Agenda and draft 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 at this point in the meeting.

Declarations of interest were raised during the Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy report and are detailed under Minute 42.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 October and 14 November 2024.

The minutes of the meetings held on 24 October 2024 and 14 November 2024 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 Monday, 13 January 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 george.dare@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Monday, 13 January 2025.

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 Corporate Director – Finance and Commercial.

The Executive Director for Corporate Development (Section 151 Officer) and the Corporate Director for Finance and Commercial introduced the budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) report. They gave a presentation which summarised the budget and the increase in the base budget for each service, as well as the high-risk service pressures, and the numbers of children in care and how it influences spend. The presentation is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

The committee discussed the overall budget position and the budgets for Children’s Services, Adults and Housing, and Public Health. Non-committee members were also given the opportunity to ask questions. During the discussion, the following key points were raised:

·       There was an average uplift for fees and charges of 2.5%. Clarification was needed how these were put into directorates and that the committee needed more detail on fees and charges in future years. Officers responded that the list of fees and charges would be available in the Full Council report and that fees and charges were either set by government or by the council based on the market.

·       The council not being able to meet savings and transformation targets this year and that they must be met next year to ensure the council’s budget was not affected and transformational savings were achieved.

·       One of the principal pressures was high-cost placements. It was important the council was able to provide bespoke packages for each child and being able to provide all options for children in care so the council does not have to commission high-cost packages. Members asked how the local market was being developed to reduce high-cost pressures.

·       The 50% reduction in funding for the Dorset Education Board was a concern given the educational achievement levels in the county. The Corporate Director for Education responded to this concern giving assurance and the reason the saving.

·       Consideration should be given to the Birth to Settled Adulthood programme having a combined budget between Children’s Services, Adults and Health. This could be explored further through the committee’s work programme.

·       How the council was promoting that people can purchase their own home care through the council and whether an investment was needed in marketing for this, and could it help with the local market. Officers responded that more work was needed to promote the service, however if the number of clients increased quickly, it could put pressures elsewhere.

·       Shared Lives should be added to the committee’s work programme to review the development of the service and its transfer to Care Dorset.

·       What were the confidence levels in being able to eliminate the use of B&B’s for temporary accommodation. The Corporate Director for Housing explained that it was an achievable target and that a plan to eliminate B&B accommodation use was being developed through a delivery paper which would be considered by the People & Health Overview Committee.

·       What was the financial impact of separating joint funding for Public Health. The Executive Director for Corporate Development responded that public health disaggregation was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

To consider a scrutiny request submitted by Cllr Robin Legg.

Cllr Legg introduced the scrutiny request regarding a reduction in NHS funding for Weldmar Hospicecare. He outlined the background to the request and an update he received from Weldmar Hospicecare since submitting the request.

The update included that Weldmar has proposed a redesign of existing services to support patients with a more blended staff approach. A grant had been agreed with NHS Dorset for 2025/26 which would enable provision of existing services and a new specialist at home service. A joint letter from Weldmar and the NHS would be sent to Dorset Council with an update.

Given the update, senior officers of Adult Social Care needed to do further work to understand the changes that were happening.

The Committee agreed that the request should be explored outside of the meeting, following discussions with officers, and that a decision to agree the scrutiny request would be made by the chairman.

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

The committee noted its 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.