Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2025 were confirmed and signed.

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 Wednesday, 10 September 2025.

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 Wednesday, 10 September 2025.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

Two questions were submitted by a councillor, with responses given by the Cabinet Member for Health and Housing. The responses to the questions are attached 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 urgent items.

To consider a report by the Service Manager for Housing Standards.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Housing introduced the Empty Homes Strategy. The strategy had been developed in partnership with stakeholders, with a member Task & Finish group contributing to the strategy development. The Strategy set out all the options available for empty homes to be brought back into use, with enforcement being used as a last resort.

The committee discussed the financial aspects of the report, including £600k capital reducing to £500k per year in 2028/29, and the staffing capacity of the team to deal with the number of empty homes. The capital funding used to purchase empty-homes could be reinvested when the property is disposed. There was wide support from the committee to increase staffing capacity and investment levels, to bring more empty homes back into use.

Proposed by Cllr A Fuhrmann, seconded by Cllr R Holloway.      

Decision:

To recommend to Cabinet that the Empty Homes Strategy budget is maintained and that priority be made into increasing staff capacity

In addition to this discussion, members asked questions of the officers, and the following points were raised:

·         A compulsory purchase of an empty property would be a last resort, and some owners may want to sell their property to the council. Some empty properties could be repurposed by the council, or they could be sold within a few months.

·         There were checks and balances to ensure value for money, which included internal process, a capital strategy board which assesses cost effectiveness, there were also groups which checked rates and tendering, as well as a responsibility of the Director of Housing to have oversight of projects.

·         One compulsory purchase order had been made since 2021, however it was likely this would be needed again in the future and other legal remedies were possible, such as compulsory leasing.

Proposed by Cllr R Holloway, seconded by Cllr J Atwal.

Decision:

To recommend to Cabinet that it approves the adoption of the Empty Homes Strategy.

To consider a report by the Programme Coordinator for Community Safety.

The Domestic Abuse Programme Manager introduced the report. The Domestic Abuse Strategy was developed in conjunction with the Community Safety Partnership, which sought to avoid duplication and build upon existing work. He reflected on the progress made through the previous Domestic Abuse Strategy and that the new strategy gave an opportunity to build upon work already undertaken to tackle domestic abuse over the next 3 years.

Committee members asked questions of the officers, and the following points were raised:

·         In order to reach people affected by domestic abuse, there are local communication campaigns and national campaigns throughout the year.

·         An initiative called the Dragonfly Project was a community-based domestic abuse awareness programme which trained community champions. Information about the project would be circulated to all members.

·         The Safeguarding Families Together project and using talks in schools on healthy relationships were both used to prevent domestic abuse in young people.

·         The strategy and its outcomes would be monitored through a delivery plan and performance measures, with formal monitoring through the Community Safety Partnership.

·         Deprivation could be a contributor to domestic abuse; however domestic abuse could happen in all households.

Proposed by Cllr R Holloway, seconded by Cllr J Atwal.

Decision:

That the Committee recommend to Cabinet that the Domestic Abuse Strategy 2025-28 be approved.

To consider a report by the Corporate Director for Commissioning and Improvement.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care introduced the report which encompassed a vision for Age Friendly Communities. It would build upon the work of the Thriving Communities programme. There would be differences to the implementation of Age Friendly Communities across the county, due to the differences between local areas. The Corporate Director for Commissioning and Improvement outlined the recommendations in the report.

Members discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         How the age-friendly communities programme would be promoted.

·         How decision-making could become more age friendly.

·         There was a strong funding case for age friendly communities.

·         External funding for specific age-friendly work was available.

·         The vision for outcomes was that older people felt part of society more. Suggestions to measure this were social participation, better use of community transport, volunteer engagement rates, and the key performance indicators for entering into care.

·         There was a concern that there was not enough meaning to age-friendly communities, and there needed to be more resources for it to be meaningful.

·         There was an aspiration for a site in Bridport to be built as an age-friendly community.

During the discussion, the committee made the following recommendations.

Proposed by Cllr R Holloway, seconded by Cllr A Fuhrmann.

Decision: To recommend to Cabinet that it promotes Age Friendly Communities through local charities, businesses, faith groups, and local councils.

Proposed by Cllr A Fuhrmann, seconded by Cllr R Holloway.

Decision: To recommend that an Age Friendly Wheel be a part of every council report in the same way as equalities and environment is currently presented.

The recommendations set out in the report were proposed by Cllr R Holloway and seconded by Cllr J Atwal.

Decision:

That the committee recommend to Cabinet that it:

1. Endorses Dorset’s application for Age Friendly accreditation by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
2. Endorses the integration of Age-Friendly principles into whole council strategy and planning considerations including Adult Social Care locality practice, commissioning and strategic planning.
3. Through the Council’s OFC programme (Commissioning & Procurement & Community Partnerships Programmes), integrates age friendly principles into design of infrastructure, transport, housing, and public spaces.

To consider the Committee's Work Programme and the Executive Forward Plans.

The Committee noted their work programme and the executive forward plans.

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.