Agenda and draft minutes

To appoint a Chair for the meeting.

Proposed by Cllr A Canning, seconded by Cllr S Jones.

Decision:

That Cllr B Ezzard be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Will Chakawhata, Jindy Atwal, Richard Crabb, and Mike Parkes.

Apologies were also received from Cabinet Members Cllr Hope and Cllr Ryan Holloway.

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 george.dare@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Thursday, 24 October 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 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, 24 October 2024. 

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 the report by the Head of Strategic Communication and Engagement.

The Leader introduced the Council Plan 2024-2029 and set out the vision for the future Dorset. It was still in draft and outlined the vision and strategic priorities, and set the council’s direction for the next 5 years. It would be amended to encompass the statutory responsibilities, and it was important to keep ambitious and specific targets.

Cabinet Member for Health and Housing introduced Council Plan Priority 1 - Provide High Quality Housing.

Access to affordable, high quality and safe housing was essential for residents to be able to live and thrive and was a cornerstone of the future success of Dorset. The introduction covered the gap between pay and house prices, the shortage of affordable and quality housing and the approach being taken to work with partners and registered providers to solve these issues. There was an emphasis on the potential impact of the Chancellor’s budget announcement and the approach to be “grant ready” to utilise central government funding streams as much as possible.

Members discussed the priority and suggested the following areas of consideration and recommendations:

• Include more on improving the quality of housing by working with landlords in the private rented sector.
• Work with landowners to renovate / reintroduce housing stock in an affordable way.
• More emphasis on community land trusts and housing co-operatives.
• More content on improving quality and standard of homes, especially private rented and the suggestion of a public facing campaign for people in sub-standard private rented accommodation to get support.
• Lobby government to review Planning law and the impact of the value of land in viability negotiations, ensuring that affordable housing is delivered as agreed in planning applications.
• The need for a visible performance dashboard to show progress against target measures
• Change the title of the housing priority to include the word “affordable.”
• The role that the council could take in housing support for key public sector roles like teachers, NHS, social workers.
• Action to address stigma of living in social housing.
• Important to retain ownership of council assets and lease to registered providers.

Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth introduced Council Plan Priority 2 - Grow our economy

A strong economy underpinned everything the council wanted to achieve. It would increase wealth, create more opportunities for people, improve living standards, and boost funds for public services. The council would encourage growth, foster innovation, support businesses and help create new jobs. Reporting the difficulties that Dorset face and the current position and the intention of the priority to support the development of digital, infrastructure, business and skills to grow the economy of Dorset.

Members discussed the priority and made suggestions and recommendations for areas of the priority that could be developed:

• The difference in Dorset’s productivity in relation to its neighbours and the need for more granular explanation of Dorset’s productivity gap, including developing understanding on how many people of working age in Dorset are not economically active.
• Need to improve educational attainment in Dorset and should incorporate apprenticeships
• Instead of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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.