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 Thursday 29 January 2026 [mid-day 3 clear working days before the meeting].
The deadline for the submission of a statement is mid-day on Tuesday 3 February 2026 [mid-day the working day before the meeting].
The deadline for the submission of a petition is Tuesday 20 January 2026 [10 working days before the meeting].
Minutes:
Public Question from Alex McKinstry on Agenda Item 6 (Council Budget Monitoring 2025/26 at Quarter Three)
I note Recommendation (B) in the Quarter 3 budget monitoring report - "Encourage senior officers, budget holders, and portfolio holders to take all reasonable steps to reduce the forecast overspending the final quarter of the financial year" - and I was wondering therefore why the administration has created a brand new lead member role, "Lead Member for Performance", which I assume involves paying out a special responsibility allowance of £12,200 a year? Why has this role been created now, given the exhortations of retrenchment contained in the Cabinet papers? If you could summarise what this role actually entails - and which portfolio-holders the lead member will be working with, predominantly - that too would be useful, as there has been no press release concerning this role (as of 29 January, the date of submitting this question), and there is no related job description showing on the BCP Council website.
Response by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Millie Earl
Thank you for your question. You are absolutely right to highlight the recommendation in the Quarter 3 budget monitoring report about the need for continued financial discipline in the final quarter of the year. The administration takes that responsibility very seriously, which is precisely why the new Lead Member for Performance role has been created at this moment.
Councillor Dawn Logan was elected last year in the Talbot & Branksome Woods by?election, beating both Reform and the Conservatives—demonstrating once again that only the Liberal Democrats can beat them in this area. Dawn brings with her a wealth of relevant professional experience, including five years working as a consultant for Newton, a firm currently undertaking improvement work with the local health system. Those skills—particularly around data analysis, performance improvement and system change—are extremely valuable, and we are determined that they should not go to waste.
The Lead Member for Performance role has therefore been created to support the Cabinet and senior leadership team in driving better outcomes for residents. The focus is on using data intelligently, improving our performance culture, and ensuring that the council is delivering services efficiently and effectively. This work directly supports the financial challenge set out in the Q3 report: improving performance and improving value for money go hand in hand.
Since her election, Dawn has been working hard to get to know the council in depth. She has already been engaging with scrutiny chairs, directors, and Cabinet members to champion a more data?led approach to decision making. Importantly, this role does not replace or duplicate the scrutiny function—far from it. Instead, it strengthens the organisation’s ability to understand performance issues early, act on them, and support both Cabinet and scrutiny with better information.
The Lead Member for Performance will work across portfolios, but particularly closely with those services where performance data plays a critical role in ensuring good outcomes—for example adult social care and children’s services. In practice, that means providing Cabinet with additional insight and capacity at a time when the council must be more rigorous than ever in how it manages performance and financial pressure.
We are confident that this small investment will pay dividends for the council and for the residents who rely on our services every day.
Response by the Portfolio Holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy, Councillor Andy Hadley
In 2026 is it acceptable for the Senior Citizens of Mudeford, its residents, Parents with young children be forced to take 2 buses to attend their local Doctors Surgery and Hospital for appointments or treatment? This is because:
Since 2023 when our fully comprehensive half hourly all-inclusive service was unexpectedly and drastically cut and replaced with a new once hourly loop service route which does not fulfil the medical needs or practical needs and is not beneficial to the residents who live here and isolated Mudeford from its neighbouring communities.
Is this the treatment our residents and elderly Mudeford citizens deserve?
Thank you for your question, statement, and the supporting information that you provided me with.
We have worked hard and been successful in protecting most of the bus services that the council have been subsidising.
The X1/X2 is not a Council subsidised service, and in common with the other “X” routes is intended as a longer distance bus, in this case travelling between Lymington and Bournemouth.
The route of the X1/X2 bus is in the control of the bus company. The change arose because of the collapse of Yellow Buses, and the routes they served. Shortly after the change in 2023, the MoreBus General Manager highlighted that they saw increased use, with more passengers from the Somerford Area, and that calling at Sainsburys was proving popular with Highcliffe residents.
Mudeford still has service via the 1c, and although you highlight it as an hourly service, because it goes in a loop, it is half hourly at Christchurch and Somerford Sainsburys, but twice hourly on a less even basis at the other stops.
It takes you to Sainsburys, to Christchurch and to Central Bournemouth, I appreciate that means a change for the Hospital and other destinations, but the Mudeford area is still well served compared to many other areas of the conurbation.
The Council have been working to improve punctuality of this service by reviewing the location of parking bays through Purewell.
The bus company are keen to increase the frequency of their services where buses are well used, and to consider further adjustments to routes, and we continue to work in partnership with them to serve citizens of Mudeford and across BCP as best we can..
Public Statement from Janet Dale on Agenda Item 9 (Our People and Communities: Subsidised Bus Services Review)
In 2023 our fully comprehensive half hourly all-inclusive X1/X2 bus service was unexpectedly, drastically cut and replaced with a new, re-routed, once hourly loop service to and from Bournemouth. This service excludes the medical facilities and does not fulfil the medical or practical needs of residents. The service is not beneficial to the residents who live here because it has isolated Mudeford from its neighbouring communities. This change has caused extreme difficulties in making and keeping any appointments due to the hourly only service & reliance on connecting buses and longer travelling times.
Is this the treatment our residents and elderly citizens really deserve? Reinstating the X1/X2, protecting it as a socially necessary route through Mudeford would be beneficial for everyone, inclusive, non-segregating, and non-isolating.
Public Statement from David Redgewell on Agenda Item 9 (Our People and Communities: Subsidised Bus Services Review)
We welcome the Bus Service Improvement Plan, particularly the commitment by Go South Coast.
However, under Bus service act no 2England BCP council has a duty to protect services to work hospital Schools and colleges and key interchanges.
Department for Transport funding must be spent on bus services and infrastructure. BCP Council has been allocated £7,863,381 in revenue support (2026–2029) and £12,439,362 for infrastructure (2026–2030). This should support bus stations, CCTV, shelters, real-time information, safety officers, and night buses.
We want supported services protected through an Enhanced Bus Partnership, ensuring no communities are left without buses. Urgent improvement is also needed to the poor RailAir 737 link to Bournemouth Airport, alongside better links to Poole Harbour.