Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Councillors D Butler, D Flagg, N Geary, L Lewis, L Northover, T Trent and K Wilson.

Councillors Decent and Filer were not in attendance at the meeting but joined remotely.  In accordance with the provisions of the relevant legislation these Councillors were not able to vote.

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.

The Chief Executive reported that the following dispensation had been granted to all affected BCP Councillors to enable them to participate fully and vote at this meeting.

A dispensation is granted to all Councillors who are owners, licensees and leaseholders of any beach hut in the BCP area under s 33 (2) (b) of the Localism Act 2011, to allow Councillors to participate and vote on matters relating to beach huts and which may come before Council on 22 February 2022. This dispensation is limited to this meeting only.

The Chief Executive reported that Councillors Mellor and Broadhead have been granted a dispensation in accordance with the relevant legislation by virtue of their directorships on companies.

The following declarations were made:

Councillors M Brooke, N Brooks and B Dunlop

• Councillor M Brooke, N Brooks and B Dunlop declared for transparency purposes an interest as a Board Member of BDC in respect of item 6f – Cabinet 9 February 2022 – Minute No 128 – Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2022/23

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 11 January 2022.

The minutes of the Ordinary Council meeting held on 11 January 2022 were confirmed.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

Civic Activities

The Chairman took the opportunity to refer to some of the engagements that he had attended since the last Council meeting as detailed below:

·       Planting of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee tree at Highcliffe Castle unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant, Mayor of Christchurch, Mayor of Bournemouth and Mayor of Poole.

·       High Sheriff’s Reception at the Dorset Museum Dorchester where we were introduced to the next High Sheriff, Mrs Sibyl Fine King

·       Visit to the ECO PARK Chapelgate

·       Visit to the New Earth Recycling Centre at Canford Arena

·       Visit to HomeStart South East Dorset at Kinson

·       Attended the North Bournemouth Crime Prevention Panel

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which 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 a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

The Chairman advised that a number of public issues had been submitted for the meeting:

A – Public Questions

Public Question from Nancy Curtis

Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this year, with events to take place in June.  Could the Council please advise what plans they have for celebrating this unique event across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, and how the community can get involved?

Reply from Councillor Beverley Dunlop, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Vibrant Places

Thank you to Mrs Curtis for her question and her perfect timing because today saw the first BCP press release to get us all in the mood to celebrate this remarkable occasion of Her Majesty's 70 years on the throne and highlight how residents can get involved.

The 4-day celebration culminates with The Big Lunch on Sunday 5^th June, and we are encouraging our residents to get together for street parties. National Thank you Day, where we say thank you to our communities is also being held on the same day and is hoping to break the record for Britain's biggest ever national party as part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.

Street parties are a fantastic opportunity to bring people together and say thank you to our neighbours and community after all we've been through over the last two years. It can be a small gathering, or you can go the Full Monty and have trestle tables right down the street, with a bit of entertainment. 

We are working with a variety of partners to encourage as many people as possible to join in and try our best to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to enjoy a party. And I encourage our hospitality sector to join in and host parties, too.

What we have done, is made it easy to apply to close your road and we are removing road closure charges for community street parties. But there is a deadline of April 22^nd to get your application in.

So, to anyone thinking of organising a party I say go for it, but don't forget your elderly neighbour, the struggling family, or the people you don't normally speak to. Lets all sit down, share some food, mix it up and make new friends.

And finally, to my fellow Councillors I say, you've all got parks so go organise a party!

Public Question from Chrissie Morris Brady (read out by the Deputy Head of Democratic Services)

Why isn't wood being used in new builds? It is sustainable and absorbs carbon. Wooden buildings are proven to have health benefits too.

Students learn better in a wooden building as heartrates lower, and so stress is less. This is the same for homes.

I learnt these facts from 39 Ways To Save The Planet 29 01 22 but I knew before.

Our current building materials contribute 8% of carbon emissions. It has to stop. 

Reply from Councillor Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Development, Growth and Regeneration  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141.

Please refer to the recommendations detailed below.

Item 6a – Cabinet 12 January 2022 – Minute 113 – Council Tax – Tax Base 2022/23

Councillor Mellor, Leader of the Council presented the report on the Tax Base 2022/23 as set out on the agenda and outlined the recommendations.  He explained that it was a technical requirement to approve the Tax Base in advance of setting the Council Tax. The recommendations presented a calculation of the tax base for Council tax setting purposes.  Councillor Broadhead seconded the proposal.

Voting – Unanimous.

The recommendations arising from the Cabinet on 12 January 2022 as set out on the agenda were carried.

Item 6b - Cabinet 12 January 2022 - Minute No 117 - Climate Action Annual Report 2020/21

Councillor Mike Greene, Cabinet Member for Transport and Sustainability presented the report on the Climate Action Annual Report 2020/21 and outlined the recommendations as set out on the agenda.  He asked the Council to receive the report as an update on activities to address the climate and ecological emergency for the period July 2020 to June 2021.  Councillor Greene explained that it had been an unusual year due to the pandemic and also a transitional one. He commented on the budget provision, the approach taken by the previous administration and the reinstatement of funding and increase in budget put in place by the current administration.  Councillor Greene referred to the significant disruption the removal on the budget had caused to the creation of a suitably sized team to tackle the problem.  Councillors were advised nevertheless that headline figures were encouraging showing the Council’s own emissions declining by 11% and area wide emissions reducing by 3.7% for the most recent year available.  Councillor Greene suggested caution before celebrating.  He explained that the area-wide data was the change from 2017 to 2018 before BCP Council was in existence as a local authority and whilst the true reduction in the Council’s own emissions was likely to prove greater than the 11% once contributions from leased out buildings was updated the impact of the pandemic was unknown.  Councillor Greene referred to the second recommendation which asked the Council to support the adoption of, ongoing development and delivery of the BCP Council Climate action plan. He explained that it was based on the draft plan agreed by the Council in 2019, which had been tweaked according to emerging guidance primarily from Friends of the Earth and the response to the extensive public engagement which was undertaken early in 2021.  Councillors were advised that the plan reflected a shift in priorities the largest possible reduction in emissions for the least possible cost to the Council taxpayer while still recognising the non-financial benefits of some actions.  Councillor Greene reported that the actions were divided into five themes with each of them having a cross party portfolio holder support group to help monitor and if necessary to modify the actions to ensure that the overall targets were met.  In addition, a rag status has been introduced for each action to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142.

This report advises Council of a decision by a member of BCP Council not to comply with the decision made as part of the standards committee complaints process.

The Council and all councillors are responsible for maintaining high standards of conduct by Members of BCP Council and the Town and Parish Councils. Failure to comply with such decisions reflects poorly on the council as a whole and undermines the standards regime.

Councillors were circulated with a copy of the report for information on the above which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report indicated that in order for this complaint to be drawn to a close it had been necessary to report that the subject councillor had not complied with the findings of the Standards Committee complaints process.

The Chairman reported that the process for dealing with complaints under the Member Code of Conduct was set out in the BCP Council Constitution to which all Councillors have signed up. Standards Committee has delegated authority from Council to implement this process. This report was to bring to Council’s attention that a Councillor has not complied with a decision made by the Chair of Standards in consultation, under the process. He explained that the report was before the Council for information only and not for debate.

The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 9 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor L-J Evans and seconded by Councillor Lesley Dedman:-

That BCP Council takes the opportunity provided by the Government’s Levelling Up paper to work to become a Marmot Community.

Notification has been received that the motion is also supported by Councillor Mark Howell.

Set out on the agenda was a motion proposed by Councillor L-J Evans and seconded by Councillor Dedman on becoming a Marmot Community.

The Chairman reported that Councillor Evans had notified that she wished to seek the Council’s consent to alter the wording of the motion in accordance with procedure 13.12 of Part 4D of the Constitution as follows:

“That BCP Council takes the opportunity provided by the Government’s Levelling Up paper to work to explore becomeing a Marmot Community.”

Council agreed to the above altered motion.

Councillor Evans presented the altered motion explaining that whilst BCP was a wonderful place it had marked disparities between areas from the highly affluent to some of the most deprived in England.  She explained that life expectancy was no longer increasing but had actually started to fall and this was much more apparent in lower income areas. In addition, Councillor Evans highlighted that there had been a decrease in the proportion of our lives that we can expect to live in good health with poorer people disproportionately affected.  Councillor Evans explained that action to reduce health inequality was not only morally correct but also benefits society as a whole.  Members were informed that reducing illness results in economic gains and reduced pressures on services.  Councillor Evans referred to the work of Sir Michael Marmot and the report he published in February 2020 which showed how health inequalities were driven by the so-called social determinants of health which included how children spend their early years, education, adequate housing, access to healthy environments and good jobs. She explained that after a decade of austerity the 10 year review showed that while there had been progress in some areas inequalities were actually widening and life expectancy was stalling.  Members were reminded that the Government had just published its levelling up white paper which provided a real opportunity to improve health and reduce inequalities in BCP.  Councillor Evans reported that one way to do this was by becoming a Marmot Community which was a region working across sectors to achieve six common goals as follows:

1.    Give every child the best start in life

2.    Enable everyone to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives

3.    Create fair employment and good work for all

4.    Ensure a healthy standard of living

5.    Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities

6.    The prevention of ill health

Councillor Evans reported that Councils who were given the status of a Marmot Community were those that provided evidence that the above principles were upheld through local policy and decision making and that improving health and reducing inequalities were at the centre of everything that they do.  She highlighted that it would take work, time and investment but that BCP Council was up to the challenge.  Councillor Dedman in seconding the motion provided background information on Professor Marmot and his work which was focussed on improving the health and life chances of people all over the world.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 144.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is 14 February 2022.

The Chairman advised that there were now only two questions to deal with.

Councillor Mark Anderson proposed that the answers to the questions be provided in writing.  The Chairman indicated that there was a request to hear the responses, so he asked that they be dealt with.

Question from Councillor Margaret Phipps

Both I and a resident asked questions at Council on 14th September last year about why a deliverability score had been increased facilitating £70,000 being given to a speculative lagoon project in Hurn, as bounce back grant, when the lagoon does not exist.

You replied to me: “The team were quite clear that this proposed grant, which was to fund a planning application, which already had match funding, was clearly deliverable.”

You replied to the resident:

“The Council’s ED team in their screening of the grant applications prior to the judging panel, saw that the grant request was actually only to bring the scheme to submitted planning application stage ……..”

By specific invitation you attended a Hurn Parish Council Meeting on 11^th October. Present were Hurn Parish Councillors, my co-Ward Cllr. Vanessa Ricketts and a room full of Hurn residents.

One resident asked - is the money time limited?  You replied – the money is to be spent by the end of March 2022.  “The developer seemed very serious, I will be surprised if it is not a good application”.

The perception and understanding of every single person I have spoken to, public and Councillors, is that taxpayers bounce back grant money was given to this non-existent operation to fund a planning application, by the due date – the end of March 2022.  I now have in writing from the BCP Economic Development Team that this is not the case, and the money was only for phase one - to fund feasibility, landscaping and architectural studies and meetings relating to these.  Therefore the £70,000 went straight into a planning consultant’s pocket to deliver a few reports, not a submitted application as you said.

Can the Portfolio Holder explain why he said in public on numerous occasions that the score was changed, and grant money was awarded, to fund a planning application by the deliverable date - when it wasn’t.   In fact, it was to pay a planning consultant for a few reports for a speculative development proposal.   Why did he mislead, this Council, Hurn Parish Council and residents?

Reply from Councillor Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Development, Growth and Regeneration    

This question has already been answered at the Audit and Governance Committee and previously versions at Full Council. At all stages to be clear, the government guidance and local scheme was followed completely. The recipients of this grant are delivering on what they proposed to deliver, and full monitoring is taking place in line with the conditions of the grant award.

Councillor Phipps indicated that that the above response did not answer the question she asked, and she reiterated the question  ...  view the full minutes text for item 145.

The Chief Executive to report on any decisions taken under urgency provisions in accordance with the Constitution.

The Chairman reported there were no urgent decisions to be reported.

The Chief Executive reported apologies from Councillor Vanessa Ricketts which had been missing earlier in the meeting.