Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To appoint a Chair for the Joint Archives Board – In accordance with the procedure rules set out in Article 11 Other Arangements.pdf of the Dorset Council Constitution, Cllr Andy Martin will be appointed as Chair of the Joint Archives Board until May 2026.

The BCP Portfolio Holder was entitled to Chair the Joint Archives Board as per the procedure rules, however Cllr Martin didn’t wish to be Chair at this time, so it was proposed that Cllr Hope be appointed Chair.

Proposed by Cllr Beddow and seconded by Cllr Florek.

Decision: That Cllr Hope be appointed as Chair of the Joint Archives Board, until either May 2026 or the BCP Portfolio Holder wishes to Chair the meeting again.

To appoint a Vice-Chair of the Joint Archives Board.

Proposed by Cllr Hope and seconded by Cllr Le Poidevin.

Decision: That Cllr Martin be appointed as Vice-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 made at the meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 05 February 2024.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 05 February 2024 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 08 November 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 Friday 08 November 2024.

Constitution - Dorset Council – Procedure Rule 13.

There were no questions from Councillors.

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

The Service Manager for Archives and Records provided a verbal summary of the report to the board. He listed the key points of the report including the work that had been achieved since the last Joint Archives Board meeting and the upcoming priorities for the service.

In response to members questions the Service Manager for Archives and Records provided the following replies:

·       Should the Capital Project not be completed, the options would have to be reevaluated, and third-party storage options would have to be explored, although that would be more costly in the long-term in comparison with expanding the current building.

·       The JAS’s contract with Ancestry.com would be up for renewal in 2025 and the service was currently deciding how best to re-negotiate the contract to ensure the best return for the service.

·       The current contract with Preservica was set to expire in June 2027 and leading up to that, alternative software providers would be considered in line with procurement rules.

·       The service has close relations with colleagues in the Russel Coates Museum and Poole Museum and the JAS has worked on cataloguing the collections of Bournemouth Borough Council and Borough of Poole in the past.

·       Work had been done to contact the Jewish community in Bournemouth to support the cataloguing of their collection, which was currently not recorded.

Proposed by Cllr Beddow and seconded by Cllr Florek.

Decision:

1.    The Joint Archives Board 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.    The Joint Archives Board 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.    The Joint Archives Board noted the commitment by Dorset Council to £540k of capital match funding to support a renewed bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2025.

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

The Service Manager for Archives and Records presented the report for the proposed fees and charges for 2025/26. It was explained that the service had benchmarked their fees and charges against other services of a similar size and location, in order to ensure that they were fair for users and also that the service was maximising potential income. Dorset Council had recommended an increase of 2.5% on fees and charges overall and the service had generally followed that advice.

Members were in agreement that a small uplift in some of the charges were appropriate and expressed that the charges in general were fairly modest.

Proposed by Cllr Dedman and seconded by Cllr Beddow.

Decision: That the revised fees and charges as set out in the report be recommended to the executive bodies of the two funding councils for implementation from 1 April 2025.

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

The Service Manager for Archives and Records presented the budget monitoring report to the board. It was noted that the service had worked on a standstill budget for 8 out of the last 10 years and that generally the service had worked to increase external income. It had been calculated that an uplift of approximately £16,000 was needed to the service’s budget to maintain current levels, mainly due to rising costs of staff and energy.

Members agreed that it was important to fund the JAS so that it could continue to provide the same levels of service.

Proposed by Cllr Dedman and seconded by Cllr Hope.

Decision: That the Joint Archives Board reccomend the budget uplift from each council as detailed in the draft budget proposals for 2025/26.

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 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.