Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th October 2024 to be published ahead of the meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 24^th October 2024 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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 Antony.Nash@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk   by 8.30am on 11^th November 2024

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 were no questions or statements from members of the public or local organisations.

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 Antony.Nash@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on 11th November 2024

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from Councillors.

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 review the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee Work Programme.

Councillors reviewed the Committee’s work programme.

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.

Councillors considered the Cabinet Forward Plan, which the committee could use to identify potential areas for post decision review.

In addition, the committee noted the forward plan for the Shareholder Committee for Care Dorset Ltd and the Shareholder Committee for the Dorset Centre of Excellence.

To receive a verbal update from the Chair following the committee’s review of the risk register.

The committee requested a confidential briefing to address items on the council risk register and assurance following the briefing to be shared at a future meeting of the Place and Resource Scrutiny Committee.

To consider the report of the Senior Assurance Officer Complaints

The Place and Resources Scrutiny committee considered the report presented by the Complaints manager which provided an update on the numbers, types and outcomes of complaints made against Dorset Council during 2023/24. The performance of place services was covered in detail and the importance of receiving complaints to ongoing council performance.

The discussion covered much of the data shared and offered suggestions for additions for deeper understanding along with other considerations

·       How complaints are categorised and the definition of a complaint

·       Complaints in relation to statutory services vs other services was discussed

·       Possible performance measures in terms of impact and improvement, e.g. lower numbers of complaints, improved timescales

·       The use of comparison data in relation to other council’s complaints

·       The remedies to complaints and key learning in improving service delivery and performance

The Committee suggested a reduction in complaints upheld by the Ombudsmen as a key performance metric and the addition of comparison data to future reports.

To consider the report of the Sustainability Team Manager, Carbon Management Officer & Climate & Ecology Policy Officer

The Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee considered the second Biannual progress report for 2024 shared by the Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate, Performance and Safeguarding, compiled by Sustainability Team Manager, Carbon Management Officer, and Climate & Ecology Policy Officer. The report provided a quantitative overview of progress on our emissions trajectory and performance against our current emissions targets.

There was an extensive discussion following the presentation that covered several areas;

• Value for money and assessing climate impact in terms of cost-effectiveness, impact and the availability of data locally and globally, funding sources and financial commitments for projects.
• A discussion exploring hydrogen and alternative fuels including hydrogen generation and alternative fuel use in practice.
• A discussion of the actions that have positive benefits from alternative fuels, solar PV, building retrofits, and electric vehicles usage and infrastructure.
• A discussion about working closely with agriculture addressing methane emissions and supporting ongoing agricultural work.
• A discussion about reaching wider audiences that extend beyond the council’s direct control so engagement with schools, partners, and organisations in unified climate actions beyond the areas we have direct control.
• The role of the council in providing impartial climate advice to support organisations and residents to reduce their carbon emissions.
• A discussion about resilience and incorporating broader climate impacts like flood prevention and resilience.

The chair summarised the discussion and requested an expansion of the data, including data from wider Dorset, to be collated for the next update and recognised the work that has happened so far.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Economic Growth & Infrastructure.

Please note this report has one exempt appendix.

The report introduced by the Cabinet member for place services and presented by the Corporate Director Economic Growth & Infrastructure covered a trial of reduced car park tariffs was conducted in three level 3 car parks. The report detailed the impact of the trial on parking usage, income and the customer feedback, and the impact on visits and businesses. Other factors such as weather were also considered and highlighted as important to be considered.

Following the presentation, there was discussion about the trial sites and the variance between the sites and how this trial formed part of a larger full review of parking. The discussion covered several specific areas such as;

·       Sources of funding for the trial, and the rationale behind the selection of the trial sites.

·       The Impact of the trial on residents compared to tourists.

·       The data in terms of its impact on businesses and footfall were investigated and required additional emphasis for the full parking review.

·       The statistical significance of the impact of the trial particularly in relation to local business impact and footfall.

The discussion concluded that the ability to prove significance in terms of impact was inconclusive with the data available. The chair requested the progress around the full parking review was shared with the committee.

To consider passing the following recommendation:  

Recommendation  

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in item(s) No 14 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) 3 of Part 1 of schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.  

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered. (Any live streaming will end at this juncture).

Reason for taking the item in private

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).  

The Committee did not go into exempt business on this occasion.

Exempt Appendix associated with the report on trial reduction in car park charges

This item was not discussed.