Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Biggs.

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 confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2023.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 8 November 2023 were confirmed.

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 Joshua.kennedy@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Wednesday 31 January 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 Joshua.kennedy@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 08:30am on Wednesday 31 January 2024.

Constitution - Dorset Council – Procedure Rule 13.

There were no questions from members.

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 a report from the Service Manager for Archives and Records.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records presented the budget update report, which had been produced following on from the previous meeting of the board. The report recommended a standstill budget as had been previously outlined.

The board were also informed of an update on the Capital Project, with the Service Manager outlining that the Lottery Heritage Fund would consider a match funding contribution of 10% rather than the previously stated 40%, allowing for a new bid to be made. This contribution had been secured from Dorset Council and an approach would be made in the near future to the Heritage Fund.

The Service Manager also noted the success of the recent two-week closure period, which had allowed staff and volunteers and the Joint Archives Service to address the backlog of work. In response to a question from a member of the board, the Service Manager explained that there had not been any negative feedback from service users in regard to the closure period. Members indicated their approval for the closure period to become an annual event in the service’s calendar.

Members provided positive comments about the recent work by the service and the Capital Project update and expressed their support of the standstill budget that had been presented.

Decision: That the Joint Archives Board support the JAS’s 2024/25 draft budget for adoption by both funding councils.

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.

There was no exempt business.