Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2026.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2026 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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.

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 10 June 2026.

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 [email protected]  by 8.30am on 10 June 2026.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from councillors.

To note the shareholder committee terms of reference.

The terms of reference for the shareholder committee were noted.

To consider the Forward Plan.

The Forward Plan was noted. Following recent changes to Cabinet member titles, these would be checked and updated on the forward plan.

To consider a report of the Head of Service – Health, Education and SEND Commissioning.

The shareholder committee received a report of the Head of Service – Health, Education and SEND Commissioning, which provided an overview of the position in relation to delivery by the Dorset Centre of Excellence (DCoE) against the commissioning agreement.

In response to a question regarding attendance levels, it was noted that attendance was at a good level in terms of expectations for specialist schools. Whilst it was difficult to make comparisons with attendance levels in mainstream schools, there was confidence that attendance at Coombe House School was moving in the right direction.

The report was NOTED.

To consider a report of the Chair of the Board.

The Chair of the Board introduced 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 report included progress made in relation to governance, leadership, staffing, estate, community use and finance.

Councillors considered the areas covered by the report and during discussion, points were raised in the following areas:

·       In respect of attendance levels, it was acknowledged that some children found going to school challenging. The school was supporting those children affected and it was felt that the attendance profile was good at the present time

·       A discussion was held on the transition of some pupils to post-16 mainstream education. There were no key performance indicators in this area as it was about ensuring that pupils took the next steps that were right for their requirement. In some cases, children were moving back to education provision closer to their home/community

·       Recent activities included a successful residential trip to Hooke Court and a farm open day

·       Progress was being made in the implementation of Government guidance on the use of mobile phones in school and in respect of the use of reasonable force

·       The Company was ready to be an effective partner with Dorset Council in respect of the requirements of the 2026 schools’ white paper

·       The Coombe House farm was run as a therapeutic farm, which offered both learning facilities beyond the classroom setting and had a wider community impact, demonstrated by the good community turnout at the recent farm open day.

The report was NOTED.

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 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 12 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).

It was proposed by R Biggs seconded by C Sutton

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 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

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).

To consider an exempt report.

The shareholder committee considered an exempt report regarding future site options.

Responses were provided to questions and comments raised. The shareholder committee requested that a report be brought to Cabinet on 28 July 2026 to progress consideration of the issues. As part of this, the wording of a recommendation to Cabinet was proposed by N Ireland seconded by R Biggs and agreed by the shareholder committee.