Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2025

The minutes of the meeting on 20 March 2025 were confirmed and signed and correct record.

There was a review of the actions completed and outstanding.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests 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.

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 MS 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.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected]  by 8.30am on 17 April 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 [email protected]  by 8.30am on 17 April 2025

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from councillors.

To Consider the report from the Transport Planning Projects Team Manager

The Projects Team Manager introduced the report on Dockless Bike Rental in Southeast Dorset, describing the key points and the timeline around Beryls contracting and subsequent withdrawal from Southeast Dorset at the 3 year break point.

Following the presentation there was a discussion that covered several key areas-

·       The involvement of procurement and legal in the contracting phase

·       The importance of due diligence in contracting and shared intelligence

·       The value of active travel and the importance of engaging with partners

·       The value of partnership working in travel due to travel habits expanding beyond Local authority borders

·       The use and repurposing of the bikes owned by Dorset Council from this scheme.

·       Other options of bikes and fixed docking stations

·       The relationship between Dorset Council and Beryl and the sharing of information including financial transparency.

Recommendations

The Place and Resources committee recommend that;

1-    the Council completed their own due diligence when commissioning services, partner’s and providers

2-    contract dates are harmonised to enable commissioning pan-Dorset contract’s moving forwards in schemes such as Beryl Bikes

3-    contract management practice is improved with emphasis enforcement of contracts, core terms and actions taken if contracts are breached.

4-    Asset management practice was reviewed focusing on the reuse of assets when changes occurred.

5-    contingency planning be considered during procurement, commissioning and contract management to be ensure service continuity.

6-    the local member protocol be revisited and applied to ensure Ward Members received timely updates

7-    Transport Action Groups and wider stakeholder engagement occurred ahead of changes around active travel

To review the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Work Programme.

The Place and resources committee discussed the options for future work which included;

·       Hedge to hedge

·       EV charging station performance

·       Wessex internet- fibre and rural connectivity

·       Active travel usage and the value for money

·       Accessibility of the Council Chamber

The Executive Director for Corporate Development presented an overview of the Budget Setting Process to help shape key lines of enquiry for a report coming to a future meeting.

To review the Executive arrangement forward plans.

Forward Plans are provided to members of the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee to review and identify any potential post decision scrutiny to be undertaken, by scheduling items into the work programme to review after a period of implementation.

The Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee reviewed the forward plans

To consider any items of business which the Chair 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 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