Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr Clare Weight.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Cllr Bernadette Nanovo substituted for Cllr Weight on this occasion.

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.

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests on this occasion.

The Chair invited Committee Members to share any involvement they may have had with FuturePlaces and those who wished to, provided details accordingly.

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 midday on Thursday 18 September 2025 [midday 3 clear working days before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday on Tuesday 23 September 2025 [midday the working day before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a petition is Wednesday 10 September 2025 [10 working days before the meeting].

The following questions were received from Mr Alex McKinstry in relation to Agenda Item 6:

Question 1.

Using pdf pagination, pages 50-51 describe how a friendship was alleged to exist between Drew Mellor and the FuturePlaces strategic engagement director, both of whom are involved in a local rugby club; but at paragraph 3 1 28, "a former employee of FPL" is quoted, who states it was the chairing of the Poole BID by the person concerned that was thought to have impressed the FuturePlaces MD. For absolute clarity, was that "former employee of FPL" the strategic engagement director himself, or one of the executive directors of the company (and if so, which)? Can you also confirm whether the ex-MD of FuturePlaces has actually been asked why she recommended this person for the post of strategic engagement director in her email of 9 July 2021?

Response from the Chair: 

The former employee of FPL mentioned in the report was not the strategic engagement director or either of the executive directors.    The ex-MD has not been asked any questions in this part of the investigation - including why she appointed the strategic engagement director.    

It will be for the A&G committee to determine next steps, including whether any individual is asked for specific comments or is asked to respond to a specific question.   

Question 2.

When assessing the value of work to be transferred to BCP Council - for which, see pages 75-76 - did the fact that a significant amount of that work remained in draft have any effect on its value or its categorisation? (We know for instance that much of the Wessex Fields work remained in draft, as stated at the Overview and Scrutiny Board of 26 February 2024; while an FOI has shown that of the 27 reports commissioned for the Holes Bay site, 21 remained in draft, including an estate management plan and flood risk assessments.) Has any opinion been reached, moreover, as to why so much of FuturePlaces' work was being kept in draft form?

Response from the Chair:

It seems simply the case that for contributing work, plans, assessments and so on to an Outline Business case (OBC) or final report presented to the Council, then these were marked draft by FPL.   

In assessing the value of work to be purchased by the Council in the lead up to the closure of FPL all work was simply categorised as work in progress and each piece of work, plan or assessment was considered on a case by case basis as of use to the Council. 

Question 3.

Have the following documents, mentioned in tonight's report, been made available to the Committee (given that they're not included in the Part E appendices):

(Paragraph 3 1 6) MD & Head of HR emails discussing "offer" expectations, 11 June 2021;

(3 1 7 and 3 1 8) Emails concerning MD recruitment;

(3 1 17) MD suggesting individuals for the COO and strategic engagement director roles, 9 July  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

In relation to the confidential Appendix (Section F of the report)of the Agenda Item appearing below, should the Committee wish to discuss the content, it is asked to consider the following resolution: -

‘That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.’

The Chair advised the Committee that should they wish to discuss the contents of the confidential Section F to the report, then the Committee would need to move in to exempt session.

This report details Part A - BCP FuturePlaces Ltd investigation findings covering scope areas 1 to 4.

The Chair of A&G Committee has determined a second meeting will be arranged in October 2025 to receive Part B and final report, covering scope areas 5 to 8. 

Receiving the report over two meetings will allow the Committee sufficient time to digest and review the findings to determine next steps. It will also allow the investigator more time to conclude findings in scope areas 5 to 8.

At the conclusion of this investigation there may still be gaps in understanding, and the Committee may or may not decide that further investigation through other means is required.

The Chair set out some background to why this meeting was being held and the way she proposed to manage this item.  The Chair also highlighted that as this was an interim/draft report, no recommendations should be made at this meeting, but it was an opportunity to seek clarity and discuss whether further information was required when the final report was published.

Finally, the Chair suggested that members might choose to provide individual summary reflections at the conclusion of the next meeting, to offer varied perspectives to the public. Participation would be voluntary, and no judgement would be made on those who opted not to contribute.

The Head of Audit and Management Assurance (HAMA) presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report detailed Part A - BCP FuturePlaces Ltd investigation findings covering scope areas 1 to 4.

The Chair of A&G Committee had determined a second meeting would be arranged in October 2025 to receive Part B and final report, covering scope areas 5 to 8. 

Receiving the report over two meetings would allow the Committee sufficient time to digest and review the findings to determine next steps. It would also allow the investigator more time to conclude findings in scope areas 5 to 8.

It was highlighted in the report that at the conclusion of this investigation there may still be gaps in understanding, and the Committee may or may not decide that further investigation through other means was required.

The Committee discussed the report breaking down each section of the scope to consider them one at a time.

Scope 1. Timeline and key decisions:

1.1Produce the timeline of key decisions in respect of BCP Future Places Ltd (as per MO report to A&G Committee 20/3/25).

• The Chair suggested the timeline be used as a reference point throughout the meeting and as a basis for the closing discussion.
• There was an acknowledgement of the significant work by officers in compiling the timeline and some Committee Members advised they had cross checked links and reports and found them to be accurate and consistent.
• The Chair reiterated that the timeline can be added to during the discussion and used to support further lines of enquiry.
• A Committee Member requested the inclusion of the report of the Monitoring Officer (MO) to the Audit and Governance Committee on 20 March 2025 to the end of the timeline.

Actions highlighted for this item:

• Request HAMA add the MO’s report to the end of the timeline to demonstrate the action which had been taken by the Committee.

1.2Find and restate the motivations and considerations behind the decision to create a Urban Regeneration Company (URC) and the environment for decision making in which it was created.

• A concern and observation was made that the 'Big Plan' was never formally ratified at Full Council.
• Acknowledgement that the timeline  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.