Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr C Weight and Cllr L Dedman.

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 B Nanovo substituted for Cllr C Weight

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 minutes of the meeting held on 8 December were approved as a correct record.

To note the latest updates to the recommendation tracker.

The recommendation tracker was noted. The Chair asked the Leader to follow up on two outstanding recommendations.

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 3 clear working days before the meeting – Monday 29 December 2025.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting – Friday 2 January 2026.

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

There were no public petitions or questions. There was one public statement received from Ms Susan Stockwell. Ms Stockwell was not present at the meeting and the statement, as follows, was read out on her behalf:

The workload of this Board could usefully include consideration of the impact of licensing strip clubs on council functions including but not limited to regeneration and community safety and the capacity for those departments to properly lodge objections. In addition please consider adding a general review of the "Estates" function including but not limited to maintenance, fund seeking, planning and other statutory compliance and availability of standard responses to commercial enquiries as part of the conveyancing/letting/licensing process. 

http://ced-pri-cms-02.ced.local/documents/s62507/Corporate%20Performance%20Report%20-%20Q2.pdf

The Board noted the circulation of this document for information

This report seeks to update on the regeneration ambition and strategy for the priority regeneration programme which includes the Former Power Station site at Holes Bay, Poole Dolphin Leisure Centre, Bournemouth Development Company and Boscombe Towns Fund projects. These projects were identified as strategic regeneration priorities on dissolution of Future Places. The report also provides a progress update on the property assets which formed part of the transfer to in-house activities on 1 November 2023.

The Leader and the Director of Investment and Development 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 Board was advised that the report provided an update on the regeneration ambition and strategy for the priority regeneration programme which includes the Former Power Station site at Holes Bay, Poole Dolphin Leisure Centre, Bournemouth Development Company and Boscombe Towns Fund projects. These projects were identified as strategic regeneration priorities on dissolution of Future Places. The report also provides a progress update on the property assets which formed part of the transfer to in-house activities on 1 November 2023. The Board raised a number of issues in discussions on this item including:

• Asylum seeker housing & Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) - Whether this could help unlock difficult to develop sites, with long?term transfer to the HRA. It was confirmed that the Council had previous success in Rounds 1–3, including 16 homes and 8 new builds) and that Round 4 was underway. However, new build grants remained insufficient to make complex sites viable without additional subsidy.
• Boscombe Towns Fund – The Board asked about the membership, leadership and minutes of the Boscombe Towns Fund Board. The Board was advised that the external Better Boscombe site and the Council website would be updated so information was up to date, clear and consistent.
• Future scrutiny of regeneration – A number of questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting, seeking deeper scrutiny both strategically and on project governance. Alongside this the Board was urged to consider when and how the Board would scrutinise major schemes, rather than relying on pre-Cabinet scrutiny.
• Winter Gardens – It was suggested that this may reach decision?making earliest and could benefit from O&S input. An initial session on market conditions and viability to ground future scrutiny was proposed.
• The Growth Plan – The Board considered scrutiny of the BCP Growth Plan which was due to be adopted later in the year as the core strategic framework, with clearer objectives, timelines, and delivery plan, rather than jumping straight to site?by?site items. The need for structured work?programming taking account of this was affirmed. It was explained that the Growth Plan would set out a coherent investment menu across sites.
• Density, design and safety/viability – A suggestion was made for a workshop on density scenarios and urban design, including how higher density could deliver more affordable housing, and how Building Safety Act changes effected viability and built form.
• Affordable housing - The Board sought clarity on the definition of affordable housing, tenure/mix, and safeguards to ensure homes remain genuinely affordable and suitable for local needs.
• Commercial governance – It was suggested that there was a need for stronger contract scrutiny (including confidential material) to avoid mistakes. The Leader highlighted Cabinet’s collective decision?making and welcomed lessons learned from the Audit & Governance (A&G) Committee. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

To consider a verbal update on the work which has been undertaken to gather information on parking issues around schools and the different types of actions which have been undertaken to respond to these issues.

The Chair advised that most of the rapporteur work on parking around schools had now been completed and this was being brought as an update to the Board on the work which had been undertaken, this was mostly through Cllr A Chapmanlaw, who was originally designated as rapporteur but who had now handed this over to Cllr S Mackrow who presented the update to the Board members.

The update included information on operational enforcement, including resources and limitations for Civil Enforcement Officers and that there were currently areas near 3 schools with CCTV enforcement. The Board was also advised about the roll out of school streets for several schools and improved crossing and changes to parking restrictions at some school sites. Other initiatives to improve the issue included educational initiatives in conjunction with Walk/Wheel/Cycle to encourage park and stride, parents parking promises and school travel plans. The Board was asked to share their views on the progression of this issue. A number of issues were raised by the Board included:

·       Invitees - Members proposed inviting parking enforcement officers, school leaders, parent governors, and potentially if possible nearby residents to ensure a balanced view on issues such as child safety, local amenity, and practicalities for parking schemes.

·       Parking Enforcement Focused lens - The Board was reminded that this topic originated under the parking enforcement remit and whilst this necessarily encompassed related active travel/schools issues the focus needed to remain on parking compliance and enforcement.

·       Nursery settings – The Board considered nursery/pre-school drop?off risks; officers should consider how enforcement and education could be adapted for these settings.

·       Practical enforcement improvements - specific operational changes were suggested such as arrival times of CEOs and deployment patterns that might improve compliance and culture while other measures are implemented such as school Streets roll out over time. Cllr F Rice undertook to work with Cllr Mackrow as rapporteur to address these issues prior to the next meeting.

·       Equalities and pavement parking – A Councillor stressed the impact of vehicles blocking pavements on wheelchair users and families. The Board would seek clarity on legal powers for immediate tickets on marked restrictions vs observation periods on double yellow line

·       School participation - The Board enquired as to whether schools had targets/metrics for mode shift and whether the Council can share best practice, celebrate successes, and support peer learning between schools.

It was agreed that Cllr S Mackrow as rapporteur supported by Cllr Rice would follow up with officers the issues raised in the meeting and preparations for the issue to come back to a future meeting would be discussed with the Chair and rapporteurs.

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

The Chair presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Board was asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan.

The Chair reviewed the work plan and confirmed that the next meeting would focus on Council Budget setting, with a resident impact focused which would see senior officers incited to the meeting to provide responses.

The meeting on 23 February was due to consider Parking Around Schools (full item per actions above) and the annual scrutiny of the Community Safety Partnership which had been rescheduled to ensure external partners could attend. The March meeting did not currently have any scheduled items and it was suggested that items on Parking Strategy and Business Improvement Districts could be scheduled for this meeting

Members were reminded of the Local Plan briefing on Monday 26 January at 5:00 pm.

RESOLVED that the work plan be amended as detailed above.

Voting: Nem. Con.