Agenda

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Please refer to the recommendations detailed in items 7 to 13 below.

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

1.      Approve a further £995k for design, planning and demolition of existing buildings;

2.      Approve the delegation to the Chief Operations Officer in conjunction with the Director of Finance and the Director of Law & Governance authority to enter a contract for demolition providing all key parameters (including delivery within approved capital budget) are met;

3.      Appropriate the site for housing purposes under section 19 of the Housing Act 1985; and

4.      Transfer the site to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) from the General fund at an appropriate certified value of the land.

Note - resolution 5 was a resolved matter by the Cabinet.

This is the annual report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer on Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) activity within BCP Council.  There is a requirement to report on the work of O&S to Council, to ensure good visibility of the function and Council ownership of activity and any improvements required.

The annual report contains a summary and analysis of O&S activity during 2023-24, reflections on working practices and an action plan identifying strategic improvements to the O&S function.

All O&S committees received the annual report for consideration, providing opportunity for comment prior to the supply of the final report to Council.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 7 October 2024.

Bournemouth Women’s Refuge

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor D Farr and seconded by Councillor H Allen: -

There has been no scrutiny of the decision to close Bournemouth's only Women’s Refuge for those fleeing abusive relationships.

We ask the decision be reversed and the council's policy on social care for vulnerable individuals escaping domestic violence must be fully scrutinised before committee.

Council Elections Voting System

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor J Salmon and seconded by Councillor Oliver Walters.

This Council believes that the current First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) electoral system used for local elections does not fully reflect the diverse political preferences of our electorate. We propose that the Leader of the Council contacts the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and requests that BCP Councils 2027 local elections are used as an opportunity to trial an alternative Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.

Background:

1. Electoral Fairness:
   • The FPTP system often results in disproportionate representation, where the distribution of seats does not accurately reflect the share of votes each party receives.
   • STV is a proportional representation system that aims to allocate seats more fairly, ensuring that the majority of votes contribute to the election outcome.
2. Voter Empowerment:
   • Under FPTP electors are frequently pressured to vote for candidates they do not favour out of fear of one they dislike even more being successful.
   • Under FPTP any votes cast for the candidate who is not successful are simply ignored.
   • STV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, reducing wasted votes and empowering voters to express nuanced preferences.
3. Encouraging Positive Campaigning:
   • FPTP can encourage negative campaigning as parties focus on winning narrow pluralities.
   • STV incentivizes positive campaigning, as candidates must seek not only first-choice votes but also second and third preferences from a broader electorate.
4. Successful Implementation Elsewhere:
   • STV is already successfully used in several other democracies and in various elections within the United Kingdom, such as the Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections in Scotland.

Proposal:

1. This Council instructs the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government requesting that legislation be passed to allow the trial of STV in the 2027 local elections noting that BCP Council would be happy to pilot STV.

Changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance and protecting pensioners from fuel poverty

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor P Broadhead and seconded by Councillor B Dove: -

Council Notes:

•       The Labour Government’s recent decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment to only pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits like Pension Credit, as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

•       The estimated impact of this decision, which in the BCP Council area alone could see 75,627 pensioners lose their fuel allowance, and which Age  ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

To consider any urgent decisions taken by the Chief Executive in accordance with the Constitution.