Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

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 last meeting held on 16 January 2023.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 16 January 2023 were confirmed and signed.

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 Friday 3 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.    

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 Joshua.kennedy@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on Friday, 3 November 2023.

Constitution - Dorset Council – 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 a report from the Service Manager for Archives and Records and the Service Manager (Finance).

The Joint Archives Service Budget for 2024/25 was presented by the Service Manager for Archives and Records. He explained that the current budget of £613,107 would be retained for 2024/25 and that there would be a requirement to reduce outgoings by £50,000 to adhere to this budget. The cost saving would come primarily from the removal of a job position following the upcoming retirement of the Officer Manager. The duties of the Officer Manager would then be distributed among other areas to cover the work with buildings-related functions largely transferring to DC’s Effective Property Management team. The Board were also informed that this was the 8^th standstill budget in 10 years.

The Corporate Director Customer and Business Delivery, BCP Council delivered a verbal update on the budgetary position for BCP Council. He noted that it was in a similar position to Dorset Council, with heavy budgetary pressures and that it was necessary to support the standstill budget for the Joint Archives Service.

In response to a question from a member, the Service Manager for Archives and Records stated that, although it would be difficult to manage the workload of the Officer Manager after the post is removed, it would not have a detrimental impact on the services provided or the users of the service.

The board were supportive of the 2024/25 budget proposal and commended the Joint Archives Service for adhering to another standstill budget.

Proposed by Cllr Dedman and seconded by Cllr Biggs.

Decision: That the proposed budget for 2024/25 and savings as detailed in the report be approved.

To consider a report by the Service Manager for Archives and Records.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records provided a verbal update on the Capital Project. Due to the service coming close to reaching its capacity, there is a need for further storage. It was determined that the most cost-effective solution was to extend the History Centre to create more space for storing archives and that an application would be made to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to secure partial funding for this project.

It was explained that in order to receive funding from the Lottery, that match funding would have to be approved by Cabinet in their January meeting. If this were unsuccessful then an alternative solution would be required.

Members expressed support for the Capital Project and hoped that funding would be approved by Cabinet in January, so that an application for Lottery funding could be made. This was likely to take the form of a commercial storage provider.  A revenue budget would be required in order to fund an expanding quantity of material held off-site.

The board noted the Capital Project update.

To consider a report from the Service Manager for Archives and Records.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records presented the Development Plan (2021-26) Monitoring Report. He highlighted the key points from the report, including the need to improve acquiring records from both BCP and Dorset Council.

Several members expressed concern over the current issues the Joint Archives Service was facing in acquiring records and it was determined that an update on this matter would be provided at the next Joint Archives Board meeting.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records also highlighted the proposed period of closure that would take place in January for two weeks, to allow the Service staff to carry out important work that they are unable to do when the History Centre is open to the public.

Members were supportive of the idea of a small closure period to allow the staff to carry out important work, in order to improve the Service and would monitor the success of the closure period.

Proposed by Cllr Le Poidevin and seconded by Cllr Dedman.

Decision: That the Board:

1.    Endorsed the implementation of the 2021-2026 service plan appended to this report as demonstrating the quality, variety and value for money provided by the JAS;

2.    Supported the JAS's ongoing work to ensure the safe and effective transfer of appropriate physical and digital records from both BCP and Dorset Councils to ensure the preservation of the corporate memory and to deliver council efficiencies.

3.    Approved a two-week closure period for the JAS in January 2024 to allow for important collections-related work to take place.

To consider a report by the Service Manager for Archives and Records.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records presented the proposed fees and charges for the Joint Archives Service to take effect 1 April 2024. It was explained that the fees and charges were set to increase broadly inline with the Dorset Council recommendation of 5% and some charges had increased more or less, where appropriate.

In response to a question from a member, the Service Manager stated that there had not been public consultation with users of the JAS, however many members of the public were happy to pay for the service.

Proposed by Cllr Beddow and seconded by Cllr Le Poidevin.

Decision: That the revised fees and charges be recommended to the executive bodies of the two funding councils for implementation from 1 April 2024.

To consider a report from the Service Manager for Archives and Records.

The Service Manager for Archives and Records provided a verbal update on the review of JAS policies. He explained that the policies had last been reviewed 6 years ago and small changes had been made where necessary. The policies were designed with keeping them free of too much technical language and were intended to be intuitive.

Several members of the Board commended the use of clear and plain language within the policies and the fact they were easily accessible. The Service Manager also confirmed that the policies had been approved by a Dorset Council Equalities Officer.

The Board endorsed the policies as set out within the report.

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.