Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr W Chakawhata and Cllr S Jones.

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 29 April 2026.

Proposed by Cllr L Bown, seconded by Cllr R Holloway.

Decision:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2026 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 [email protected] by 8.30am on Wednesday, 1 July 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 Wednesday, 1 July 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 Business Partner – Communities and Partnerships.

The Cabinet Member for Public Health, Prevention & Communities introduced the report. The Crisis and Resilience Fund had replaced the Household Support Fund. Support from the first day of this change had been agreed by Cabinet, however this report looked at the support in more detail going forward, to strengthen the council’s resilience offer.

The Committee discussed the report and raised the following points:

·         The £4.1 million allocation had clear guidance for the next 3 years, but was it able to cover inflationary or other external pressures? Officers responded that additional grants have been given from Government to respond to external pressures, and that as it was a single fund government could respond quicker.

·         How would the council measure whether use of the Crisis and Resilience Fund is reducing demand for it? Officers responded that all crises would be assessed, whereas under the Household Support Fund everyone was given a voucher. Once someone has received a crisis payment, they would get more tailored support.

·         A response and payment needed to be provided within 48 hours of being contacted and the council was meeting this requirement.

Committee members discussed how the committee could have more involvement in development of the Crisis and Resilience Fund policy.

During the discussion, Cllr Orrell declared that he was a trustee of the Lantern Trust and therefore did not take part in the discussion or vote.

Proposed by Cllr L Bown, seconded by Cllr J Atwal.

Decision:
To recommend to Cabinet that:

1.    Interim governance of the Crisis and Resilience Fund programme is provided through the Communities and Prevention Delivery Board, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Prevention and Communities and the Cabinet Member for Housing. 

2.    An annual report on Crisis and Resilience Fund spend and impact is presented to the People and Health Scrutiny Committee. 

3.    The proposals set out in Appendix 2 for the allocation of Crisis and Resilience Fund funding to the resilience services and projects identified be agreed.

To consider a report by the Head of Service – Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service.

The Youth Justice Plan 2026-27 was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, and the Head of Service, Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service. The Head of Service summarised the contents of the Youth Justice Plan and the service’s priorities for the year.

Committee members discussed the report and asked questions of the officers. During the discussion the following points were made:

·         There was a concern from members about funding for the Youth Justice Service and it would put additional pressure on the council to fund the service, because the Ministry of Justice has frozen funding until 2029.

·         The Youth Justice Service has funded a speech and language project for some children at risk of exclusion and who may offend, to reduce their chances of offending. The project had been able to identify young people with severe communication needs.

·         Challenges for the service included being able to strategically align proposals in the Youth Justice White Paper with Children’s Services reform, and having resources to be able to provide more support to victims, particularly when victims are children.

·         The Youth Justice White Paper was considering raising the age of criminal responsibility.

·         The Youth Justice Service has supported parents with requests for assessments when they believe a young person has an unidentified need. The service also works with schools to ensure that children’s needs were being met.

·         There was overrepresentation of children with additional needs or children in care within the Youth Justice System. For children placed outside the Dorset Council area, there were not high numbers in the Youth Justice System. Officers were not aware of any unaccompanied asylum-seeking children being in the Youth Justice System.

·         40% of young people entering the Youth Justice System for the first time were aged 14 of younger. Children entering the system earlier means they could get more support; however, some would stay in the system.

·         The Youth Justice Board would conduct a deep dive to see who the first-time entrants under 14s were, and what actions were needed to address these reasons for offending.

·         An Expert at Hand offer was being rolled out to schools through SEND Reform which would have an expanded offer to schools for keeping children in education. Targeted youth work in schools had also helped to reduce exclusions.

Proposed by Cllr L Bown, seconded by Cllr R Holloway.

Decision:

To recommend to Cabinet that it recommends to Full Council that the Youth Justice Plan 2026/27 be approved.

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

The Committee noted its work programme and the Executive’s 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.