Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Following a proposed action from the last meeting, the Chairman advised that the Renumerations Policy did not require committee approval. With that being noted, the minutes of 20 November 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 to report.

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 Kate.Critchel@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Wednesday 6 March 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 public questions.

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 Kate.Critchel@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk  8.30am on Wednesday 6 March 2024

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13 

There were no councillor questions.

To consider the Forward Plan.

The forward plan was received and noted.

To consider the report.

The Corporate Director - Commissioning and Partnerships presented the report and gave a summary of the commissioning activity during the last period. This included the progress made in recruitment and retention, Ofsted and key performance indicators, and pupil growth which was on track.

The Chairman welcomed the steady progress that was currently being made in line with the centre’s Business Plan.

The progress made to date was received and noted.

To consider the report.

There is a confidential Appendix A associated with this report which is set out below at item 11 in the agenda.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors presented the report which provided an update on the current situation at the Dorset Centre of Excellence (“the Company”) and the Coombe House School (“The School”).

The Managing Director of the Company confirmed that the school continued to work well.  Growth targets were on track and the school was approaching its biggest challenge in terms of numbers of staff and pupils in September.  The Leadership structure was continuing to develop to ensure that all needs were met and that the school would be ready for the September increase in pupil number.

He continued that the school council was now well established, allowing pupil voice to be more effectively captured and acted upon. Some of this feedback was also set out in the report for members information.

In terms of commercial activity, the community swimming was going from strength to strength with further sessions added.  Plans were underway for residential facilities, and this was set out in the exempt appendix “Business Plan”.

The Chair of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee reported on the progress of the Business Plan including developing greater clarity over certain elements between cost and income base. Good progress had also been made of the lease and commissioning agreement and the Company was performing ahead of its budget and business plan.

The Managing Director also reported on engagement feedback and data. In summarising, the Chairman of the Board took this opportunity to thank officers for the support that they provided to the Company.

Members welcomed the parent and carer feedback and the progress that was being made by the Company.

The contents of the report was received and noted.

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 report.

To consider passing the following recommendation:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in the item(s) below 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).

It was proposed by Cllr S Flower seconded by Cllr B Quayle

Decision

That the press and the public be excluded for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended)

Reason for taking the item in private Paragraph 3 – Information of the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Exempt Appendix associated with item 8 above “DcoE – Report of the Chair of the Board”.

The Managing Director of the Company set out the detail of the Business Plan and shared a short video of the school and some of its pupils. The committee asked questions of clarification and context.

Decision

That the 2024 Business Plan be agreed.