Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

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.

Cllr Ireland declared that he was a governor of Dorset HealthCare.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2023.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2023 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 george.dare@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Thursday, 26 October 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, 26 October 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 receive a report by the Independent Chair of Dorset and BCP Safeguarding Adults Boards.

The Independent Chair of the Dorset and BCP Safeguarding Adults Board introduced the annual report and gave a presentation to the committee, which is attached to these minutes. The presentation outlines the board’s statutory duties and the data for Dorset Council’s safeguarding activity. The board’s strategic plan was summarised, and the board’s key achievements were highlighted.

Members asked questions of the Independent Chair; the following points were raised:

·       Safeguarding concerns could be reported through a website.

·       Data enables the board to strategize and plan to ensure that they are working in the right place with the right people.

·       Self-neglect was not just an issue caused by housing; it was often a result of trauma. It was important that homeless people have their care and support needs met.

·       There was not a statutory duty for the Board to provide training, however the board could receive training for something significant.

·       Adult social care teams manage safeguarding concerns. The demand and the best way to manage the demand was being examined.

The Committee noted the report.

To receive a report by the Deputy Director – Strategic Commissioning, NHS Dorset.

The Deputy Director for Strategic Commissioning, NHS Dorset, introduced the written report and delivered a presentation, which is attached to these minutes. The presentation covered the following areas: an outline of the Integrated Care System; oral health inequalities; dental access and high street dentistry; the Dental Reform Strategy; how dentistry is commissioned; current risks and challenges for NHS dentistry; what dental reform would bring for children and young people; the dental stabilisation programme.

Committee members made comments on the report and presentation and asked questions of the officers. The following areas were discussed:

·       In relation to creating a Dorset contract for dentists to attract then to the county, it would take a lot of time and effort to get to a good outcome, however population health contracts could start to be offered within the next year.

·       Dentists would be included within the potential development of proposals for a dental school.

·       There needs to be a balance between NHS and private dental appointments.

·       There were no statistics about who needed dental treatment and cannot afford it. There were also unknowns about who was and was not accessing dentistry.

·       Dentistry received funding for 50% of the area’s population rather than 50% of the need.

·       A helpline placed emergency patients into commissioned emergency care slots. In some cases, it would be clinically appropriate to visit A&E instead.

·       There were benefits of NHS Dorset commissioning dentistry, however not in terms of access to high street dentistry.

·       Targets for the next 12 months included looking at underperformance in deprived areas and options to commission in these areas.

·       Dentists have guidance on how often patients should return for check-ups, based upon the patient’s clinical need.

The Chairman thanked NHS representatives for attending.

A review of the relevant Dorset Council performance dashboard to inform the Scrutiny Committee’s work programme and identify items for deep doves.

The following link is the dashboard for the committee:

People and Health Scrutiny Committee Dashboard

The Service Manager for Business Intelligence and Performance highlighted the performance indicators that were identified by the committee. The performance indicators were:

·       The net number of households in B&B for the month.

·       The number of care leavers in B&B accommodation.

·       The percentage of new children in care receiving their IHA within 20 days.

·       The number of special educational needs (SEND) tribunals against the authority.

·       The number of staff non-reportable accidents, particularly related to violence.

Officers responded to the indicators raised and made the following points:

·       The number of households in B&Bs were improving and there was strong performance, however there was more to do because of high demand.

·       The rise in the percentage of new children in care receiving an IHA within 20 days was due to an increase in the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

·       There was an issue with timings of children’s medical appointments because it was important that they were not taken out of school.

·       SEND tribunals happen when the local authority recommends a school place, but parents would like an alternative.

·       The care of children with complex needs may result in accidents that include violence. It may not have had a violent intention.

To consider the committee’s Work Programme and the Executive Forward Plans.

All current published Forward Plans can be found at this link: Browse forward plans - Dorset Council

Members noted the committee’s work programme and the Cabinet forward plan.

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.