Motion to Council: Protecting Enforceable SEND Support
The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor J Salmon.
Council notes:
1. That Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) currently provide the primary legal mechanism through which children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can secure enforceable support.
2. That the Government’s proposed SEND reforms set out in the White Paper Every Child Achieving and Thriving introduce Individual Support Plans (ISPs) as the primary planning mechanism for many children, while linking EHCPs more closely to nationally defined Specialist Provision Packages.
3. That ISP-based provision does not provide the same legally enforceable entitlement where support is not delivered.
4. That the proposed reforms would increase the role of schools in funding and delivering SEND support.
5. That national commentary and emerging legal challenge have raised concern that aspects of the proposed reforms may weaken existing legal rights and routes to challenge unmet need.
6. That Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council faces significant financial pressures within its High Needs SEND budget.
7. That there is concern nationally that SEND reform designed to manage system costs may weaken enforceable protections for children.
8. That rising SEND costs nationally are widely linked to increasing reliance on private and independent provision, alongside shortages of publicly provided specialist places and services.
9. That adopted, kinship and care-experienced children often experience developmental trauma which affects their educational engagement and support needs.
10.That recent changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) have reduced access to therapeutic support for adopted and special guardianship families.
11.That leading SEND legal practitioners, including Michael Charles of Sinclairs Law, have warned of a potential shift of decision-making power away from families within emerging SEND reforms.
12.That national SEND charities and professional bodies have welcomed the ambition of reform while calling for safeguards to ensure access to statutory support is not narrowed.
Council believes:
1. That SEND reform should improve support without weakening families’ ability to secure provision through enforceable rights.
2. That expanding access to support should not come at the expense of enforceable entitlement or meaningful rights of challenge.
3. That support must be driven by need rather than affordability.
4. That trauma-informed approaches are essential to supporting adopted, kinship and care-experienced children.
5. That SEND reform should be aligned with wider support systems, including access to therapeutic provision.
6. That addressing the financial sustainability of the SEND system should focus on strengthening publicly available provision and specialist capacity, rather than reducing children’s access to statutory support.
Council resolves to:
1. Respond to the Government’s SEND consultation in a way that supports reform only where it:
· retains EHCPs as the primary route to legally enforceable support
· does not reduce access to EHCPs
· does not shift responsibility for securing provision from the local authority to schools
· does not allow financial pressures to limit children’s legal entitlement
· does not weaken routes for families to challenge unmet need
2. Publicly state this position as part of its consultation response.
3. Confirm that any local SEND reform undertaken in connection with financial sustainability will not restrict access to statutory support.
4. Advocate for SEND reform that:
· recognises the needs of adopted, kinship and care-experienced children
· incorporates trauma-informed approaches
· supports the delivery of trauma-informed practice within schools
5. Seek assurance from Government that SEND reform will be aligned with continued access to therapeutic support for adopted and special guardianship families.
6. Write to Local Members of Parliament asking them to support this position.
Motion to Full Council: Bio Diversity Loss
The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor J Salmon.
This Council notes:
1. That January 2026 the UK Government has published the national security assessment Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, which concludes with high confidence that ecosystem degradation already threatens UK security and prosperity and is likely to intensify to 2050 and beyond.
2. That the report identifies cascading risks including food and water insecurity, flooding and extreme weather, pandemic risk, supply chain disruption, economic instability, migration pressures, and social instability.
3. That the report explicitly states that nature is a foundation of national security and that the loss of ecosystems threatens the systems that provide food, clean water, climate stability, and economic resilience.
4. That the UK imports a substantial proportion of its food and is not currently self-sufficient, leaving communities exposed to global shocks, price spikes and supply disruption.
5. That many of these risks are already visible in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole through flooding, overheating, loss of green space, biodiversity decline, rising food insecurity, and pressure on local infrastructure and public services.
This Council believes:
1. That the Government’s own national security assessment represents a material and urgent change in the risk environment for local authorities.
2. That biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are not abstract environmental concerns but emerging threats to community safety, economic stability, public health, and food security.
3. That protecting and restoring nature must be treated as essential resilience infrastructure, on a par with flood defences, housing, transport and public health planning.
4. That failure to act now will increase long-term financial pressures on local government through higher costs linked to flooding, overheating, food insecurity, health inequality, and emergency response.
This Council resolves to:
A. Direct action by the Leader and Cabinet
1. That the Leader of the Council instructs Cabinet to undertake an urgent cross-portfolio review of the adequacy of existing Council strategies in light of the national security risks identified, including:
· Development Plan Documents and planning policy
· Flood and coastal risk management
· The Local Transport Plan and air quality strategy
· Public health and food resilience planning
· Biodiversity, green infrastructure and nature recovery strategies
· Climate adaptation and overheating risk
· Community resilience and civil contingencies
2. That Cabinet instructs officers to prepare a consolidated risk and resilience report identifying:
· Key local vulnerabilities
· Strategic gaps in current policy
· Practical actions to strengthen long-term resilience
· Implications for future investment priorities
3. That this review explicitly considers whether biodiversity and ecosystem decline should be recognised as a core strategic risk category alongside climate change, financial pressures and demographic change.
B. Strengthen democratic scrutiny
1. Request that the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees examine:
· The local impacts of ecosystem decline
· Risks to food security, public health and infrastructure
· The adequacy of current mitigation and adaptation measures
and provide recommendations to Cabinet.
C. Strengthen corporate risk governance
1. That the Audit and Governance Committee is requested to consider how ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss should be incorporated into the Council’s corporate risk management framework and long-term resilience planning.
D. Reporting back to Full Council
1. That Cabinet reports back to Full Council within six months with:
· A clear assessment of local exposure to ecosystem-related risks
· Proposed changes to policy, strategy or investment priorities
· Any implications for the Key Policy Framework or Budgetary Framework
E. A clear challenge to Government
1. That the Leader writes on behalf of the Council to:
· The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
· The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
· The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
· All Members of Parliament representing Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
setting out the Council’s concern that the national security implications of biodiversity loss require urgent national leadership and requesting:
(a) Clear national guidance for local authorities on incorporating ecosystem risk into planning, resilience and infrastructure decision-making;
(b) Long-term, ring-fenced funding for climate adaptation, nature restoration and community resilience, rather than short-term competitive bidding pots;
(c) A national strategy for food system resilience that recognises the UK’s dependence on imports and the growing risks posed by global ecological instability;
(d) Stronger national planning policy direction enabling councils to prioritise long-term environmental resilience over short-term speculative development pressures;
(e) Cross-government recognition that biodiversity protection is not solely an environmental issue but a matter of economic security, public health and national resilience.
Motion to Full Council: Regulating Short-Term Lets to Protect Housing, Communities and the Visitor Economy in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 10 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor S Armstrong.
This Council Notes:
· The rapid growth of short?term lets across the BCP area, including platforms such as Airbnb, which account for over 2,272 active listings in Bournemouth and more than 2,328 across the wider BCP area as of late 2025.
· Tourism is essential to the BCP economy, contributing over £1.3 billion annually and supporting thousands of jobs.
· The area continues to face acute housing pressures, with rising rents, high house prices, and a 20% increase in homelessness applications since 2021, demonstrating the need to protect long?term housing supply.
· The Government has committed to a national registration scheme and a new Use Class C5 for short?term lets, but these powers are not yet in force.
This Council Believes:
· Immediate action is required to respond to the community, housing and economic impacts of short?term lets.
· Short?term lets, including those advertised on platforms such as Airbnb, must be better managed to protect residential neighbourhoods, housing availability, and the sustainability of the regulated hospitality sector.
· That short term lets, if appropriately regulated can make a positive contribution to the local tourism economy.
· That short term lets should not be a means to circumvent either the council tax, or business rates system.
· Collaboration across the tourism industry, rental market, town councils, neighbourhood forums and local communities is essential to finding balanced and workable solutions.
This Council Resolves To:
1. Examine how existing powers could be used to allow immediate enforcement.
· Using environmental health, planning enforcement, anti?social behaviour tools and licensing where applicable, the Council will examine how to strengthen monitoring and enforcement against nuisance, anti?social behaviour, and statutory breaches linked to short?term lets, including those advertised via Airbnb and similar platforms.
· Then using those powers where appropriate to better manage the impact of short-term lettings.
2. Enhance Local Understanding and Data
· Improve the Council’s ability to identify and map short?term lets using publicly available data from platforms such as Airbnb, to support evidence?based decision?making.
· Work with stakeholders in the hospitality sector and rental market to gather insights on local impacts, pressures and opportunities.
3. Support communities impacted by short term lets
· Work with communities to identify areas experiencing high concentrations of short?term lets and prioritise targeted enforcement if available.
· Ensure and promote clear reporting routes for residents affected by nuisance or unmanaged short?term letting.
4. Prepare for Forthcoming National Regulation
· Begin internal preparations for delivering the national short?term let registration scheme once activated.
· Investigate whether properties exceeding 90 nights create a material change of use.
· Write to Ministers and local MPs urging the early introduction of Use Class C5 into the national planning framework to strengthen local control and further request that BCP Council be considered for inclusion in any government?led pilot -schemes.
· Invite MPs, sector partners and ministers to a roundtable to discuss the local impact of short?term lets and create solutions.
· As part of overall work on short term lets as through the motion, gather data that would support an Article 4 direction in the future.
5. Promote Responsible Hosting and Sustainable Tourism
· Encourage best?practice standards for short?term let hosts, including clear guest guidance, effective waste management, complaint handling and environmentally responsible operation.
· Work with the hospitality sector, rental market partners and business improvement districts to ensure fair competition and support a sustainable year?round visitor economy.
· Recognise that properly regulated short?term lets can support tourism without undermining residential areas or the hospitality sector.
· Ensure the Council uses all existing legal and regulatory powers available to support the balanced and sustainable use of homes.
· Ask the Leader to write to the Minister for Local Government requesting to be part of a trial for the local registration, management and regulation of short-term lettings, with appropriate funding mechanisms.
· Ask that the Leader to invite MP’s, stakeholders and the appropriate government minister to a round table discussion, so that government can understand the issue in more depth and how that is affecting residents and businesses in the BCP area and identify solutions.