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.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 9 December 2025.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link: -

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of public questions is mid-day Wednesday 4 February 2026 (3 clear working days before the meeting).

The deadline for the submission of a statement is mid-day Monday 9 February 2026 (the working day before the meeting).

The deadline for the submission of a petition is Tuesday 27 January 2026 (10 working days before the meeting).

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

(a) Approve a £14.3m increase in the 2025/26 high needs budget. This brings the forecast expenditure to £71.8m more than the grant made available by government as part of the DSG.

(b) Request the Corporate Director of Children’s Services implement the deficit management measures outlined in this report.

RECOMMENDED that Council: -

(a) note the consultation report, summarising feedback from residents and stakeholders;

(b) adopt the Waste Strategy for BCP Council 2026-2036 including the additional wording for paragraphs 5.1 and 5.2 as recommended by the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

(c) approve the following service change to progress supporting actions set out in the Waste Strategy:

(i) removal of current separate kerbside battery collections where household batteries are collected in a clear bag placed on top of the kerbside recycling bin.

To consider the recommendations arising from the Cabinet meeting scheduled for 4 February 2026. The recommendations will be circulated as soon as practicably possible following the meeting of the Cabinet. A copy of the reports and appendices to the Cabinet have been published and are available on the Council’s website on the following link: https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=285&MId=6071&Ver=4

The Council is asked to consider and approve the review of the political balance of the Council, the allocation of seats on Committees to each political group, the appointment of Councillors on Committees and appointments to outside bodies following the political group changes.

This report is for information and provides the Council with updated details of various complaints received since the last report to Council against councillors which were upheld, but in addition, whereby the subject councillor has failed to comply with the remedies considered to be proportionate and appropriate by the Chair of and in consultation with members of the Standards Committee. 

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor M Howell and seconded by Councillor K Rampton.

APR1 Numberplate

That this Council resolves that the ownership of the Vehicle Registration number APR1, which used to be registered to the Poole Mayoral car, be transferred to the new Poole Town Council for zero consideration on the basis that it constitutes property of a historic nature relating to the Mayoralty of poole which should have been transferred to The Charter Trustees of Poole on the dissolution of the Borough of Poole.

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor P Cooper and seconded by Councillor P Canavan.

Live Traffic, Flooding and Infrastructure Resilience for BCP

This Council notes that during the recent aftermath of Storm Chandra, Dorset Council provided residents with a dedicated live traffic update service, offering real-time information on road closures, incidents and disruption. This proved vital for public safety, emergency response and travel planning during severe weather.

In contrast, BCP Council does not currently provide a comparable live or real-time traffic and road status page. Information available to residents is largely limited to planned roadworks or issue reporting, leaving no central, publicly accessible source of live information during emergencies.

Council further notes that recent flooding events across the BCP conurbation have caused significant disruption to residents, businesses and essential services. These events are not new or exceptional, and climate-related severe weather is increasingly frequent and predictable.

This Council is also concerned that sewer backflow and inadequate sewer network capacity during torrential rainfall continues to exacerbate flooding, property damage and public health risks. These issues are often insufficiently acknowledged or addressed within planning, infrastructure capacity assessments and development decisions.

This Council believes the absence of a live, coordinated traffic and road status system, alongside unresolved drainage and sewer capacity challenges, represents a serious gap in resilience and emergency preparedness.

This Council therefore resolves to:

1.      Ask Cabinet to set out the reasons why BCP Council does not currently provide a live, real-time traffic and road status service comparable to Dorset Council’s, including an assessment of costs, funding priorities and whether financial considerations alone justify the absence of such a service.

2.      Request that officers urgently explore the development of a publicly accessible, real-time system covering traffic disruption, flooding, road closures and emergency conditions across BCP.

3.     Call for a long-term, resilient approach that brings together all relevant agencies, stakeholders and partners including highways, emergency services, water and sewerage providers, planning authorities and neighbouring councils to address information sharing, sewer backflow, drainage capacity and infrastructure resilience during extreme weather.

4.     Require that sewer network capacity, flood risk and surface water management are explicitly and robustly addressed within planning policy and development decisions.

5.      Request a report back to Full Council setting out options, costs, responsibilities and timescales for delivery.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 2 February 2026.

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