Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Pauline Batstone and Rebecca Knox.

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 made at this point in the meeting.

Cllr Parkes and Holloway made a declaration which is detailed in Minute Item 16.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March and 22 May 2023.

Proposed by Cllr Alford, seconded by Cllr Holloway.

Decision:
That the minutes of the meetings held on 21 March and 22 May 2023 be 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 george.dare@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Thursday, 22 June 2023.

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 george.dare@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Thursday, 22 June 2023. 

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 the Committee's Work Programme and the Cabinet Forward Plan.

The committee’s work programme was noted.

To receive a report by the Service Manager – Young and Thriving.

The Service Manager – Young and Thriving introduced the report and gave a presentation which is attached to these minutes. The presentation included detail on the support available to young carers and strengthening the offer available to them. A video was shown to the committee about young carers and their experiences interacting with health and care professionals.

Members asked questions of the officers and discussed the report. The following points were raised:

·         When young carers are being identified it was important to identify single young carers and when parents are also involved in caring.

·         There were issues with capacity to be able to do more work with schools.

·         MyTime provided support for schools in the BCP area through offering training sessions to senior leadership and pastoral staff. They also deliver assemblies to students where some young carers are identified.

·         There was a need to find out whether children were absent from school due to caring responsibilities.

·         Supporting young carers was a statutory duty for the council.

·         Young people can register as a carer by Carer Support Dorset.

·         Children’s services support young people with a significant caring role.

Members requested further information on identifying young carers and approaching families that may need help.

The committee supported the approach to improving the support offer for young carers.

To receive a report by the Housing Strategy Lead.

The Corporate Director for Housing introduced the report and highlighted the public consultation for the housing strategy and the three main strands of the strategy.

The Housing Strategy Lead gave a presentation which is attached as an appendix to these minutes. The presentation included the statutory requirements of the housing strategy, the timeline for its development, the key objectives, and the next steps for development.

At this point in the meeting Cllr Parkes and Cllr Holloway declared for transparency that they were private landlords. They did not take part in the remainder of the item.

Vice-chair in the Chair.

Members discussed the report and asked questions of the officers. The following points were raised:

·         Recognising that there needs to be more supply of housing.

·         The Housing Strategy was connected to the local plan, but it was not a planning policy.

·         Regarding building carbon neutral homes, the housing strategy could include a recommendation to developers and registered providers that they start following new planning and building regulations before they are enforced.

·         The definition of ‘affordable housing’ in the strategy and price points for housing. Some affordable housing could have a high price.

·         The number of bedrooms in homes, children sharing bedrooms, and the use of smaller third bedrooms. New regulations would cover the size of bedrooms.

·         The key worker housing schemes currently provided in Dorset.

·         It was important to have communication from developers and registered providers about building homes for local people.

·         Members would have further opportunities to have detailed discussions in member engagement sessions.

Members were satisfied with the report.

To move the exclusion of the press and public for the following item in view of the disclosure of confidential information within the meaning of subsection (3)(a) of section 100A 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.

Decision:

That the press and the public be excluded for the following item in view of the disclosure of confidential information within the meaning of subsection (3)(a) of section 100A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

To receive a report by the Corporate Director for Care and Protection.

The Corporate Director for Care and Protection introduced the report.

Members asked questions and made comments. They received responses from the Corporate Director for Care and Protection and a representative of the Department for Education.

The item had support from the committee.