Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mike Parkes (Dorset Council) and from Councillor Kieron Wilson (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council). Apologies were also received from Aiden Dunn (Executive Director (Corporate Development) and Section 151 Officer (Dorset Council).

Councillors are required to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and the Council's Code of Conduct regarding Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

Councillors are also required to disclose any other interests where a Councillor is a member of an external body or organisation where that membership involves a position of control or significant influence, including bodies to which the Council has made the appointment in line with the Council's Code of Conduct.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the SVPP Forward Plan.

The Joint Committee received a tabled and revised Forward Plan and scrutiny update for 2019/20. The Plan set out proposed future dates within the context within the context of the schedule of work for the Partnership Scrutiny Panel and recognising the requirement to report to particular Cabinet meetings of the respect Council Partners.

RESOLVED

That the SVPP Forward Plan and Scrutiny update be noted and that, in accordance with that Plan, future meetings of the Joint Committee be held on 25^th November 2019 at 2pm and on 16^th March 2020 at 2pm.

NOTE: In light of exempt information contained within the following report it will be necessary for the Joint Committee to conduct discussions in relation to the item without the presence of the press and public.

In relation to the item of business appearing below, the Joint Committee is asked to pass 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.’

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.

To consider the report.

The Joint Committee gave consideration to the appraisal of the three service delivery Options going forward with each Option assessed in detail against a range of criteria.

An update from the meeting of the SVPP Joint Scrutiny Panel, which had met on the previous day, was also provided. The Panel had particularly highlighted the need for additional information in some areas of the appraisals provided to them.

There was discussion about the decision making route recognising the important stages for involvement of the Partner Councils at both Cabinet and full Council level and taking account of the context of wider parallel service reviews already in progress across the Councils.

In considering the report, members of the Joint Committee underlined the importance of maintaining the positive dialogue between Partners as the process of assessing the options continued. Members were also supportive of the aspiration to achieve a resolution of options assessment stage as quickly as possible.

RESOLVED

(a)    That, following review and comment from Members, the Joint Committee note the options appraisal as presented to the Section 151 Officers on 10^th September 2019;

(b)  That members of the Stour Valley and Poole Partnership Joint Committee request that the final recommendations of the Section 151 Officers be presented to a future Joint Committee for further consideration and comment prior to presentation to each Council’s respective Cabinet;

(c)   That it be acknowledged that there was insufficient information in option 3 to consider the proposals;

(d)  That within the next three months, Business Cases and full Risk Assessments that are clearly balanced against each other and that recognise all potential costs (including customer impact and delivery risks) be prepared for each option.

[Voting : Unanimous]