this review together.

The Service Manager for Archives highlighted the main points of the report to members. He also stressed the importance of both councils supporting efficient records management as a related element (with archives) of an effective information management system, ideally allowing for consistency of approach across BCP and Dorset Councils.

Members discussed a timeline for the next meeting with the possibility of holding more regular meetings and perhaps initially an informal meeting.

Following a request from members the Service Manager for Archives undertook to arrange visits to the History Centre for members when appropriate.

Decisions

1. That the findings and recommendations of the consultants’ report and the proposal that the recommendations form the basis for the future JAS Service Development Plan be supported.

2. That a clear direction of travel for the JAS in relation to the report’s recommendations, the service’s likely focus of attention (section 5 of this report) and is mindful of the resource implications of any new workstreams be agreed.

3. That the future governance of the JAS in the light of the consultants’ recommendations and delegates responsibility to Legal Services staff of BCP and DC Councils to generate one or more options for consideration be supported.

4. That consideration of the JAS’s dearth of archive storage and the production of a revised options appraisal to consider how best to resolve this issue be supported.

Reason for Decisions

To meet the reporting and decision-making requirements of the Joint Archives Agreement, 1997

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 of business.

To move the exclusion of the press and public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

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

There was no exempt business.