Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Cllr G Suttle was not able to be physically present, but was joining the meeting remotely in the knowledge that he would not form part of the quorum or be in a position to vote.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were signed and confirmed as a correct record.

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 chris.harrod@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Thursday 30 November 2023

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.   

No requests to participate had been received from members of the public.

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 chris.harrod@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk  8.30am on Thursday 30 November 2023.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13 

No questions had been received in advance of the meeting.

To consider the draft Forward Plan.

The Forward plan was noted.

To consider the report.

The Corporate Director for Commissioning - Market Relationships, Major Contracts and over 65's, introduced the report which provided Members with an overview of the commissioning activity undertaken by the Council since the previous update.

The Portfolio Holder for People – Adult Social Care, Health and Housing added that she believed that Care Dorset had exceeded all expectations so far and was very happy with the progress made. She further highlighted that Care Dorset would be taking part in a webinar in the coming weeks to give elected members the opportunity to understand its journey so far and how it interacted with the Council.

The Chairman explained that he was very pleased with the feedback that he had heard in relation to the operation of Care Dorset and agreed with the Portfolio Holder’s view that it was continuing to exceed expectations.

NOTED

To consider the report.

The Chair of the Independent Board of Directors introduced the report which provided a company update.

Officers responded to Members’ comments and requests for clarification, details included:

• Care Dorset managed significant risk given the nature of its regulated activity and the vulnerable nature of the individuals it supported. That said, the Interim Managing Director offered the assurance that there had been a 50% reduction of ‘red’ ratings, which had now moved to ‘amber’. There was an expectation that the overall risks would move to ‘amber’ before moving to green as time progressed.
• When translating the figure for ‘bed days’, this equated to estimated cost savings of approximately £1.7M to the Council and its health partners.

NOTED

To consider the report.

The Interim Managing Director, Care Dorset, introduced the report which summarised the performance of the company over the previous year.

Officers responded to Members’ comments and requests for clarification, details included:

• Referring to Para 22 within the report, it was clarified that ‘local firms’ meant firms operating within the county of Dorset, with the majority being based within the area that Dorset Council served.
• Care Dorset had an ambition to set up its own academy to focus on the training and retention of staff and was hoping to pursue this in 2024. It would also be launching apprenticeship scheme from January 2024 to provide its workforce with training and development opportunities to allow staff to progress with their careers. A Leadership programme would also be developed and would work with skills providers to utilise their programmes for Care Dorset staff. There was also an ambition for the Academy, once launched, to be open to other care providers as well. This this would all be referenced in the upcoming strategy due to be considered at a future meeting.
• To date, there hadn’t been much engagement with local communities in order to recruit staff from local areas, but this was something that Care Dorset was keen to do in the future and this engagement would also include providing outreach services and raising awareness of what Care Dorset could offer. This would also be featured in the upcoming strategy.
• There were challenges within the sector in terms of recruitment, but the pay and terms and conditions of work on offer from Care Dorset allowed it to be an attractive proposition. Care Dorset was aiming to work with schools and colleges to attract future staff and it was considered that with the right marketing Care Dorset would be able to attract and retain its staff.

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 was no urgent business.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following

item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within

meaning of paragraph(s) x of Part 1 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 is no exempt business scheduled for this meeting.

There was no exempt business.