Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Daryl Turner, Piers Brown and Louie O’Leary.

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 pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

However, in respect of agenda item 5, Cllr Ireland advised that he was a partner governor at Dorset Healthcare Trust and also had a daughter working at Dorset County Hospital (DCH).

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

Public speaking has been suspended for virtual committee meetings during the Covid-19 crisis and public participation will be dealt with through written submissions only.

Members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area, may submit up to two questions or a statement of up to a maximum of 450 words. All submissions must be sent electronically to fiona.king@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk  by the deadline set out below. When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for and include your name, address and contact details. Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

Questions will be read out by an officer of the council and a response given by the appropriate Portfolio Holder or officer at the meeting. All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.

The deadline for submission of the full text of a questions or statements is 8.30am on Tuesday 7 December 2021.

Please refer to the guide to public participation at committee meetings for more information about speaking at meetings.

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

To receive any questions from members in accordance with procedure rule 13. The deadline for the receipt of questions is 8.30am on Tuesday 7 December 2021.

There were no written questions received from councillors.

The scrutiny committees are asked to consider the budget proposals on behalf of the residents of Dorset, and to provide constructive challenge to decision-makers before a final decision is made.

Members considered a report from the Executive Director for Corporate Development which provided a summary of progress to date on the development of the budget strategy and medium-term financial plan (MTFP).  The report also provided further updates on funding for this year and for 2022/23, although details of the local government finance settlement  was still awaited.

The Chairman stated that the focus for the meeting would be on budget proposals for the Adult and Housing and Children's Services Directorates.  Budget proposals concerning the Place and Corporate Resources Directorate would be considered at the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting which would follow this meeting. 

The Executive Director for Corporate Development set the scene for budget setting and outlined the process. The Efficiency and Transformation programme was highlighted to address the budget gap of £4.5m. Expecting additional government funding of £4.5m.

Attention was drawn to final line in the report regarding the settlement and if it was significantly different from that anticipated, then it may be necessary for the budget proposals to be adjusted.  If the net expenditure proposals needed to be reduced by more than £500k the Scrutiny Committees may wish to reconvene during the week commencing 3 January 2022, to consider the revision to the proposals.

General budget questions