Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Vice-Chair Cllr S Aitkenhead and Cllr Walters. Cllr F Rice joined online.

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 P Canavan substituted for Cllr S Aitkenhead and Cllr A Chapmanlaw substituted for Cllr O Walters.

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 declarations of interest made on this occasion.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 27 August 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 August were approved as a correct record.

To consider an Action Tracker for the Board – this will be updated and brought to the attention of the Board at each meeting to consider outstanding actions.

The action sheet was noted.

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 on Tuesday 17 September 2024 [mid-day 3 clear working days before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a statement is mid-day on Friday 20 September 2024 [mid-day the working day before the meeting].

The deadline for the submission of a petition is Friday 6 September 2024 [10 working days before the meeting].

Three public questions were received from local resident Mr McKinstry as follows:

Question 1

Apropos the report for Item 8, in particular paragraph 4(i): the £30 million target for capital receipts between 2023 and 2025. Can you confirm whether the following assets have been disposed of for capital-receipt-generating purposes, and if so, can you provide details of the sale prices and the net proceeds of sale?

The assets are:

Southbourne Crossroads car park;

"Waitrose" car park, Christchurch By-Pass;

27 High Street, Christchurch;

St Ambrose Cottage, Alumhurst Road;

The defunct toilets, Adastral Square, Canford Heath.

Can you also clarify whether the Council's land at Wessex Fields is being sold for anything less than its independent red book valuation?

Response

Sales values can only be confirmed once the final legal agreements have been completed. At this point in time each of the assets listed are at the following stages.

Southbourne Crossroads car park: Sold by way of an Agreement for Lease dated 23 February 2021. Completion anticipated November 2024.

"Waitrose" car park, Christchurch By-Pass: Head of Terms have been agreed with Christchurch Town Council. Completion anticipated in the Autumn 2024.

27 High Street, Christchurch: To be auctioned by Allsops on the 24 September 2024.

St Ambrose Cottage, Alumhurst Road: Currently being considered alongside the future of the adjoining site.

The defunct toilets, Adastral Square, Canford Heath: To be auctioned by Allsops on the 5 November 2024.

The disposal of Wessex Fields will not be sold for less than its independent red book valuation.

Question 2

Turning to paragraph 43 of the same report, "risks inherent in the financial position of the Council ... Legal Claims covering various matters such as planning". Can you provide details of any costs paid or payable to the appellants in the Highmoor Farm planning case, assuming those sums have now been determined?

Response

“The Council has not as yet received the costs application from the applicant despite them being awarded a partial award of costs at the appeal”

Question 3

Finally, has any legal claim been brought against this authority relating to the decision to close the Whitecliff Road entrance to Poole Park to motor vehicles, a decision passed by Cabinet on 22 May 2024?

Response

No legal claims to date have been received

The Board is asked to review and scrutinise the decision of the Cabinet taken on 4 September 2024 in relation to the item of business relating to ‘Pay and Reward Final Position’, following the receipt of a valid call-in request from the pre-requisite number of councillors.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Board must determine whether or not to offer any advice in relation to the decision. If advice is offered, Cabinet will be required to reconsider the decision in light of the advice but is not obliged to follow it.

The Monitoring Officer 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 Monitoring Officer advised that following receipt of a valid call-in request from three Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, the Board was asked to review and scrutinise the decision of the Cabinet taken on 4 September 2024 relating to the business item “Pay and Reward Final Position”

The Board was informed that the call-in request has been considered as valid, as there were reasonable grounds that the decision was not made in accordance with the decision-making principles set out at Article 12 of the Constitution and in particular Article 12.1 h "explain what options were considered and give the reasons for the decision”

The Board was invited to consider the process by which Cabinet made its decision as opposed to the content of the substantive decision itself.

To assist the Board a procedure for the call-in was circulated:

·       Opportunity for the Trade Unions to input

·       Councillor presentation of the Call-in

·       Response to the Call-in by the Cabinet

·       Summing up – 10 mins

·       Debate

·       Motions/Voting  

Following the Monitoring Officer’s introduction representatives of Trade Unions, Unite and GMB both addressed the Board and shared concerns around the call-in and the potential delay to the Pay and Reward Process and information on the union’s involvement with the Pay and Reward process up to this point.

The Lead Call-in member then went on to advise of their reasons for calling-in the decision and explained that the decision would impact almost 5000 members of staff and it was important to get this right for both staff and BCP residents. It was noted that there was a statement within the Cabinet report which made the assumption that there were no other options for the Cabinet to consider and therefore this did not allow the Cabinet to make a fully informed decision. The other members who had signed the call-in also made statements to the Board to explain their reasons for supporting the Call-in, a particular concern being that whether the information supplied to Cabinet was sufficient.

It was suggested by the Call-in members that the Board may wish to offer the following advice to Cabinet:

1. The OS board recommends that Cabinet reexamines its decision to agree the final negotiated position and financial costs associated with implementing pay and reward to consider:

a)    All options considered in formulating the final negotiated position;

b)    The short, medium and long term cost effectiveness of the final position, by comparison of all other options considered;

c)       If the annual incremental pay structure results in a structure that ensures colleagues are treated equally and fairly, and that colleagues doing the same work will receive equal pay.

2.     That following approval of Pay and Reward Cabinet requests, the Audit and Governance Committee to review the process used by the Council in formulating, negotiating and approving the pay  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Letters have been received from Rt Hon Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, setting out the government's wish to put in place devolution arrangements for the whole of England. The council has also received a pro forma from Government with a request to complete and return it by the end of September, indicating our preferences for a devolution deal to cover the BCP area.  As work on this is ongoing an update will be brought to the Board at the meeting for consideration and comment.

The Chief Executive gave a presentation to the Board, a copy of which appears as Appendix ‘B’ to these minutes in the Minute Book. In July 2024 the government asked local authorities across England to provide an expression of interest in potential devolution arrangements. The Board was advised of all the different geographical options which had been explored in relation to devolution proposals, the benefits and challenges for each if the proposals were outlined and the Board were advised of which of the proposals were possible to move forward. The Board was also advised of which benefits were most likely to come from the possible options and the progress which had been made in putting a response to the Government’s Pro Forma forward. There were a number of issues raised in the subsequent discussion, including:

Concern over the perceived view of government that bigger was better as this was not necessarily the case.

That there were a number of significant obstacles for the BCP only bid and if this was to the route the Council moved forward with, a strong case would need to be made for the BCP only option and the Council needed to clearly demonstrate how it would drive forward economic opportunities.

Concern around the issue of Elected Mayor or non-Mayoral routes. There were differences of opinion expressed around this issue. The main driving force was the idea of having someone who was directly elected and therefore directly accountable.

It was noted that there was previously a coastal partnership which included the BCP region and that BCP was clearly part of the south-central region.

It was also suggested that a BCP plus area would make geographical sense as transport links and economic links were shared – going out around the BCP region to areas such as Wareham, Ferndown and New Milton.

It was clarified that the point of this opportunity for devolution was to push powers downwards.

Joining with Dorset - varied views were given on the positives and negatives around this option. It was noted that it should present opportunities for improved transport links.

There were concerns expressed that BCP had already fallen down the queue in terms of consideration for devolution and there was a need to make a very strong case to ensure BCP was not left behind.

The Leader advised that they would take on board views and opinions expressed and reassured members that there would be an all-member session once there was further information available.

Additional Meeting

Due to the number of items remaining on the agenda and the time of the meeting so far the Cahir proposed and it was agreed to hold an additional meeting on 1^st October at 6.00pm to consider the remaining items below.

This report:

·       Aims to ensure the council continues to maintain a balanced 2025/26 budget forecast by considering the impact that changes to the previous assumptions will have on the underlying approved position and taking mitigating action where necessary. 

·       Present an update on the 22 May 2024 letter submitted by the Director of Finance to Department Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Department for Education (DfE) outlining concerns regarding the impact the deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is having on the financial sustainability of the Council.

Provides details of the council’s responses to the government’s consultation supporting the 30 October 2024 national Budget.

This item was opened and closed with a view to inclusion as an agenda item at a future meeting.

The Overview and Scrutiny Board will receive Budget Awareness presentations as part of the enhanced scrutiny engagement for the 2025/26 budget. The presentations will cover budget, pressures, assumed savings for those areas within the remit of the Board. The Board will have the opportunity to ask questions around the budget and is also asked to consider how it wishes to engage further with the development of the 2025/26 budget.

This item was opened and closed with a view to inclusion as an agenda item at a future meeting.

The O&S Board/ Committee is asked to confirm the establishment of a budget working group, including membership and key lines of enquiry, to undertake detailed scrutiny work to contribute to the developing 2025/26 council budget during September – November 2024.

This item was opened and closed with a view to inclusion as an agenda item at a future meeting.

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 will receive the annual report for consideration, providing opportunity for comment prior to the supply of the final report to Council.

This item was opened and closed with a view to inclusion as an agenda item at a future meeting.

The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Board is asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan.

This item was opened and closed with a view to inclusion as an agenda item at a future meeting.