Agenda item

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 17 March 2025.

Question from Councillor Mark Howell

Does the Council have in place robust policies that prohibit the deliberate deletion of e-mails by officers and technical measures that maintain the integrity of data within officer email accounts so that emails cannot disappear. 

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Millie Earl on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Resources and Governance, Councillor Jeff Hanna

Technical measures have been implemented to maintain the integrity of data within Officer and Member official mailboxes, ensuring that emails cannot disappear. This includes archiving all Council emails, which makes them available for five years, regardless of whether they have been deleted from an individual’s mailbox or if the individual leaves the organisation.

Supplementary question from Councillor Mark Howell

Just to say, so that you agree that it shouldn’t be possible for emails to disappear and not be locatable.

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Millie Earl on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Resources and Governance, Councillor Jeff Hanna

I don’t think it’s a matter of opinion I think it is a matter of fact, that that is the way that the system works that it archives the information and makes it available for access from throughout the council systems. It doesn’t allow them to disappear forever.

Question from Councillor Philip Broadhead (at the Chairs discretion the question was read out by Councillor John Beesley in Councillor Broadheads absence)

While remote working has its place and can sometimes help to balance work and family life, there's equally a growing body of evidence that for many roles, productivity is greatest when people work from the office. This is especially important in many Council roles, particularly those involving interactions with our residents.  

Lib Dem-run Somerset Council recently admitted that they have five staff members based overseas including, inexplicably, two working in social care.  

Can the Cabinet Member confirm if BCP has any staff members working from overseas? Additionally, can you confirm what rough percentage of staff are not based in the office full time? Finally, can you confirm how many staff are not required to come into the office or equivalent place of work at all (and are therefore fully home-based)? 

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Millie Earl on behalf of the Portfolio Holder for Transformation, Resources and Governance, Councillor Jeff Hanna

Our records show that there aren’t any BCP Council colleagues with a non-UK address.  We do know that both colleagues and councillors may carry out work from time to time whilst abroad and this can be as little as accessing e mails whilst on holiday. We have, however, received a sporadic number of requests from colleagues wishing to work abroad temporarily which was particularly heightened around the time of COVID and I believe that some requests have been agreed subject to certain conditions, only on a temporary basis for specific personal reasons. 

Our 2023 staff engagement survey had 2,504 responses which is a 52% response rate. We know that the majority of those responding are in office/desk based roles. Of those who responded 70% said that they worked in a hybrid way with a range of colleagues working remotely for different proportions of time.  

None of our colleagues (unless agreed through a reasonable adjustment resulting from a disability) are considered as fully home based.  All colleagues are required to attend one of the Council sites as required to either meet with their manager/teams as needed. 

This data set will be updated shortly as in April we will release our full 2025 engagement survey where we will seek the same information. 

Question from Councillor Tony Trent

“ Last year, following some concerns expressed by local people and organisations, Poole Charter Trustees, and certain Charter Trustees in particular, put a lot of time and effort to make sure the Town adequately marked the 80^th Anniversary of D-Day – in which Poole played an important part as one of the three big embarkation ports. Thankfully Christchurch Town Council was able to share the National guidelines for this anniversary, which I believe did not reach BCP, and we were able to mark the event in a proper way. We were told last Autumn that following the opinion of a Kings Counsel, who looked into the rights and roles of Charter Trustees, such matters are is not within the remit of Charter Trustees to organize or finance events that are not directly linked to the Town’s Mayoralty, and we are told these remembrance events are the responsibility of BCP rather than the Charter Trusts. 

With that in mind, and following representations made to individual Charter Trustees and the Mayor of Poole from key organisations, what are the plans in place by BCP, involving the constituent towns, to mark the 80^th Anniversary of VE Day in May, and VJ Day in August. These are two important and significant events, and probably the last landmark anniversary for which there will be those who went through it as adults and participants, will be around to celebrate the ending of these historic wars. 

I want to draw particular attention to the second of these events, VJ Day, as it was a Poole Councillor, who sadly died in Civic Office, who served in the Far East, and was a key part of the campaign to remember those who served in the Far East, and not just those who served in Europe. He was instrumental in the campaign that led ultimately to the Burma Star Memorial in Poole Park. 

I appreciate that there are issues with funding anything extra through BCP Council, with the enormous pressures on its finances from statutory services, but I believe that we should make sure that we mark this important anniversary year in a manner which befits it’s significance. To help this situation, knowing that the two Charter Trusts cannot step in without it being declared ultra vires, could we look into the possibilities that some of the unspent Ward Improvement Fund monies from around BCP could be used as and where required to ensure we mark these important anniversaries properly?” 

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure and Commercial Operations, Councillor Richard Herrett

BCP Council are arranging a Beacon Lighting outside the Civic Centre for VE day on 8 May.  We are aware that Christchurch Town Council are putting an event on at Christchurch Quay.  

We have had discussions with voluntary groups to understand if any of the community are planning any events across other areas for either anniversary and we will support organisers should any applications come in.   

The government have issued street party guidance to councils, and we have had approximately 20 applications from communities across BCP.  Due to the lead time that deadline has already passed. 

The respective civic mayor’s will be advised of events being held by community groups, organisations and residents within their areas. 

If any formal commemorative events are held by local branches of the Royal British Legion, the Mayor will be represented accordingly. 

 BCP Council received an invitation to attend a VE Day commemorative event in Cherbourg and the current Mayor and Sheriff of Poole will be attending in their dual-hatted capacity.  

There may be opportunities for prospective town and parish councils to hold commemorative events, specific to their communities in the future.  

As the local authority, the BCP wide event, will be held at the BCP civic centre, for which invites will be going out to the appropriate people in due course. 

Supplementary question from Councillor Tony Trent 

Is there anything specifically for VE day planned for Poole as it is quite a significant part as it is the British Legion in Poole have been some of the most vocal people in it, and also VJ day especially as Poole has got the Burma memorial.

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure and Commercial Operations, Councillor Richard Herrett

Due to the restraints around the Charter Trustees and the Local Authority if you would like to organise an event in Poole you are welcome to do so but we are not in a position to fund that at this point, but the events team remain ever supportive and I am sure will be helpful.

Question from Councillor Sara Armstrong

"Can the leader of the Council provide an update on the position concerning the East Cliff and Springbourne Neighbourhood Plan following the threat of an application for judicial review made by Andrew Emery (an ex-employee of BCP council) at a cabinet?meeting on 10th December last year. Can she also clarify why two BCP consultation flyers for a Neighbourhood Plan area, devoted only to the East Cliff area were placed on a lamp post on Manor Road, this month as part of the council's consultation process, without an accompanying flyer relating to the much more representative and inclusive East Cliff and Springbourne application?? 

Residents are clearly confused about these two competing applications, and promoting just one of these applications is adding to that confusion and exclusion."? 

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Millie Earl

The East Cliff & Springbourne Neighbourhood Forum and Area Designation Consultation closes on 7 April 2025. The Council will consider the representations received and a report will be brought to Cabinet later this year.    

In respect to the question about flyers, in addition to publishing the proposed designations for both East Cliff and East Cliff & Springbourne on the council’s website, the local planning authority can choose other methods of bringing the consultations to the attention of people who live, work or carry on business in the proposed neighbourhood areas. Posters have been displayed in approximately 28 public locations carefully chosen across both areas to highlight that there are two consultations, and directing people to view the application documents and complete the survey via the dedicated Haveyoursay webpage.  In terms of Manor Road, East Cliff & Springbourne posters were put up in two locations in Manor Road (junction with East Overcliff Drive) and at the junction with Grove Road.  East Cliff posters were put up in Manor Road (junction with Derby Road).

Question from Councillor Toby Slade

Desmond Tutu said "There comes a time when we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in." 

Effective communication is fundamental to the success of any organisation, whether in the private or public sector. Clear, timely, and responsive communication creates trust, ensures accountability, and improves outcomes for residents. However, communication within this authority is falling short and I am not the first to raise this. On many occasions, my emails and communications to Officers and Directors have gone unanswered, and I know from speaking to residents that they have, and do, experience the same. At a recent Children’s Overview & Scrutiny meeting, I learned that poor communication was the number one complaint from families engaging with council services. 

Why is communication across this council—at all levels—so poor?  

What is being done to address this failing? 

Residents, councillors, and businesses deserve clear, timely, and responsive engagement from their local authority, and something needs to change.  

Will this authority commit to a review and practical and tangible actions to improve communication across the authority? 

I take this opportunity to acknowledge Democratic Services collectively their responsiveness sets an example that should be followed across the organisation. 

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture, Councillor Andy Martin

Thank you for your question, Cllr Slade, the interesting cultural reference and your perspective on the importance of communication.  

After spending the last 40 years in regional news and magazine publishing and the past 14 also in the national and international military strategic communications environment I completely agree with you about the critical nature of communication. 

However, I do not accept your premise that communication within the BCP Council is poor. 

Personally, I cannot recall any time where I have not had a response from an officer, senior or otherwise on anything I have raised in the past 2 and a half years since being elected. 

Officers have been instructed and reminded to engage with ward members whenever issues are raised affecting a specific ward issue - I have always found them to be helpful and responsive. 

Cllrs can also use the cllr.enquiry email if they are not getting as fast a response as they wish. 

I have used this on occasion and always had a good and timely response, usually within 48 hours. 

BCP Council is of course a big and complex organisation. Some enquiries contain questions that go across multiple service areas or require the input of several officers.  

This can cause delay and complexity and sometimes uncertainty as to who is collating a response. 

Your question seems to be based on your experience as a new member and on some unspecified generic comments from residents. 

I offer my own example from last Thursday around a long running planning problem in Highcliffe and Walkford.  

The ongoing communications from the planning officer prompted this response from a large group of residents. 

“Thank you again for all your amazing work. We really appreciate this.” 

We have a highly skilled communications team who manage our corporate and community comms with great professionalism.  

I can also tell you personally that working across a number of newspapers and websites currently and in the past, they rank very highly. 

I would be very happy to provide you with a detailed data analytics breakdown of their press and social media activity in the past few months. 

On the Children’s reference yes it was around communication and updating as to where assessments were.  

We have seen an improvement in that element. 

The main issue has been more recently is around EHCP provision, not communication.  

More generally…. 

Thousands of residents and stakeholders are successfully communicated and interacted with every week. 

In terms of customer, our contact centre telephony which is used more widely than corporate customer services alone is 2,660 daily - but that is just phone calls not emails or direct calls to officers. 

The customer experience in terms of service and comms is constantly under review. A really good example is Blue Badge, where we are down to 6 weeks. 

We are currently drafting a customer charter as part of the Customer and Digital Strategy. 

Trust, truth, openness, and transparency in communication are also critical and I mention that in the context of the administration that ran this council from October 2020-May 2023. 

Finally, I have my own cultural reference from the legendary CNN anchor Larry King who said. 

“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” 

So, in that spirit and the vast nature of communications, I will be sure to share your observations and will be very happy to meet with you to discuss particular concerns, examples and ideas.

Supplementary Question from Councillor Toby Slade

The question has been answered but would have been would you afford me the time to show you the three emails to Directors that haven’t been replied to and at least four from officers that haven’t been replied to in probably the last two weeks?

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture, Councillor Andy Martin

I am happy to meet and go through those with you.

 

Councillors Matthew Gillet, Crispin Goodall and Gavin Wright left the meeting at 11.38pm

 

Question from Councillor Joe Salmon

Given that the most important group to get cycling—and to reduce car usage on the school run—is children travelling to school, why is the council not doing more to support this by working directly with schools to identify key routes for bike buses and prioritising cycling improvements along these routes??? 

The council has access to school admissions data, road traffic collision statistics, and tools like the Propensity to Cycle Tool. Could this data not be used— in collaboration with schools—to determine the best and safest routes for children to cycle? If bureaucratic barriers such as GDPR concerns are preventing this, what solutions could be explored to overcome them??? 

A more joined-up approach, where the council works with schools and parent groups to plan infrastructure improvements in tandem with identified routes, would provide targeted support for children cycling to school. Why isn’t the council adopting this approach instead of building new cycle lanes seemingly at random. The council must do better on this urgent issue where progress is happening far too slowly. 

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure and Commercial Operations, Councillor Richard Herrett

The Council is already working with most of our 98 schools to identify and break down the barriers that prevent school children and their parents from walking, scooting and cycling to school.  Just this month the council coordinated an engagement session at Christchurch Junior School to listen to the views of children, parents and residents that live in the vicinity of the schools in that area.  Coincidentally this school has a volunteer-led Bike Bus.  

The council has a long track record of working with schools to identify infrastructure to help enable active travel to and from them, including the installation of crossing facilities, removal of physical barriers, and path improvements as well as funding facilities within the schools themselves to securely store scooters and bicycles.  More recently the council has also been rolling out a successful programme of School Streets which encourages and enables more children to walk, scoot and cycle to school. 

The council has a STEPS programme which teaches school children at the kerbside how to walk to and from school more safely.  The council also provides Bikeability training so that children can learn to ride a bike competently on the roads, and through our Bike It programme has even provided refurbished bicycles to school children that due to personal circumstances could not afford one.   

Regarding the analysis of data.  The Sustainable Travel Team work with the schools to postcode plot where pupils are travelling from, in order to help plan routes to schools identifying where improvements are needed.  This data is used to help inform where resource is best placed to increase sustainable travel to schools.  Officers also make frequent use of road collision data and the Propensity to Cycle Tool to help focus our limited funding where it is likely to have the biggest positive impact. 

The council is building cycle lanes along routes that connect homes to places of education and work and has been praised recently by schools in the vicinity of new infrastructure.  Many of these schools have upgraded facilities on site to accommodate more bicycles and scooters and this has been reinforced by our Bike It officers (from Sustrans) going into the schools to get the children excited about cycling and scooting, and to encourage increased use of the new, safer facilities.  

I don’t disagree that we could and need to do more but am assured that the resource available is being put to best use and that when any funding opportunities arise the officers are well placed to seize them in order to deliver more.  Officers have advised that they are more than happy to engage with Cllr Salmon regarding any supplementary queries.  

Supplementary Question from Councillor Joe Salmon

Maybe I have been barking up the wrong tree as I have not been coming to you but what I really want is that data then, because I have got groups who would like to talk about setting up bike buses and all of that and they are not sure of what routes, times all of that. If that data exists brilliant, lets talk, lets make that happen.

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure and Commercial Operations, Councillor Richard Herrett

I can’t answer that as a technical question but the officers certainly will be glad to.

 

Councillors Marion Le Poidevin, Sandra Mackrow and Judy Richardson left the meeting at 11.40pm

 

Question from Councillor Kate Salmon

At our last meeting on 25 February and in response to a public question, Councillor Herrett advised the chamber that the offering across council-run catering outlets on the seafront this year would include an increase in plant-based products. Could he please provide some more specific information about this: 

·            How many menu items across council-run outlets were plant-based in 2024-25, and what proportion of the total offering did this represent? 

·            How many will be plant-based in 2025-26, and what proportion of the total offering will this represent?

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Destination, Leisure and Commercial Operations, Councillor Richard Herrett

The Seafront catering outlets represent the largest of our catering offering and approximately 20% of this menu is plant-based across our two main catering outlets. 

We are still looking to increase this, although we are limited by supplier and procurement considerations so I  cannot confirm a final percentage for the coming year yet, where the core business is obviously done through the summer months. 

As I also stated in that answer- we need to make our vegan options tempting tasty, to increase sales in this area. For me a far better measure of success, but also much harder to achieve, in taking people with us. 

Looking at how we introduce those options  in a sustainable way to ensure we remain commercially competitive without over burdening a menu is more complex than most would think. I continue to challenge the catering team to find , and trial vegan alternatives. 

 I for one would love to see a vegan soft serve ice cream as an option, I know it is out there on the market and is genuinely indistinguishable from the ‘real’ thing  

This singular item though does demonstrate the challenges around plant based provision , it includes a large amount of coconut oil, and is more expensive to buy in. But also offers some efficiency in machine maintenance, but the improvements of not using dairy, but also as ultra processed food is a product some consumers are now seeking to avoid. Making sure it doesn’t compromise commerciality, as well as satisfying procurement rules, and supplier constraints also presents a challenge. 

There are also internal offerings across some of our leisure sites. Queens Park Golf Course has 23% of its daily menu  plant based and Upton Country Park offers 20%. 

As with all of the catering sites, as noted we need to balance our menu offering with demand and officers will use sales and consumer data to do this to inform any menu changes.

We continue to monitor this and engage with our suppliers to meet new demand and to understand current trends and availability of plant-based products. 

Question from Councillor Patrick Canavan

Given the rejection by the Planning Inspector of the BCP Local Plan what steps are now being taken to address the need to build more homes and to meet the requirements of the changes in planning legislation being proposed by the current Government? 

Response from the Lead Member Strategic Planning and Local Plan Delivery, Councillor Margaret Phipps

The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a material consideration in the Council’s decisions on planning applications now and this includes how the Council’s housing land supply position is calculated. 

In respect to the Planning Inspectors’ letter following the part 1 hearings in January 2025, a report will be brought to Cabinet on the revised timetable for production of a new Local Plan. As the Local Plan’s submission was a decision of Council, that report will also need to come to Council for decision. 

Supplementary Question from Councillor Patrick Canavan

The Government announced today a further £2 billion to build social and affordable housing to help deliver the goal of 1.5 million homes. So will the plan that Councillor Phipps has just mentioned actually set out the detailed plan of how BCP intend to meet that goal?

Response from the Lead Member Strategic Planning and Local Plan Delivery, Councillor Margaret Phipps

I am not 100% sure of what the report will set out, it certainly will set out a timetable as to how we are going to produce a new local plan and obviously that will be part of what we will be doing within the local plan. Whether that specific item will be in the report I would have to find out for you, but certainly the timetable of how we will produce a plan because we absolutely need one and will have to reflect the new national planning policy framework and all other statutory guidelines that we have.

Question from Councillor Joe Salmon

Given the repeated issues with data integrity across council consultations, why does the council continue to use methods open to abuse, with no meaningful safeguards to ensure responses are genuine? Not only can multiple online submissions be made using multiple email addresses, but there are also no checks preventing individuals from collecting and submitting large numbers of paper consultation forms. Why haven’t stronger measures—such as optional verification via Council Tax details or council service accounts or the open electoral register—been introduced to ensure consultation results are meaningful, reliable, and genuinely reflective of residents' views? 

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture, Councillor Andy Martin

Thank you for your question Cllr Salmon. 

I understand you were briefed on these issues last week but I am happy to go over them again. 

It is important to recognise that a public consultation is not a vote or referendum, but an opportunity to gather a range of insights, views, and feedback on proposals before any decisions are made.  

BCP Council consultations are successful at doing this.  Thorough analysis of all the views is undertaken and presented in an accessible way for us to digest and understand as part of the council’s decision-making process. 

I am unclear about your reference to repeated issues with data integrity. 

There has been one incident in recent consultations, where the consultation team have highlighted that multiple responses could have been received from individuals.  

This was because they were alerted to a social media post, that was encouraging people how to complete the survey multiple times.  

This isn’t a usual occurrence, but the team have looked into what can be done to prevent this happening again.  

We are piloting using different software for our online surveys, which asks respondents to create an account and verify email addresses.  

Most respondents to consultations choose to reply online rather than paper, our paper surveys are available in libraries.  

The Research and Consultation Manager has engaged with IT to explore options for conducting online surveys that integrate with relevant data sets and the council’s CRM system user identity management solution.  

While this capability is not yet in place, we are actively evaluating solutions as part of our engagement platform re-tender and future phases of the Customer Engagement programme. 

It is worth remembering, consultations tend to provide the views of residents and stakeholders who have an interest or who are motivated by the topic being consulted on.  

To get insight into all residents’ views about a particular proposal, the council can conduct sample survey research either on its own or as part of a consultation.  

The findings from sample surveys can be used with a certain degree of confidence to represent the views of the wider population – should every resident have taken part in the survey.  

Some recent examples of this have included our budget consultation 25/26, library strategy and Local Transport Plan. 

You will be aware that there are issues around using the data from the open electoral register.

I am happy to meet with you to talk over your issues.

Supplementary Question from Councillor Joe Salmon

Just to be clear with the current ongoing 20mph consultation, is there any way with how it is being conducted now that we can verify any of those responses are genuine beyond going they have put in an email address that was unique and had not been submitted before?

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture, Councillor Andy Martin

I don’t know the answer to that but I will take it under advisement and I’ll come back to you.