(Public Pack)Agenda Document for Dorset Council
Public Document Pack
Cabinet Date: Tuesday, 19 January 2021 Time: 10.00 am Venue: MS Teams Live Event
Membership: (Quorum 3) Spencer Flower (Chairman), Peter Wharf (Vice-Chairman), Ray Bryan, Graham Carr- Jones, Tony Ferrari, Laura Miller, Andrew Parry, Gary Suttle, Jill Haynes and David Walsh
Cabinet Lead Members (6) (are not members of the Cabinet but are appointed to work along side Portfolio Holders) Cherry Brooks, Piers Brown, Simon Gibson, Nocturin Lacey-Clarke, Byron Quayle and Jane Somper
Chief Executive: Matt Prosser, South Walks House, South Walks Road, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1UZ (Sat Nav DT1 1EE)
For more information about this agenda please contact Kate Critchel 01305 252234 - [email protected]
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Due to the current coronavirus pandemic the Council has reviewed its approach to holding committee meetings. Members of the public are welcome to attend this meeting and listen to the debate either online by using the following link: Link to observe Cabinet on 19 January 2021
Members of the public wishing to view the meeting from an iphone, ipad or android phone will need to download the free Microsoft Team App to sign in as a Guest, it is advised to do this at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.”
Please note that public speaking has been suspended. However Public Participation will continue by written submission only. Please see detail set out below.
Dorset Council is committed to being open and transparent in the way it carries out its business whenever possible. A recording of the meeting will be available on the councils website after the event. A G E N D A
Page No.
1 APOLOGIES
To receive any apologies for absence.
2 MINUTES 5 - 24
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2020.
3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of interest.
4 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
To receive questions or statements on the business of the committee from town and parish councils and members of the public. Public speaking has been suspended for virtual committee meetings during the Covid-19 crisis and public participation will be dealt with through written submissions only.
Members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area, may submit up to two questions or a statement of up to a maximum of 450 words. All submissions must be sent electronically to [email protected] by the deadline set out below. When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for and include your name, address and contact details. Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.
Questions will be read out by an officer of the council and a response given by the appropriate Portfolio Holder or officer at the meeting. All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.
The deadline for submission of the full text of a question or statement is 8.30am on 14 January 2021
5 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS To receive any questions from members in accordance with procedure rule 13.
6 FORWARD PLAN 25 - 30
To consider the Cabinet Forward Plan.
7 BUDGET STRATEGY REPORT 31 - 100
To consider a report of the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Strategy.
8 DORSET COUNCIL BUDGET - QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE 101 - 118 REPORT - Q3
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial & Capital Strategy.
9 CHILDREN'S PROVISION 119 - 174
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Education, Skills and Early Help.
10 SCHOOLS ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS AND COORDINATED 175 - 264 SCHEME 2022-2023
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Education, Skill and Early Years.
11 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SPENDING COMMUNITY 265 - 286 INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY FUNDING
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Planning.
12 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM COMMITTEES
To consider the following recommendations from the People & Health Overview Committee.
13 CURRENT & FUTURE CHANGES TO THE CHARGING AND 287 - 344 FINANCIAL ASSESSMENT POLICY
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder of Adult Social Care and Health. 14 EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STRATEGY AND ACTION 345 - 384 PLAN
To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Change.
15 CABINET MEMBER UPDATE ON POLICY DEVELOPMENT MATTERS REFERRED TO AN OVERVIEW COMMITTEE(S) FOR CONSIDERATION
Portfolio Holders to report.
PANELS AND GROUPS To receive any minutes, recommendations or verbal updates from panels, groups and boards: 16 CLIMATE & ECOLOGICAL EMERGENCY EXECUTIVE ADVISORY PANEL UPDATE
To receive an update from the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment.
17 URGENT ITEMS
To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.
18 EXEMPT BUSINESS
To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
There are no scheduled exempt items of business on this agenda. Public Document Pack Agenda Item 2
DORSET COUNCIL - CABINET
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 8 DECEMBER 2020
Present: Cllrs Spencer Flower (Chairman), Peter Wharf (Vice-Chairman), Ray Bryan, Graham Carr-Jones, Tony Ferrari, Laura Miller, Andrew Parry, Gary Suttle, Jill Haynes and David Walsh
Apologies: no apologies
Also present: Cllr Cherry Brooks, Cllr Nocturin Lacey-Clarke, Cllr Byron Quayle, Cllr Jane Somper, Cllr Andy Canning, Cllr Tony Alford, Cllr Shane Bartlett, Cllr Dave Bolwell, Cllr Robin Cook, Cllr Jean Dunseith, Cllr Beryl Ezzard, Cllr Daryl Turner, Cllr Barry Goringe, Cllr David Gray, Cllr Matthew Hall, Cllr Brian Heatley, Cllr Ryan Holloway, Cllr Rob Hughes, Cllr Nick Ireland, Cllr Sherry Jespersen, Cllr Stella Jones, Cllr Rebecca Knox, Cllr David Morgan, Cllr Val Pothecary, Cllr Molly Rennie, Cllr Maria Roe, Cllr David Shortell, Cllr Andrew Starr, Cllr David Taylor, Cllr Gill Taylor, Cllr David Tooke, Cllr Les Fry, Cllr Kate Wheller, Cllr Paul Kimber and Cllr John Worth
Officers present (for all or part of the meeting): Matt Prosser (Chief Executive), Aidan Dunn (Executive Director - Corporate Development S151), Jonathan Mair (Corporate Director - Legal & Democratic Service Monitoring Officer), John Sellgren (Executive Director, Place), Kate Critchel (Senior Democratic Services Officer), Andrew Billany (Corporate Director of Housing, Dorset Council), Jon Bird (European Policy and Funding Officer), Vivienne Broadhurst (Interim Executive Director - People Adults), Bridget Downton (Head of Business Insight and Corporate Communications), Andrew Galpin (Infrastructure & Delivery Planning Manager), Mike Garrity (Head of Planning), Theresa Leavy (Executive Director of People - Children), David McIntosh (Corporate Director (HR & OD)), Matthew Piles (Corporate Director - Economic Growth and Infrastructure), Karyn Punchard (Corporate Director for Place Services), Claire Shiels (Corporate Director - Commissioning, Quality & Partnerships), Deborah Smart (Corporate Director – Digital & Change) and Terry Sneller (Local Plan Team Leader)
56. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2020 were confirmed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman at a date in the future.
57. Declarations of Interest
There were no declaration of interest to report.
58. Public Participation
Page 5 There were seven questions/statement received from the public. These were read out be Matt Prosser, Chief Executive and Jonathan Mair (Corporate Director, Legal and Democratic Services) and responded to by the appropriate Portfolio Holder.
A copy of the full questions and the detailed responses are set out in Appendix 1 to these minute
59. Questions from Members
There were two questions from Cllr N Ireland, this along with the responses were set out in Appendix 2 to these minutes.
60. Forward Plan
The Cabinet Forward Plan was received and noted.
61. Dorset Council Plan: Quarter 2 Performance Update
The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Change set out the Quarter 2 performance report against the Council Plan. This included the headline commentary that had been provided against the five key priorities to complement the data provided.
Decision
That the progress against the Council Plan priorities be received and noted.
Reason for Recommendation
To ensure progress towards the Council Plan is measured and monitored.
62. Transformation of Planning Services: PAS Peer Review Findings and Actions
The Portfolio Holder advised that the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) was invited to carry out a peer review of Dorset Council’s planning service prior to its restructure. The report set out the summary of the PAS findings which included ten key recommendations. He further proposed that going forward the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee be invited to monitor the implementation of the action plan.
Decision
(a) That the Planning Advisory Service Peer Review of Dorset Council’s Planning Service be noted;
(b) That the recommendations and action plan as set out in the report be agreed;
2 Page 6 (c) That Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee receive biannual (or more frequent as necessary) progress reports on the implementation of the action plan.
Reason for Recommendation:
The visit of the PAS peer review team took place at a formative time in the unitary council’s development and the work it carried out has informed the Local Planning Authority in shaping its transformation programme. The final report contains practical and constructive recommendations and an action plan which are intended to assist Dorset Council in progressing the work needed to deliver a high- quality and customer-focused planning service.
63. Dorset Council Local Plan: Consultation
Cabinet considered a report on the Dorset Local Plan Options Consultation document and the changes to the Statement of Community Involvement. Cabinet have previously agreed the programme for preparing a Dorset Council Local Plan that would on adoption replace the current district local plans.
The Portfolio Holder for Planning highlighted that public consultation was a vital part of the process, and this consultation would enable a wide range of views to be taken into account in moving the plan forward to its next stage.
Decision
(a) That the Dorset Council Local Plan Options Consultation document, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved for the purpose of public consultation, to take place for eight weeks from mid-January 2021;
(b) That authority be delegated to the Service Manager for Spatial Planning, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, to make any minor changes necessary prior to publication;
(c) That changes to the Statement of Community Involvement included as Appendix B to the report be agreed to reflect the practicalities of consulting during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reason for Recommendation:
Having an up to date local plan in place is critical in order to shape the future of the Dorset Council area, provide for development to meet the area’s needs, and manage decisions on planning applications. Cabinet have previously agreed the programme for preparing a Dorset Council Local Plan that would on adoption replace the current district local plans. Public consultation is a vital part of the process, and this consultation will enable a wide range of views to be taken into account in moving the plan forwards.
64. Recommendations for the allocation of developer contributions for enhancement of recreation and community infrastructure provision in
3 Page 7 Dorchester
The Portfolio Holder presented a report on the Developer contributions that had been collected by Dorset Council and its predecessor councils for the area of Dorchester. A reformed officer/member panel recommended the Great Field project should continue to be funded. It was further proposed that the council support the Arts in Dorchester/Thomas Hardye School joint venture to receive the £1m funding that had previously been committed to the Maltings Arts project.
Dorchester local members spoke in support of the recommendation.
Decision
(a) Great Field Poundbury – new recreation facilities, £455,786.00
(b) Arts in Dorchester Project – improvements to Municipal Buildings and Thomas Hardye School Theatre to provide enhanced performance space and associated facilities, £1million. Payment subject to the submission of a comprehensive business case to be approved by the Executive Director for Place in consultation with the Portfolio holder for Planning.
Reason for Recommendation:
To enable the award of developer contributions in Dorchester to local projects for the enhancement of community infrastructure.
65. Parking Services Phase 1 Project Report
The Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment presented a report that set proposed changes to parking charges across the Dorset area. The Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee had considered the report at their meeting on 1 December 2020. In light of their comments the Portfolio Holder proposed the following amendment to the reports recommendation:-
(a) That the all-day change in Lyme Regis and West Bay be increased from £2 to £8 (instead of £4) which was inline with other car parks in the Dorset Area.
(b) extending morning charges in Purbeck to begin from 8:00am
(c) implementation of Sunday charging except that at the request of the relevant Town or Parish Council, Dorset Council would consider the case for suspending car park charging on a Sunday to enable a local event to be held. In such cases agreement to suspend would be at the sole discretion of Dorset Council and each individual case would be considered on its merits. These provisions would apply only in exceptional cases and on a limited number of occasions in a year.
(d) That extending evening charges as set out in (d) of the reports recommendation, be deferred to Phase 2 of the transformation project.
4 Page 8 The Chairman of the Place & Resources Scrutiny Committee advised that members had considered the report in detail and the amendments put forward by the Portfolio Holder were largely in accordance with the committee’s comments.
In respect of the Dorchester Market and the Sunday Car Boot sales, it was confirmed that further discussions would take place with the appropriate portfolio holder(s), officers of the Council, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Dorchester Markets Joint Informal Panel outside of this meeting.
Before taking the vote, the Corporate Director for Legal and Democratic advised that any changes to parking charges needed to be grounded in traffic management principles and therefore suggested that the amendment be prefaced with “That as part of managing traffic effectively the Cabinet supported the following changes to parking charges/charging hours:” This addition was accepted.
The amendment was seconded by Cllr T Ferrari and on being put to the vote the motion was carried.
Decision
(a) That as part of managing traffic effectively the Cabinet supported the following changes to parking charges/charging hours:
(i) increasing the all day charge from £2 to £8 in Lyme Regis and West Bay
(ii) extending morning charges in Purbeck to begin from 8:00am
(iii) implementation of Sunday charging except that at the request of the relevant Town or Parish Council, Dorset Council would consider the case for suspending car park charging on a Sunday to enable a local event to be held. In such cases agreement to suspend would be at the sole discretion of Dorset Council and each individual case would be considered on its merits. These provisions would apply only in exceptional cases and on a limited number of occasions in a year.
(b) That changes are introduced at the earliest opportunity and
(c) That the Portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, after consultation with the Director of Place, be given delegated authority to decide on the further process to be followed and be given authority to take any and all further decisions and steps necessary to introduce the parking changes supported by the Cabinet.
Reason for Recommendation:
A. The current charge has not been reviewed since 2014; hence the charge has not risen with inflation and does not meet the current costs. The areas are tourist destinations; therefore, the impact of the charge will primarily be on tourists and not on Dorset Council residents. There are car parks in the area that charge per hour, thus parking can be achieved locally at a lower cost for those not wanting to pay an all-day rate.
5 Page 9 B. Purbeck is the only part of Dorset Council that parking charges current start at 10am, this is inequitable and there is no indication of a need for charges to start later in this area. The 10am charging period appears to be the legacy of an assumption that locals in Purbeck shop early in the morning before tourists arrive, but this could be true of other popular tourist destination areas and therefore now needs to align with all car parking in Dorset area.
C. Introducing Sunday charging across the Dorset Council area brings parity and consistency. Further research and impact analysis will be undertaken in phase 2 of the transformation project.
66. Permission to procure and award Healthy Homes Dorset 2020 contract
The Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Assets and Property presented the report regarding round 1a of the Governments Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery initiative. He confirmed that if there was likely to be any further rounds of funding, discussions would take place with scrutiny on how that might be dealt with. The report and its recommendations was welcomed by Cabinet.
Decision
(a) That the procurement of the Healthy Homes Dorset 2020 contract, value up to £1.5 million, be approved;
(b) That authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Place min consultation with the Portfolio Holder, Economic Growth, Assets and Property to award the contract.
Reason for Recommendation:
The Council has recently been awarded £859,400 from round 1a of the Government Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery initiative and is planning further bids to the fund. Meeting the tight delivery deadlines attached to the grants will be challenging if procurement is not completed swiftly. Procuring a contract with a value of up to £1.5 million allows headroom for current and future grants in addition to the original Dorset Councils budget for this project.
67. Annual Safeguarding Report
The Portfolio Holder for Children, Skills and Early Years set out the Annual Safeguarding Report which was a one Dorset approach to safeguarding.
Anthony Douglas, Independent Chair and Scrutineer of the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Partnership confirmed that the present safeguarding arrangements were working well, focusing on system leadership and set out the activities taken place to bring services together.
6 Page 10 Going forward into the future the partnership would need to continue to establish strong communication and networks that make up a successful child safeguarding pan-Dorset.
Decision
That the Annual Report of the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Partnership be received and noted.
Reason for Recommendation:
Safeguarding partnerships are required to publish and share Annual Reports widely. Dorset Council is a statutory safeguarding partner in the Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Partnership.
68. Annual Self Evaluation of Children's Services
Cabinet considered the production of an Annual Self Evaluation as part of the Ofsted Inspection Framework of Children’s Services. The Portfolio Holder for Children, Skills and Early Years advised that the report was a comprehensive self- evaluation of children’s services to support preparation for the Ofsted inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers.
Decision
That the Annual Self-Evaluation of Children’s Services be received and noted.
Reason for Recommendation
The production of an Annual Self Evaluation as part of the Ofsted Inspection Framework of Children’s Services. This report is intended to enable political leaders to understand areas of strength and areas for development.
69. Cabinet member update on policy development matters referred to an Overview Committee(s) for consideration
The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Safety referred to the Homelessness Strategy that had been considered by members of the People & Health Overview Committee at a workshop on 2 December 2020.
The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health advised that a report on the Current & Future Changes to the Financial Assessment and Care Contributions Policy would be considered by People and Health Overview Committee on 14 December 2020.
70. Climate & Ecological Emergency Executive Advisory Panel Update
The Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and the Environment gave a brief update on the consultation of the Climate & Ecological Emergency Plan which had been extended until 20 January 2020.
7 Page 11 71. Urgent items
The Leader of the Council reported that there was one urgent item of business to be considered. This matter was considered urgent as it could no longer be dealt with under delegate powers: Purbeck Heath Grazing Unit
72. Purbeck Heath Large Grazing Unit
The Executive Director for Place reported that an urgent decision was sought in order to secure the grant offer of £549,900 for a fully funded programme of high environmental value. Alongside the creation of the grazing unit, the project included an engagement programme, co-creation of a Sustainable Tourism Plan with local stakeholders and visitor management infrastructure.
Members were advised that the original application was for funding that could have been dealt with under delegated powers, however the final offer was above the delegation threshold and therefore required a member decision.
The Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder and Chairman of Place & Resources Scrutiny Committee confirmed that they were content with the proposals as set out by the Executive Director.
Decision
That authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Place to sign the grant declaration on behalf of Dorset Council.
73. Exempt Business
It was proposed by Cllr Peter Wharf
Decision
That the press and the public be excluded for the following item(s) in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
74. Provision for Dorset Children (meeting adjourned at 14.52pm on 8 December 2020)
Cabinet received a presentation on the proposals and had an opportunity to ask detailed questions. Following much discussion it was decided to adjourn the meeting for further details and information.
The meeting was adjourned until Monday 14 December 2020 at 2pm, which would continue in exempt business.
Meeting closed at 14.52pm
8 Page 12 DORSET COUNCIL CABINET - MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 8 DECEMBER 2020 (RECONVENED ON MONDAY 14 DECEMBER 2020 AT 2.00PM)
Present: Cllrs Spencer Flower (Chairman), Peter Wharf (Vice-Chairman), Ray Bryan, Graham Carr-Jones, Tony Ferrari, Laura Miller, Andrew Parry, Gary Suttle, Jill Haynes and David Walsh
Apologies: no apologies
Also Present: Cllr Cherry Brooks, Cllr Nocturin Lacey-Clarke, Cllr Byron Quayle, Cllr Jane Somper, Cllr Andy Canning, Cllr Tony Alford, Cllr Shane Bartlett, Cllr Dave Bolwell, Cllr Robin Cook, Cllr Jean Dunseith, Cllr Beryl Ezzard, Cllr Daryl Turner, Cllr Barry Goringe, Cllr David Gray, Cllr Matthew Hall, Cllr Brian Heatley, Cllr Ryan Holloway, Cllr Rob Hughes, Cllr Nick Ireland, Cllr Sherry Jespersen, Cllr Stella Jones, Cllr Rebecca Knox, Cllr David Morgan, Cllr Val Pothecary, Cllr Molly Rennie, Cllr Maria Roe, Cllr David Shortell, Cllr Andrew Starr, Cllr David Taylor, Cllr Gill Taylor, Cllr David Tooke, Cllr Les Fry, Cllr Kate Wheller, Cllr Paul Kimber and Cllr John Worth
Officers present (for all or part of the meeting): Matt Prosser (Chief Executive), Aidan Dunn ( Executive Director – Corporate Development S151), Vivienne Broadhurst (Interim Executive Director – People Adults), Theresa Leavy (Executive Director of People – Children), Jonathan Mair (Corporate Director – Legal & Democratic Services Monitoring Officer), David McIntosh (Corporate Director (HR&OD), Mark Blackman (Corporate Director – Education & Learning) and Kate Critchel (Senior Democratic Services Officer)
75. Provision for Dorset Children (reconvened 14 December 2020 at 2pm)
Provision for Dorset Children (SEND)
The Portfolio Holder for Children, Skills and Early Help presented the first part of the report in respect of the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Capital Strategy for 2020 to 2025 and its recommendation.
Decision
That the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Capital Strategy for 2020 to 2025, be accepted.
Reason for Recommendation: This strategy provides the council with a clear understanding of the current sufficiency of places for children and young people with SEND, that are supported by an Education, Health and Care Plan. Approval will allow for future operational and strategic planning to meet demand.
Provision for Dorset Children (Business Case)
9 Page 13 Cabinet received a presentation from the Executive Director – People Children on the business case. Members also had an opportunity to consider the supplementary information provided. The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy put forward an amendment to the reports recommendation, this was seconded by Cllr P Wharf and on being put to the vote the motion was carried.
Decision
(a) That a final bid to acquire land property and assets as set out in the report be approved;
(b) That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer to seek the appropriate funding required.
(c) That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education, Skills and Early Help, in consultation with the Executive Director People – Children to prepare a detailed business case and consult on a range of options.
(d) That a cross-party, politically balanced Steering Group be formed with a membership of 10 members, to be nominated by group leaders.
Reason for recommendation: The council has a need to deliver service provision for children in a more economically efficient mechanism.
Appendix 1 - Public Q&A's Appendix 2 Cllr Q&A's
Duration of meeting: 10:00 – 14:52 and (14 December 2020 in exempt business: 14:00 – 14:40)
Chairman
10 Page 14 Appendix
Cabinet 8 December 2020 Public Questions and Statements
1. Question from Andy Matthews Re Agenda Item 9 - Local Plan Consultation Documents Central Functional Area – Portland
Section 26 of the document which deals with the Central Functional Area sets out a narrative around the future development for Portland. It is welcomed that a number of proposals support the Neighbourhood Plan but some, as currently described, are at odds with the Local Planning Authorities position which was agreed earlier this year with the Neighbourhood Plan’s Examiner. Specific examples are in regard to Key Employment sites and some aspects of the Development boundaries scheduled particularly the exclusion of the Albion Stone employment policy area as well as Southwell Business Park area. Providing certainty and flexibility to these employment areas at a time of change is an important element to the Economic Vision which runs in tandem with the Neighbourhood Plan. As you are aware the Neighbourhood Plan is currently held because of the COVID pandemic and the earliest the referendum can be held is May 2021. It is intended that the Local Plan consultation will commence during the early part of 2021. Meanwhile policies in the Neighbourhood Plan can carry material weight in planning decisions. There is a risk that unless the base data is aligned that this could undermine the basis to any referendum.
Would Cabinet please clarify the position? Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
The policies within the Neighbourhood Plan will continue to carry weight. There is a difference between what constitutes a Key employment site when considering all sites across Dorset and what constitutes a Key site in a more local context. Where sites are important to the local economy they can be protected through the Neighbourhood Plan.
The draft local plan is proposed for consultation and feedback on issues such as this are welcomed as the starting point for further discussion on these issues.
2. Question from David Moss
Re Agenda item 9 - Dorset Council Local Plan, Consultations
1. In 2008 a financial appraisal of possible development north of Dorchester was undertaken by the Halcrow Group on behalf of WDDC. It found that after a notional development period of fourteen years it would have a negative value of - £174 million. It also concluded that the necessary road works to serve such a development would cost £113 million. The only upto date information on the viability of development North of Dorchester on the Council's website are two
Page 1115 paragraphs which refer to the Council's recent experience of the Gillingham Extension highlighting the need to understand the cost implications of the infrastructure requirements on large scale schemes.
In May 2020 a Planning Inspectors report into the North Essex Authorities Shared Strategy (Section 1) Plan found in respect of three proposed 'garden communities',that two of the three proposed 'garden communities' were financially unsound and therefore not deliverable. Therefore, the draft plan failed the key test of whether it was sound or not. What is of particular importance in the Inspector’s analysis of the financial viability of the proposals is his criticism of the unrealistic assumptions being made on behalf of both the Councils involved and the promoters of the 'garden communities'. In particular he specifically refers to unrealistic assumptions regarding build-out rates and the need to account for 'optimism bias’ in considering the cost of the infrastructure requirements.
In the absence of an upto date financial appraisal which both takes into account the Halcrow Group conclusion of 2008 and the Inspectors Report of May 2020 is it appropriate to submit to the public for public consultation a major development proposal North of Dorchester when its financial viability and therefore deliverability is at the very least in grave doubt?
2. Given all that is known about the 'Climate Emergency' and the need for sustainability is it appropriate that North of Dorchester can only be built if a new link road between the A35 and A37 is built? The route of such a link road because of topography and cost will of necessity be driven through the middle of what is supposed to be a 'garden community'.
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
The 2008 Halcrow report was produced under a very different economic context and further work is needed to assess current viability.
Early work to start a more detailed viability assessment for the whole local plan is being undertaken. More detailed viability work will take place over coming months to fully understand the viability implications of the policies within the local plan for development across Dorset.
The Garden Community programme includes a range of support for local authorities to evaluate proposals for large scale developments. This includes support for evidence studies to evaluate a site’s deliverability including viability through to support across government bodies to help unblock issues that arise.
The movement strategy proposed within the plan seeks to maximise walking and cycling opportunities alongside the provision of facilities within the development. This will help to minimise the reliance on car travel and make everyday trips shorter and more sustainable. It should also be noted that the road link now proposed is not the full bypass being considered in the Halcrow report, but a link road of an appropriate scale to run through a residential area.
Page 1216 3. Question from John Calvert Re Item 9 Local Plan, Section 23.3.8 and Section 23.3.9 in Dorchester Town Centre Strategy
As a Dorchester resident I would like reassurance that any plan involving changes to Trinity Street would not just look at the public car parks as an easy place to put retail enterprises but also look at the public transport issues relating to the lack of room for queues at the various bus stops and at the overall look of Trinity Street. It needs major strategic changes rather than simply putting shops on the two car parks to the West of Trinity Street.
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
Any changes to the Trinity Street area in Dorchester would need to include improvements to the built environment. Increasing footfall within the area would aid in creating a more vibrant and attractive area of the town.
The council will be looking in detail at how it can work alongside town councils across Dorset to help deliver regeneration including improved public realm.
4. Question from Peter Bowyer Chair of Dorset CPRE Re item 9 Local Plan
1. Dorset Local Plan. Can the Council outline how it plans to incorporate the recommendations from the research report commissioned by Dorset CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) on Dorset Housing Evidence Needs into the emerging Dorset Local Plan? This report was sent to every member of Dorset Council and to its key officers. To date Dorset CPRE has received no comments or feedback from members and officials of the Council. This is particularly disappointing when considering the requests made at the September and October 2020 meetings of the Cabinet to have community input and engagement into a shared vision for the Dorset Local Plan. The report is particularly relevant to agenda item 9-Dorset Council Local Plan Consultation. The research findings and the substance of the report do not appear to feature at all in the Consultation planned for January 2021 and the associated information.
In the interests of public engagement and public confidence in the exercise of the planning function in Dorset, it would be helpful to know how Dorset Council intend to make use of this important report in the development of the Dorset Local Plan and what others form of engagement than the January 2021 Consultation the Council will be developing for the Dorset Local Plan.
2. Can the Council please explain why it has not included the SHLAA (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment ) in the background papers to agenda item 9-Dorset Council Local Plan? The SHLAA is an important document for residents .The provisional sites proposed by developers do not clearly show policy changes as expected. This is somewhat unusual and unexpected.
Page 1317 Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
National policy states that the Government’s standard methodology should be used to calculate housing needs, unless exceptional circumstances justify an alternative approach which also reflects current and future demographic trends and market signals. It is important to make sure that our plan is likely to be found sound at examination, and to have an up to date plan in place as soon as possible, and this means that it needs to follow national policy.
The standard methodology is being revised, as proposed through recent government consultations, and so the numbers for our area will change during the course of plan preparation. The consultation draft of the local plan seeks to make provision for the housing required under the current standard methodology whilst also giving some flexibility to respond to changes in this methodology, to respond to the consultation and to respond to the delivery of sites over the plan period.
The SHLAA is evidence that supports the local plan consultation document, and is available online on the Dorset Council website.
5. Question from Sally Cooke Re Item 9 Local Plan
The development envisaged in policy DOR13 of the draft Local Plan (the Garden Community proposal) will, if approved, greatly increase the number of people wanting outdoor recreation in the Dorchester area.
The Garden Community proposal intends to improve public access and nature conservation in the river valley. This habitat, however, is not the most robust to cope with large numbers of extra visitors.
The nearby public Local Nature Reserve at Thorncombe Woods is thought by local residents to be already at full stretch, and unable to cope with a big upsurge in visitor numbers. (This is an opinion which has been voiced during recent consultation on Stinsford’s draft Neighbourhood Plan.)
What ideas does Dorset Council have, in the context of policy DOR13, for creating new robust outdoor amenity space, such as extensive community woodland (larger in scale than the copses referred to in point VIII of policy DOR13), so that all residents close to Dorchester can continue to enjoy the same or better opportunities for countryside recreation as we enjoy now?
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning The draft proposal for policy DOR13 does not currently refer to extensive community woodland, but such suggestions can be made as responses to the consultation. Opportunities exist within the area to deliver substantial areas of open space, some of which will be appropriate for informal recreation with linkages being made to the wider countryside. Other opportunities could involve community orchards or making greater use of Puddletown Forest for informal recreation. All proposals within the
Page 1418 proposed site boundary would need to be considered within the more detailed masterplanning for the development, taking account of the advice from biodiversity, landscape and heritage consultees.
6. Question from Stinsford Neighbourhood Plan group c/o Stinsford Parish Council
Draft Local Plan Policy DOR13 proposes that “Land to the north of Dorchester will be developed in accordance with a masterplan produced for the site, which will reflect garden community principles.”
In paragraph 12 of the government’s Garden Communities Prospectus, 2018, we read that “Proposals should set out how the local community is being, or will be, engaged and involved at an early stage, and strategies for continued community engagement and involvement. We are clear that local communities – both current and future residents – must have a meaningful say in developing the proposal from design to delivery.”
If the development proposed in DOR13 goes ahead, what mechanism will Dorset Council put in place to ensure that this principle of Garden Communities is followed?
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
The original West Dorset District Council submission to the Garden Communities programme made a commitment to involving key stakeholders from the local community in the production of a masterplan for the site, with this masterplan being adopted as a supplementary planning document.
The council is currently considering formal governance arrangements and which approach would be most effective in steering the masterplan. The formation of a steering group with community, council and developer representation is likely to be the favoured approach. There would also be wider public consultation on the masterplan.
7. Questions from Roy Phillips MBE
Question one for Cllr Ray Bryan " At the cabinet meeting on 6th October it was minuted that Cllr Bryan would respond to all statements and questions submitted in relation to proposed major road works in Dinah's Hollow, Melbury Abbas. After 2 months no response has been received by stakeholders, Melbury Abbas & Cann Parish Council or residents. When will this be actioned ?"
Question two for Cllr Flower " Why were the stake holders and residents not given reasonable time between issue of the papers and reports and the closing date for submissions (in some cases only 2 days) to seek opinion on the reports and prepare
Page 1519 a detailed submission on Dinah's Hollow proposed works. Why was the substance of the submissions received after the closing date not made available to the cabinet as required by the 1974 Local Government Act. “
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment
‘As promised at Cabinet on 6th October, we have read and considered all the views received both before and after the Cabinet deadline regarding the proposed slope stabilisation works at Dinah's Hollow. The correspondence we have received regarding Dinah's Hollow is a reflection of the many demands we need to meet. The concerns highlight the impact the proposed slope stabilisation works might have on the vegetation, drainage, climate change, historic nature of the Hollow and the safe flow of traffic. Dorset Council has a duty under the Highways Act to maintain safe passage as far as is reasonably practical. The proposed work at Dinah's Hollow is prompted by the safety concerns raised by bank instability and the risk of injury, possibly death, posed to users of the highway. Let me once again reassure everyone that the environmental issues in the Hollow will guide our work here. Before any scheme proceeds, new ecological, tree and landscape surveys will be undertaken. The use of soil nails is currently seen as a measured and proportionate response to the threat posed, but of course geotechnical design will need to be reviewed against current best practice and site conditions that may have changed. The current proposed design is the result of detailed appraisal of the ground conditions, the ecology and visual environment which minimises the extent of the soil nailing. We do not plan to remove all the trees from the hollow. A selection of matures trees will be retained and planting holes created for replacement trees on the slopes. This would allow more daylight into the hollow and the growth of new plants and saplings through the mesh to create a more varied habitat. Ecology will govern the time of year that construction and maintenance operations take place to minimise the impact. Please be assured that there are no plans to change the traffic management within Melbury Abbas. If the proposals are adopted and funding is allocated, the traffic signals limiting traffic flow to a single lane at the lower end of the hollow will remain. The temporary concrete barriers will no longer be required. The advice given to HGV traffic will not change and retention of the signals will not make the route more attractive for traffic in general. To conclude, Dorset Council has difficult decisions to make balancing conflicting demands of social health and well-being, the climate emergency, highway safety and ensuring a sustainable economy. Whatever the outcome, the decision will not be taken lightly and will be made in the best interest of Dorset as a whole.’
Page 1620 Appendix
Question from Cllr N Ireland
1. Agenda Item #7 – Q2 Performance Update
“I note with some concern that in the latest performance update against our council’s plan there is a significant shortfall in the number of affordable homes delivered. Ignoring for now the fact that the 300 homes per annum is a wholly inadequate target given the housing list extends to something like 5000, the facts are that we’ve only achieved 75% in the first half-year, leaving another 186 before year end just to break even. As a member of one of this council’s planning committees, I observe that most of our meetings have at least one item asking for a reduction or the complete removal of the provision for affordable housing in a development previously approved. What is this council going to do in the remaining 3+ years of its term to ensure that not only we meet the 300/year target of affordable homes, but significantly exceed it for the benefit of our residents?”
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Housing
In the first two quarters of the year 114 new affordable homes were delivered.
As you will be aware all developments have suffered delays this year which has effected delivery.
Developers are working hard to catch up and it is also worth noting that this is the final year of the Homes England Affordable Housing Funding Programme for the five year period 2016 – 21. This means RPs will be keen to complete units that have grant attached to this programme.
There are a number of developments for affordable housing which plan to complete this year. We estimate that a further 200 affordable homes will be completed before the end of March 2021. This figure may change as there are a number of short term factors that could affect these homes being completed, such as Covid and Brexit.
Examples of developments that will deliver affordable homes this year include Poundbury in Dorchester, Cuthbury Close in Wimborne, Flaxfield Rise in Beaminster, Curtis Field in Weymouth, Lower Road in Stalbridge, Compass Point in Swanage and the Platinum Skies development for affordable home ownership for older people in Sherborne.
The Council is working hard with Registered Providers and Homes England to increase the supply of affordable housing in Dorset. Homes England recently published details of their 2021 – 2026 funding programme and we are supporting RPs in making funding bids.
There are a number of all affordable schemes that are being bought through which will use Homes England funding to develop a range of housing tenures. Recently completed all affordable schemes include 36 homes in Mosterton and 20 homes in Longburton. These developments have a planning policy compliant amount of
Page 1721 affordable included in the S106 and grant funding is used to deliver the rest of the site as affordable.
Examples of all affordable developments coming forward include sites in Beaminster, Stalbridge, Blandford, Gillingham, Okeford Fitzpaine, Sherborne and Weymouth. These developments usually include a mix of rented and shared ownership housing.
The Council will continue to work with RPs to increase the number of land led developments coming forward. These sites will combine with homes delivered through planning policy on open market developments, rural exception sites and community led housing schemes to ensure a positive pipeline of schemes.
The Council are working to increase the amount of temporary accommodation available. Examples include the acquisition of a 3 bedroom adapted bungalow in Wareham, previously a Travel Lodge had been used for households with disabilities, and four relocatable units also in Wareham.
The Housing Team are planning a number of acquisitions and leases to further increase the stock of temporary accommodation and have successfully bid for Government funding through the Next Steps Accommodation Programme.
All our current local plans include policies for the provision of affordable housing within general housing developments. The provision of affordable housing does however reduce the viability of development, and as market conditions vary over time, it is inevitable that in some cases it is not possible to secure policy-compliant levels of affordable housing. Viability is always thoroughly tested when this is the case, with developers asked to provide evidence which is then independently assessed on behalf of the council. Viability issues will also be tested through the process of preparing the new local plan, reducing the likelihood of viability arguments on applications being successful other than in exceptional cases.
2. Agenda Item #9 – Local Plan Consultation
“The Ward I represent in Dorset Council is entirely rural, ranging from small settlements such as Upton and Ringstead to the largest village of Crossways. Apart from the latter, all the settlements I represent are regarded under the current Local Plan as unsustainable and recently, post Dorset Council’s emergence, these villages have been subject to a strict application of a sustainability rule and essentially denied any opportunity for new builds, unless perversely for ‘holiday accommodation’ when it’s apparently OK. In virtually all cases these proposed residential developments, many profoundly towards the “Eco” and affordable end of the spectrum, have been fully supported by the local parish councils and residents as they realise that without development of suitable housing, their communities will atrophy, their village shop close, their children leave. This council’s proposed Local Plan does not address these issues. It persists with notions of 15 miles sustainability when most people don’t work in their local town, it ignores the fact that rural bus services won’t suddenly emerge as a panacea for all when we have absolutely no policy to inject
Page 1822 the funds or subsidies necessary to sustain the service levels required (and whilst we also shamefully continue to pay the bare minimum possible for bus pass use), and it completely ignores the fact that ICE vehicles are banned from sale in 10 years’ time - BEV journeys have zero emissions assuming the charging source is RE friendly i.e. distance doesn’t matter. The proposed Local Plan places the communities I represent all in Tier 4 bar one i.e. no housing. A more suitable policy would be to allow development within or adjacent to such settlements if they meet a suitable standard, for example Passivhaus. Will the Cabinet endorse and enact this proposal?”
Response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning
The strategy within the local plan is to focus development into locations where the distance people need to travel to meet their day to day needs is minimised and where sustainable travel options (walking, cycling and public transport) are available. This not only reduces the resources consumed whilst making journeys but also reduces reliance on car travel, thereby reducing congestion within towns. These active travel options help to create healthy communities where people are physically active.
The relative concentration of development also has benefits for service provision: more scattered development for example results in increased costs such as those for school transport.
Where smaller communities support additional development in their settlements however, it is still possible for them to propose this through neighbourhood plans.
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Page 24 Cabinet Forward Plan - February to May 2021 For the period 1 FEBRUARY 2021 to 31 MAY 2021 (publication date – 2 FEBRUARY 2020) Explanatory Note: This Forward Plan contains future items to be considered by the Cabinet and Council. It is published 28 days before the next meeting of the Committee. The plan includes items for the meeting including key decisions. Each item shows if it is ‘open’ to the public or to be considered in a private part of the meeting.
Definition of Key Decisions Page 25 Page Key decisions are defined in Dorset Council's Constitution as decisions of the Cabinet which are likely to - (a) to result in the relevant local authority incurring expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are, significant having regard to the relevant local authority’s budget for the service or function to which the decision relates (Thresholds - £500k); or (b) to be significant in terms of its effects on communities living or working in an area comprising two or more wards or electoral divisions in the area of the relevant local authority.” In determining the meaning of “significant” for these purposes the Council will have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 9Q of the Local Government Act 2000 Act. Officers will consult with lead members to determine significance and sensitivity.
Cabinet Portfolio Holders 2019/20 Agenda Item 6 Spencer Flower Leader / Governance, Performance and Communications Peter Wharf Deputy Leader / Corporate Development and Change Tony Ferrari Finance, Commercial and Assets Graham Carr-Jones Housing Gary Suttle Economic Growth and Skills Andrew Parry Children, Education and Early Help Laura Miller Adult Social Care and Health David Walsh Planning Ray Bryan Highways, Travel and Environment Tony Alford Customer, Community and Regulatory Services Subject / Decision Decision Maker Decision Due Other Committee Portfolio Holder Officer Contact Date Date March
Dorset Council Plan Quarterly Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Deputy Leader - Bridget Downton, Head of Performance Report - Q3 Cabinet Corporate Business Insight and Development and Corporate Communications, Key Decision - No Change Rebecca Forrester, Public Access - Open Business Intelligence & Performance rebecca.forrester@dorsetco uncil.gov.uk Page 26 Page
Tourist Information Centres - Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Bridget Downton, Head of Consultation responses next steps Cabinet Customer and Business Insight and in relation to Dorset Council Community Services Corporate Communications, Tourist Information Centres Tracy McGregor, Service Manager for Libraries Key Decision - Yes tracy.mcgregor@dorsetcou Public Access - Open ncil.gov.uk
Dorset and BCP Joint Local Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Wayne Sayers, Transport Transport Plan Development Cabinet Highways, Travel and Planning Manager Environment wayne.sayers@dorsetcoun Key Decision - Yes cil.gov.uk Public Access - Open
Report seeks support to review & refresh the joint Local Transport Plan with BCP to align with the emerging Local Plans and other recent policy changes. The new plan will steer our future transport strategy for Dorset and how we spend our £1.9M annual Subject / Decision Decision Maker Decision Due Other Committee Portfolio Holder Officer Contact Date Date allocation from DfT. Interim Dorset Heath Air Quality Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Sue Bellamy, Senior Strategy Cabinet Planning, Portfolio Planning Policy Officer Holder for Highways, sue.bellamy@dorsetcouncil. Key Decision - No Travel and gov.uk Public Access - Open Environment
The strategy outlines the policies & mitigation approach to the impact of vehicular emissions from new development on protected habitats & species. Procurement Forward Plan report - Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Dawn Adams, Service Over £500k (2021-2022) Cabinet Finance, Commercial Manager for Commercial Page 27 Page and Capital Strategy and Procurement Key Decision - Yes dawn.adams@dorsetcounci Public Access - Open l.gov.uk
To approve all proposed individual key decisions with financial consequences of £500k or more for procurement activity during the period 2021-2022. Approval to develop an alternative Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Lucy Johns, Commissioning delivery model for Information Cabinet Children, Education, & Transformation Lead Advice Guidance and Tracking for Skills and Early Help [email protected] young people not in education, ov.uk, Rosie Knapper, employment or training Senior Advisor
Key Decision - Yes Public Access - Open
To develop an alternative delivery model for Information Advice Guidance and Tracking ( IAGT) for young people not in education, Subject / Decision Decision Maker Decision Due Other Committee Portfolio Holder Officer Contact Date Date employment or training ( NEET) currently provided through an externally commissioned voluntary and community sector provider. West Parley Eastern Link Road - Dorset Council - 2 Mar 2021 Portfolio Holder for Neil Turner, Development Forward Funding Cabinet Highways, Travel and Team Leader, Highways Environment [email protected] Key Decision - Yes ov.uk Public Access - Fully exempt
DCC Cabinet of May 2018 approved the use of £2 million of corporate funding to forward fund the
Page 28 Page construction of the West Parley Eastern Link Road This funding is to be repaid by developers on reaching certain agreed development triggers for an associated mixed use residential and commercial development. This item seeks to reaffirm the Council's commitment to forward funding and agreement of associated terms. April
Dorset Cultural Strategy 2021 - Dorset Council - 6 Apr 2021 Portfolio Holder for Paul Rutter, Service 2026 Cabinet Customer and Manager for Leisure Community Services Services Key Decision - Yes [email protected] Public Access - Open ov.uk
Dorset Council Budget Quarterly Dorset Council - 6 Apr 2021 Portfolio Holder for Jim McManus, Corporate Performance Report - Q4 Cabinet Finance, Commercial Director - Finance and Subject / Decision Decision Maker Decision Due Other Committee Portfolio Holder Officer Contact Date Date and Capital Strategy Commercial Key Decision - Yes [email protected]. Public Access - Open uk
Our Digital Vision Dorset Council - 6 Apr 2021 Deputy Leader - Deborah Smart, Corporate Cabinet Corporate Director – Digital & Change Key Decision - Yes Development and deborah.smart@dorsetcoun Public Access - Open Change cil.gov.uk
To adopt the Dorset Council’s Digital Vision and action plan. Dorset Council Climate and Dorset Council 15 Apr 2021 Portfolio Holder for Antony Littlechild, Ecological Emergency Strategy Highways, Travel and Community Energy Page 29 Page Environment Manager Key Decision - Yes antony.littlechild@dorsetcou Public Access - Open ncil.gov.uk, Matt Reeks, Service Manager for Coast Following public consultation, this and Greenspace report will present the results of the [email protected] consultation and the post consultation ov.uk updated final version of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy for approval. Dorchester Office Strategy Dorset Council - 6 Apr 2021 Portfolio Holder for Dave Thompson, Corporate Cabinet Economic Growth, Director for Property & Key Decision - Yes Assets and Property Assets Public Access - Part exempt dave.thompson@dorsetcou ncil.gov.uk To review and agree the strategy for the Dorchester Office estate. Private/Exempt Items for Decision Each item in the plan above marked as ‘private’ will refer to one of the following paragraphs.
1. Information relating to any individual. 2. Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual. 3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). 4. Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority. 5. Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings. 6. Information which reveals that the shadow council proposes:- (a) to give under any enactment a notice under or by virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person; or (b) to make an order or direction under any enactment. 7. Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime. Page 30 Page
6 Agenda Item 7
Cabinet 19 January 2021 Budget strategy report
For Decision Portfolio Holder: Cllr G Suttle, Finance, Commerical & Capital Strategy Local Councillor(s): Cllr Executive Director: A Dunn, Executive Director, Corporate Development
Report Author: Jim McManus Title: Budget strategy Tel: 01305 221235 Email: [email protected] Report status: Public Recommendation: Cabinet is asked to agree and to recommend to Council: 1. the revenue budget summarised in Appendix 1; 2. the increase in general council tax of 1.997% and to levy 2.995% (3%) as the social care precept, providing a band D council tax figure for Dorset Council of £1,779.39; 3. the capital strategy set out in Appendix 3 and the capital programme set out in Appendix 4; 4. the treasury management strategy set out in Appendix 5; 5. the assumptions used to develop the budget strategy and Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) as set out throughout this report and summarised in Appendix 6; 6. the recommended balances on earmarked reserves and on general funds, including the minimum level of the general fund; 7. in making these recommendations Cabinet is requested to consider and agree the responses to the recommendations and comments made as part of the budget scrutiny process (Appendix 7). Reason for recommendation: The Council is required to set a balanced revenue budget, and to approve a level of council tax as an integral part of this. A balanced budget is essentially one
Page 31 where expenditure is funded by income without unsustainable use of one-off, or short-term sources of finance. The Council is also required to approve a capital strategy, a capital programme and budget, and a treasury management strategy, each of which are included with this report. The draft budget proposals have been considered (and endorsed) by the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee and by the People and Health Scrutiny Committee. 1. Executive summary This report sets out proposals for Dorset Council’s 2021/22 revenue and capital budgets and summarises the medium-term financial plan (MTFP) which covers the following four years to 2025/26. The report also includes the capital strategy and treasury management strategy. The budget proposals are built around the priorities identified in the Dorset Council Plan and were considered by the Dorset Council Scrutiny Committees on 11 December 2020. This paper contains details of Cabinet’s responses to the matters raised by those Scrutiny Committees. This budget reflects a continuation of the theme of previous Dorset Council budgets, to redirect resources from support services into front line services wherever possible. 2. Financial implications Financial information and impact are set out throughout this report and its appendices. 3. Well-being and health implications None specific. 4. Climate implications Since declaring a climate and ecological emergency at its first meeting in May 2019, the Council has given careful consideration to the declaration in all its business. The strategy and action plan are currently out for public consultation. The Council is mindful of the impact of its work, and in making decisions it is required to consider climate and ecological concerns. However, this report is concerned with financial strategy which will enable continued debate around the Council’s priorities within a balanced budget framework rather than driving or delivering climate and ecological policy itself. The majority of the Council’s climate and ecological actions require significant capital investment and will need specific funding from Government to deliver. Whilst councils are in a unique position to lead this work, it is not something that they can deliver on their own. However, the Council also has established governance arrangements around the capital programme and a number of bids that would help deliver the climate
Page 32 change action plan are being progressed through that route and will come to Cabinet for consideration, in due course. Many parts of the revenue budget proposals carried forward are already actively delivering on climate and carbon reduction objectives. However, there is no additional revenue budget identified at this time proposals at this time. 5. Other implications None specific. 6. Risk assessment Having considered the risks associated with this decision, the level of risk has been identified as: Current Risk: High Residual Risk: High Significant additional resources have been incorporated into the budgets for people services being delivered to Dorset Council’s residents. However, the unpredictability and volatility of demand and the price sensitivity of some of the complex services provided means that the budget can be significantly impacted by small changes to (for example) the numbers of looked-after-children or the numbers of adults needing support to live well at home. On top of these risks, we continue to manage our way through the Covid-19 pandemic, the single biggest risk to this Council’s financial performance and position in memory. More detail on the pandemic’s impact is set out below and in other papers prepared for Cabinet during 2020/21. The short-term nature of the Spending Review 2020 (SR20), the local government finance settlement and continuing uncertainty around the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union are further, significant risks to the Council’s budget. There is a well-developed risk-management process which will continue to frame our financial monitoring and corporate plan reporting during the year. 7. Equalities impact assessment The budget is a framework for the Council to achieve its priorities and the requirement to achieve a balanced budget is delivered through a number of key assumptions and the delivery of programmes of transformational change. The overall budget framework has not been the subject of a separate equality impact assessment but the programmes and changes upon which delivery of the budget will depend will themselves be assessed. 8. Appendices 1. High-level revenue budget summary; 2. Council tax resolution (for the Council report only); 3. Capital strategy 2021-2026;
Page 33 4. Capital programme budget summary and financing; 5. Treasury management strategy 2021/22; 6. Summary of financial planning assumptions; 7. Response to the issues raised by the Scrutiny committees. 9. Background papers Budget strategy report 2020/21 Quarterly financial management reports to Cabinet; July & November 2020 and January 2021 Budget strategy report for Scrutiny Committees December 2020 10. Budget priorities and background to budget development 10.1 Dorset Council adopted the Dorset Council Plan 2020-24 in February 2020. The priorities for Dorset set out in that plan are: economic growth - we will deliver sustainable economic growth, increasing productivity and the number of high-quality jobs in Dorset, creating great places to live, work and visit; unique environment - we will help to deliver sustainable development while protecting and enhancing Dorset’s environment; suitable housing - we will work with registered housing providers, community land trusts and local housing partners to deliver affordable, suitable and decent housing; strong, healthy communities - we will work with residents and partners to build and maintain strong communities where people get the best start and lead fulfilling lives; staying safe and well - we will work with all of our residents to have a good quality of life. 10.2 Aligned to the Dorset Council Plan, Cabinet approved the Transformation Plan, which described the approach that the Council would take to redesign services, so that the Council’s priorities can be met with the funding available. 10.3 Significant progress has been made in delivering on these priorities. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge. The Council has risen to this challenge, in providing urgent support to vulnerable residents in the wake of the lockdown and shielding restrictions. Looking forward to the recovery phase has brought into focus the importance of making sure our priorities as a council are going to help Dorset and its residents move forward, rather than returning to the way things were. 10.4 The impact of Covid-19 on the Council’s financial position continues to be dramatic as income levels have fallen significantly whilst expenditure has increased. There is still a substantial amount of risk and volatility around
Page 34 our assumptions, but our current forecast for 2020/21 is improving and the recent Spending Review 2020 (SR20) announced some additional funding for councils that might provide further financial support to the package of measures already being implemented. These could improve financial prospects further for 2020/21 and for 2021/22. More detail is provided further on in this report. 10.5 It is also worth reminding ourselves of the financial efficiency from becoming a unitary council, saving £10m from the pay bill alone when compared with predecessor councils. Further convergence savings are still being realised in the budget 21/22 process, but despite cost reductions, efficiency and council tax increases, the sustained growth in demand and costs of delivering services remains extremely challenging. 10.6 The challenge for 2021/22 and beyond is clear; for the Council to balance the budget whilst continuing to provide high quality services for the residents of Dorset. The challenge is amplified by the uncertainties caused by the effects of the pandemic on Dorset and the wider national economy, and the UK’s exit from the European Union. These are extremely challenging times. 11 Local and national contexts, the impact of Covid-19, SR20 and the provisional local government finance settlement 11.1 This budget has been prepared against a backdrop of unprecedented levels of uncertainty and risk. There are hugely influential matters in progress which will impact not just on Dorset Council, but globally. 11.2 The challenges facing councils around demand, funding and transformation continue and are well rehearsed. Against that backdrop, we also have the complexity of a pandemic and the challenges inherent in building a budget based on a current cost base which is complicated by the difficulty in assessing “pure-Covid-19” costs and assessing whether they should be included. 11.3 Nationally, £1.55bn has been made available for the early months of 2021/22 to fund Covid-19 pressures. Dorset Council’s share of this is £8.6m. This is not included in the budget and will be added to contingency to allocate against specific costs as and when these arise. There is no flexibility to support existing costs within that allocation and risk that it might need to be returned to Government if it is not required for the purposes intended. 11.4 The Spending Review 2020 (SR20) was broadly in line with expectations and the detail of the provisional local government finance settlement appears still to support initial thoughts that it was more positive for Councils than some had been anticipating. However, the spending review was still for a single year rather than a multi-year deal, so a significant amount of risk rolls forward into future funding levels in the MTFP. We are also still waiting for confirmation of some other significant grants which are
Page 35 announced outside of the settlement process, often by other government departments. 11.5 This is an unprecedented year, and this is borne out by the potential volatility in our financial planning assumptions. Many of these have moved quite significantly during the months of budget development. The latest budget assumptions are shown in Appendix 6 and generate the budget gap over the five-year period of the MTFP as shown in the table, below. Medium Term Financial Plan summary MTFP MTFP MTFP MTFS MTFP Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Yr4 Yr5
2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 £m £m £m £m £m
Council tax 263.905 271.197 278.691 286.392 294.303
Business rates (NDR funding) 44.312 44.534 44.756 44.980 45.205
Other grants treated as general 4.177 3.515 2.475 2.475 2.475 funding
Total funding 312.394 319.245 325.923 333.847 341.983
Budget requirement 312.394 328.199 345.100 362.984 381.416
Budget gap (cumulative) 0.000 (8.954) (19.177) (29.137) (39.434) 11.6 Clearly, while the gap for the current year has been closed, there is still work to do around future projections and we will continue to keep the model up to date and report frequently to Cabinet. Work also continues to deliver the tactical and transformational savings required to balance the budget. Delivery of these is key to future financial sustainability and resilience. 11.7 During 2020/21, councils have received a number of packages of support from Government. Most of those are set out in the Q3 financial management report and are not repeated here. However, it is worth mentioning two areas in particular where support will continue into 2021/22, namely the sales, fees and charges scheme and the tax income guarantee scheme. We are still waiting for exact details of how the schemes will work but they will both offer some support to next year’s budget. 11.8 There are also a number of grants in our funding for 2021/22 which are not yet baselined and are therefore at risk in future spending reviews.
Page 36 These include, for example, the improved better care fund and the social care support grant; the latter of these having been increased by £0.3bn national, although only £426k of that came to Dorset as much of the funding was applied to “equalisation”. This approach reinforces the point made elsewhere that councils with relatively high council tax are forced to raise it further still (through the social care precept) because they do not get a proportionate or equitable share of additional grant. 12 2020/21 performance and context 12.1 The budget has been built using experience of 2020/21, so it is important to understand this before moving forward. There are several strands of financial performance to address when considering the current year. 12.2 The budget for 2020/21 set a number of financial targets which would be possible for the converging councils. We targeted savings from further convergence of systems, processes and structures, increased income from commercial sources and critically, £3m of savings from transformation and a further £3m from improved supplier and contract management, and procurement. 12.3 It is pleasing to be able to report that many of the cost reductions from reorganisation that were built into the budget are being achieved. These include (amongst other things) reduced internal and external audit costs, reduced councillors’ expenses and, most significantly, employee cost reductions from the convergence of support services. However, the impact of Covid-19 has meant many of our resources have been redeployed to support response and recovery work, and although our transformation programme is being refreshed and energised, planned savings from transformation and better supplier management cannot be delivered in the current financial year (2020/21). 12.4 Despite the good work already completed and still in progress in 2020/21, this has been a year of further pressure on the revenue budget with an overspend still likely this year. We have done our best to analyse this between the impact of Covid-19 and other causes, but this is not a straightforward task for every line of income or expenditure. The position being forecast for 2020/21 is an overspend of £18.6m. More detail on this is set out in the Q3 financial management report that is on the same agenda as this report, so that detail is not repeated here. 12.5 It should be noted that there is still volatility and risk in the forecast for this year and some of this inevitably rolls into next year, so we must manage risks proportionately and monitor performance closely. However, we should remind ourselves that this will be the case in any year; 2021/22 is not unique in being a year where this Council, or its predecessors have faced significant risks. Since 2009, Councils have been required to deliver large-scale annual savings from their revenue budgets and Dorset Council’s predecessors are no exception, having saved well over £100m from their annual budgets in the last decade.
Page 37 12.6 The Council will continue to transform to deliver services sustainably within budget. But transformation takes time and while residents of Dorset need services to be delivered in the meantime, this Council will use reserves prudently during the current year to support additional demand as it develops new and innovative solutions to deal with a level of demand which outpaces funding currently available. We are also investing in transformation, with a £5m fund being deployed to support transformation. 13 Budget and MTFP development 13.1 The budget and MTFP approved in February 2020 presented a total budget gap, including planned savings, of £31m from 2021/22 to 2025/26, of which £7.4m arose in 2021/22. 13.2 However, revisiting our assumptions and the financial impact of Covid-19, caused the budget gap to increase, as set out in the report to Cabinet on 6 October 2020. £k Budget gap from 2020/21 MTFP 7,434 Reduction in tax base growth 1,924 Reduction in business rates yield 1,000 Change in inflation assumptions on pay, non-pay & income 1,324 Adult Services & Housing 2020/21 continuing budget pressures 6,584 Children's Services 2020/21 continuing budget pressures 625 Place Directorate 2020/21 continuing budget pressures 2,208 Corporate Services 2020/21 continuing budget pressures 294 Corporate savings not achieved in 2020/21 * 6,392 Adult Services & Housing new budget pressures 1,955 Children's Services new budget pressures 7,142 Place Directorate new budget pressures 2,730 Corporate Services new budget pressures 2,287 Revised budget gap 41,899
* corporate savings that the Council was unable to deliver due to resources required to be diverted to the Covid- 19 pandemic. 13.3 It was clear that Covid-19 was having a dramatic impact on the MTFP, increasing the budget gap to £71.4m over the five-year MTFP period, with a revised gap of £41.9m in the first year. Cabinet gave a clear steer to officers that they should work with portfolio holders and lead members to identify a range of transformational options and tactical savings that would help to close this budget gap over the autumn. 13.4 The approach to setting a balanced budget in 2021/22 was underpinned by eight principles: i) the budget should be driven by the Dorset Council Plan and priorities
Page 38 ii) front line services should be protected iii) where possible, ‘back office’ costs should be reduced iv) maximise the savings from becoming a unitary council v) accelerate our transformation programmes vi) take a more commercial approach vii) mitigate the impact on jobs where possible viii)be open to invest to save opportunities. 13.5 Using the principles listed above, along with continuing to keep the MTFP up to date with new information, the budget gap was closed as set out in the budget report presented to Scrutiny Committees on 11 December 2020. 13.6 More detail on budget movements is shown in the appendices to this paper and these should be read alongside the directorate updates, below. 14 Directorate plans and budgets 14.1 Overall budget information is set out in Appendix 1. More detail on individual directorates’ budget pressures, savings was also included in the report prepared for Scrutiny Committees on 11 December 2020. That detail is not reported again in order to make the volume manageable. Adult Services and Housing 14.2 The Directorate’s financial pressures were set out in the detail at appendix 1 to the scrutiny report. There will continue to be underlying increases in demand for services and cost pressures for providers due to Covid-19. 14.3 After ten years of funding constraints, efficiency is becoming increasingly challenging. Health budgets are strained as never before, and limited funds are passported to social care to support the acute health sector. 14.4 Increases in unemployment and numbers accessing benefits will cause increased poverty and homelessness, and families and individuals in distress will lead to higher demand for emergency accommodation and support. 14.5 Longer-term impacts of Covid-19, such as delays in treatment in the health system are likely to lead to more people in crisis arriving at the Adult Social Care ‘front door’, requiring more intense and expensive support. We are already seeing people being discharged from hospital earlier in their recovery, with increasing complexity of care need. There is also now in place a mandatory seven-days-a-week service to support the Health Service.
Page 39 14.6 The Directorate’s priorities are to recover from the immediate impact of the pandemic and deliver a balanced budget in 2021/22 through the following actions: • the five locality teams returning to strength-based conversations to ensure that care is appropriate and maximises long-term independence • commissioners strategically supporting a fragile care market back to stability and to be prepared for the changing needs of Dorset residents. Working with communities to make the most of Dorset’s strengths and assets, and to increase opportunities for people to live a better life • working together with Health to rebalance costs in the system to sustainable levels, removing ineligible Covid-19-related costs (self- funders) and negotiating with our providers • moving on from emergency housing arrangements and helping people move from bed and breakfast to more stable housing arrangements. Public Health 14.7 Public Health Dorset is a shared service established to provide public health functions to the two unitary authorities; Dorset Council and BCP Council. In order to fulfil statutory duties to improve health and wellbeing, and reduce inequalities in health, both Councils receive a ring-fenced grant from the Department of Health and Social Care. This is passed to councils via the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The grant must be used to provide mandated public health services, but it can also be used to support wider interventions to improve health and wellbeing. 14.8 Each of the Councils retains part of the grant to deliver services outside the scope of the shared service agreement, but still within grant conditions. In previous years, savings and efficiencies in the shared service have been passed back to the Councils using a population-based allocation formula. 14.9 The Joint Public Health Board agreed a new partnership agreement for the shared service in November 2020. This will consider using the budget in a new way, with contributions to the shared service agreed in advance. The budget will be considered in February 2021 by the Joint Board, leaving the Councils to invest any remainder outside of the shared service but within the grant conditions. 14.10 It is likely that around £0.5m will be passed back to each Council for underspend that is accruing during 2020/21, using a formula based on the proportions of grant contributed to the partnership. The budget assumes that Public Health Dorset can deliver a similar outcome for 2021/22. Children’s Services
Page 40 14.11 These proposals set out an increased budget of almost £3.7m for Children’s Services. This reflects the pressures seen in the current year of approximately £8m, largely due to children in care numbers and placements, and significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget also includes tactical savings of just over £3m and transformation savings of almost £1.9m. The cost of staff salary increments has also been funded, at almost £0.6m. 14.12 The budget aligns with the aims of the new three-year strategy; the Children, Young People and Families plan. The six strands of that strategy are not explored here, but the document is available online. 14.13 The budget is of course being set against a background of the Covid-19 pandemic. The implications for Children’s Services are: increasing complexity of demand, including parental mental health, substance misuse, and domestic abuse; increasing financial hardship for families; loss of access to education and therapy services; reduced availability of care placements; loss of respite provision, meaning more family stress; limited opportunities for the employment of young people. 14.14 The savings focus on decreasing the numbers of children in care and the unit cost of placements, and only delivering good care provision. We aspire to bring our numbers in line with statistical neighbours by better planning across our new localities, new processes, and refreshed oversight and focus on the right permanence plans. We will establish a new provision in Weymouth called The Harbour. Unregistered provision will be eliminated. Place 14.15 In Place-Based Services the largest budget pressures are a result of increasing volumes of household waste and market conditions impacting on waste disposal contracts, though next year significant pressures will also arise across all services due to loss of income due to Covid-19 this year. Savings will be generated largely from income generation across harbours, country parks, fleet maintenance, registration and bereavement services. There will also be more income generated from trade waste and garden waste to cover service costs, and further savings as a result of waste behavioural campaigns and convergence in seasonal street cleansing and regulatory services. 14.16 In Economic Growth and Infrastructure, the focus of the service is through the transformation of the planning system and implementing professional charges, refocusing the operating model within Dorset Travel and providing consistency of parking charges across Dorset. Next year
Page 41 significant pressures will also arise across all services due to loss of income due to Covid-19 this year. 14.17 For the Assets and Property Service, the focus in the coming financial year is on delivering the Property Strategy & Asset Management Plan in order to improve the management of the Council’s property portfolio and deliver the transformational benefits envisaged within the Council Plan whereby social, commercial and economic benefits will be delivered through rationalisation and re-purposing of the Council’s property estate and the disposal - where appropriate - of surplus assets. 14.18 In Libraries, Archives and Customer Services and also in Economic Development, savings will be achieved substantially through service efficiency costs by the removal of vacant posts. A number of budget lines not adequately provided for in the budgets from the predecessor authorities have also been corrected as pressures. Corporate Services 14.19 The corporate Services team consists of the Corporate Development Directorate combined with the Business Insight, intelligence and communications team and the Legal and Democratic teams. 14.20 The role of Corporate Services is threefold: to provide direct support and services to residents (eg the Revenues and Benefits team and the Land Charges Service); to support colleagues in the Place Directorate, in Childrens Services and in the Adults and Housing Directorate so they can provide the best services they can within financial and legal constraints; to provide those essential corporate services required of an organisation of our size and scale. 14.21 Corporate Services was launched in January 2020 following an extensive staffing restructure which was required to bring six Councils into one. Through that process the corporate services budget was rebased, contributing to savings of over £10m per year. During 2020/21 the department has continued to establish itself whilst providing crucial services which have enabled the Council to continue to function throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. 14.22 The budget proposals for 2021/22 have identified a further net reduction of £1.5M (4.9%). The majority of these savings come from reductions in contract spend, further convergence opportunities and reductions in staffing budgets as the Council continues to benefit from becoming a unitary authority. Central budgets & funding 14.23 Central budgets include capital financing, interest payable on borrowing, interest receivable on treasury management activities, repair and
Page 42 maintenance of assets, grants receivable and a contingency fund. Funding from council tax, business rates, and grants treated as general funding are also centrally held budgets. 14.24 There has been a net increase in central budgets for 2021/22, most notably due to £6m of savings from transformation and better procurement/contract management that were not achieved. This is because resources required to deliver these savings needed to be deployed to support the organisation to deal with the reaction to the Covid- 19 pandemic, as mentioned earlier in this report. 14.25 Other net changes largely offset each other and include changes to capital financing following LGR and the predecessor councils coming together and other adjustments to the contingency fund. Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 14.26 Members may recall that in previous financial reports, mention has been made of the overspend on the High Needs Block (HNB) of the DSG. The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 prescribed accounting treatment for DSG overspends that were accruing to an increasing number of Councils at that stage. 14.27 The Regulations require that the overspend be shown as a negative reserve and that this is not the responsibility of the Council. However, this is only for a time-limited period and after three years, any residual deficit on the DSG overspend will revert to the Council. 14.28 Dorset Council has a deficit reduction strategy and continues to develop this with schools and other partners. In recent weeks, work has also started with representatives from the Department for Education who are supporting the deficit reduction work whilst developing the sufficiency strategy and SEND capital strategy work. Cabinet will be updated on progress. 15 Council tax strategy, recommendations and Local Council Tax Support Scheme (LCTS) 15.1 The Chancellor of the Exchequer presented the Government’s one-year spending review on 25 November 2020. Councillors have been briefed on the details - and more on this and the local government finance settlement is set out elsewhere in this report. 15.2 The Chancellor announced that the social care precept would continue for 2021/22 and that this could be up to 3%. The referendum limit for increases to council tax (excluding the social care precept) was also confirmed at 2%. Due to historic, low levels of funding from Government, it is necessary for Dorset Council to implement both of these increases and Cabinet is asked to agree – and to recommend to Council - increases of 1.9967% in core council tax and 2.9951% for the social care precept; a
Page 43 4.9918% increase overall. The council tax charges proposed for each property band, for Dorset Council only, are set out in the table below.
2021/22 Band A Band B Band C Band D Band E Band F Band G Band H Core £1,062.72 £1,239.84 £1,416.96 £1,594.08 £1,948.32 £2,302.56 £2,656.80 £3,188.16 Social Care Precept £123.54 £144.13 £164.72 £185.31 £226.49 £267.67 £308.85 £370.62 Total £1,186.26 £1,383.97 £1,581.68 £1,779.39 £2,174.81 £2,570.23 £2,965.65 £3,558.78
15.3 This increase will enable the Council to balance the budget against a backdrop of significant cost and volume pressures, whilst delivering tactical and transformation savings of £18.6m and £9.1m respectively. 15.4 As well as the increases in the headline rates of council tax and the social care precept, there is also a change (generally an increase) in the tax base each year. There are many factors involved in the calculation of the tax base, the most significant usually being the increase in the housing supply from newly built homes that are required to pay council tax for the first time. 15.5 However, the calculation also includes changes in reliefs and discounts, and in 2020/21 these changes have been significant (and impact negatively on growth) as residents’ circumstances have been impacted by Covid-19, meaning many have found it more difficult to pay and have accessed support and discounts. This, and a slightly lower expected collection rate mean we are predicting a very small contraction of the tax base for 2021/22, from 148,410.8 to 148,319.7 band D equivalent properties (0.06%). 15.6 Last year, Cabinet also approved policy changes around council tax charges for empty properties that were facilitated initially by the Local Government Finance Act 2012 and which were intended to encourage owners of long-term empty properties to return these homes to use. No further changes are required to that policy, but it is worth reminding Cabinet of the premiums that are charged on empty, unfurnished properties, in each case as a premium on top of core council tax: 100% for properties empty and unfurnished for at least two years; 200% for properties empty and unfurnished for at least five years; 300% for properties empty and unfurnished for at least ten years. 15.7 The last banding will be implemented from 1 April 2021, the others are already in place. Local council tax support scheme 15.8 Dorset Council was established on 1 April 2019 and since then, has applied a 90% local council tax support scheme (LCTS) as agreed by the Shadow Executive and Shadow Council. 15.9 In preparing this budget strategy report, consideration has been given to the current scheme to assess if it is still fit for purpose. Officers have
Page 44 reviewed the scheme and propose no changes for 2021/22. We have given full consideration to the effectiveness of the scheme and the impact of Covid-19 on our customers and are satisfied that no proposals for change should be made at this time. 15.10 We will keep evaluation of the scheme in our work programme and when we have more data for 2021/22, we can reconsider the policy to ensure it remains effective and affordable. 16 Risk and mitigations 16.1 There is risk in any budget proposal. We are facing a future where we are unclear how the impact of Covid-19 will play out. Like every council – and Government itself - we are facing a number of potential scenarios each of which carry varying levels of volatility and uncertainty in our planning assumptions. 16.2 We are limited in what we can do at this stage to mitigate that, but we will remain focused on delivery of the work programmes required to support services to Dorset’s residents, within the budget we have available. Continuous monitoring of the agreed budget will be key to ensuring we keep abreast of the operating environment and make important, well- informed, timely decisions about our activities and their consequences. 16.3 Dorset Council is fortunate in that local government reorganisation meant it has reduced its cost base and has adequate reserves to see it through 2020/21 – and there are indicators that our financial position is improving slightly. But reserves are not a sustainable source of finance; we can only spend them once and doing so reduces our capacity to mitigate the risks that reserves provide for, as well as reducing resilience against unknown future events. 16.4 Even without the impact of Covid-19, there is considerable risk around our planning assumptions for growth in demand and price-sensitivity in the market, especially where providers are small and are operating on the fringes of viability. The budget gap quoted in this paper is after allowing for reasonable forecasts of growth in demand for Adults’ Services and Children’s Services but, both locally and nationally, demand for people services continues to challenge capacity and budgets. This will become even more pressing if the impact of national or local measures to contain the impact of Covid-19 mean that councils are required to deliver more or different services to safeguard residents. Some funding for Covid-19 support for the early months of 2021/22 has already been announced and is referenced elsewhere in this report. 17 Capital programme, capital strategy and budget 17.1 The total capital programme approved for 2020/21 was £66.1m. Slippage from 2019/20 and increases in external funding after the budget date added £67.2m bringing the total programme to £133.3m. £70.8m of this is
Page 45 externally financed with the remainder coming from the Council’s own resources. 17.2 The 2021/22 programme as currently defined is set out in Appendix 4. It should be noted that £15m has been included at this stage and is financed in the revenue budget, but the detail of this programme is still being refined and is progressing through the Council’s Capital Strategy and Asset Management Group (CSAMG) before recommendations come separately, to Cabinet for consideration. 17.3 The proposals also include a £2m capital contingency fund and a small capital works budget of £500k. Experience since 1 April 2019 is that there are a number of relatively minor capital projects that need to be carried out each year, ranging from physical access improvements to library equipment and a separate fund, which can be managed through CSAMG, will remove the need for more cumbersome governance arrangements for relatively small amounts to be approved. Amounts of up to £50k will be approved through a mechanism to be agreed by CSAMG (most cost centre managers already have authority to spend this money within our scheme of financial management) and the capital contingency fund will be administered in the same way as the revenue contingency fund, by approval of the S151 Officer, upon referral from CSAMG with amounts above £500k still being subject to Cabinet approval.no 17.4 The programme continues to be analysed according to the sources of funding. This involves classification of the programme into three categories: projects that are fully funded from external sources eg Department for Transport (DfT) grant. These projects received a relatively lighter- touch review to ensure funds were being spent in accordance with the grant conditions and were spent on highest priority projects, giving best value and outcomes. Projects that were partially funded from external sources e.g. partial grant funding, S106 agreements etc. These projects received an intermediate level of scrutiny to ensure that the Council was still getting best value from the contribution made from its own resources as well as securing optimum levels of external contribution for the projects chosen. Projects that are fully funded from the Council’s own resources. These projects received detailed scrutiny and challenge to ensure they were giving best value, were affordable and were still aligned to the emerging Dorset Council corporate plan, themes and objectives. 17.5 At this stage it is not clear how much of the capital programme will slip from 2020/21 into 2021/22 but the base budget provides for the financing of that programme. Any programme slippage will deliver a saving in the
Page 46 capital financing budget as we are seeing in the current year’s forecast position set out in the Q3 financial management report. 18 Other factors affecting planning and budget strategy 18.1 The Council’s Transformation Plan has been refreshed and was approved at the November Cabinet meeting. We will need to make sure that spend to save opportunities continue to be integrated into the financial planning process to ensure investment comes at the right time to ease pressure on the revenue budget. We should also be mindful of the impact that the pandemic has had on our previous plans and how the diversion of resources to support residents and businesses through the response and recovery meant that the Council was unable to deliver the programme of work that would have generated savings in our cost base. 18.2 The Asset Management Strategy was also approved at the November Cabinet Meeting, detailing the opportunities and approach that the Council will take to right-size its estate after convergence of the predecessor councils’ property portfolios. The plan describes the options to acquire, retain and divest property that will help us deliver transformed services, generate capital receipts, reduce running costs and help the Council operate in a modern and efficient way 18.3 The Asset Management Strategy dovetails with the Dorset Workplace Strategy which was adopted in October and which enables the Council to deliver better services more flexibly in a range of ways to meet Dorset residents’ needs. 18.4 The requirement to alter the Council’s estate and modernise workspace to meet the future needs of agile working and the aims of the Dorset Workplace is referenced in Dorset Council’s Property Strategy & Asset Management Plan. The Council’s response to the Covid 19 pandemic has accelerated the organisation’s transformation to new, more agile ways of working. 18.5 As such it is proposed to undertake a process of consolidation of office buildings commencing in the fourth quarter of 2020/21 which will result in fewer, better office properties, thereby releasing properties in locations where there is more than one multifunctional office and thus generate revenue savings, capital receipts or potential income. 18.6 Within the 2021/22 budget is a saving provision for office property costs of £672k which includes for the consolidation of staff within County Hall from offices in Dorchester including South Walks House and Princes House together with the termination of leases at Allenview House and Lynch Lane. A paper on the Dorchester office estate and options for future use is due to be considered by Cabinet in April 2021. 18.7 Delivering better value will also be the aim of our emerging Commercial Strategy. Cabinet has recently approved a new Procurement Strategy and we now look to strengthen our commercial approach further – not just
Page 47 through better procurement and contract management, but also through more effective income management and better relationships with our customers and our supply chain. 18.8 Dorset Council’s climate and ecological emergency strategy and delivery plan is currently being consulted upon. Delivery could involve significant investment over the MTFP period and beyond and the results will need careful consideration. At this stage nothing is built into the budget or MTFP, and capital funding will be required for whatever level of investment is agreed. Bids are currently being considered by CSAMG as well as being the subject of a bid to Government. 19 Treasury management strategy 19.1 The treasury management strategy is attached at Appendix 5 for Cabinet’s approval and recommendation to Council. As well as this strategy, a mid- year update and an outturn report for treasury management are seen by the Audit & Governance Committee. 19.2 Many of the treasury gains available through convergence of predecessor councils have already been taken in previous budget rounds. However, the Council continues to work with its adviser, Arlingclose, to review and monitor opportunities to improve its performance and position. 19.3 During 2020/21 the Council continues to implement its arrangement for a single provider of banking services. Moving to a single banking provider, is likely to deliver cost reductions close to £200k and these are built into the budget and MTFP. 20 Reserves, balances, contingency and resilience 20.1 The balance of Dorset Council’s general fund closed at £28.2m on 31 March 2020 (still subject to audit confirmation). The projected overspend in the current year will impact on that balance unless it is financed via the use of other reserves. 20.2 In 2018 the shadow Council commissioned an independent report from the Charted Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) which recommended that the Council should retain as a minimum, 5% of its budget requirement as a general fund reserve. Cabinet is therefore recommended to agree a minimum level for the general fund of £15.7m. 20.3 However, as in previous years, prudence would suggest that it would be better to hold a higher level of general reserves to provide for risks which are not mitigated through specific earmarked, reserves. Cabinet is therefore recommended to set a level of general reserve at double the value of the minimum level (£31.5m) and that the operating range be set at £20m to £30m. The operating range is the level at which intervention would be required to lower or raise the general fund balance. 20.4 As well as the general fund, the Council has other earmarked reserves which are set aside to mitigate against risks that may arise during the
Page 48 year. These reserves cannot be repurposed without impacting on the risk profile of the organisation, but it is possible that once we are safely through the 2019/20 audit, some further release of reserves might be possible. 20.5 It is prudent for any organisation to set a contingency budget to provide for unforeseeable circumstances arising during the year. The key is to set the contingency budget as accurately as possible, so it strikes a good balance between allowing the organisation to manage risk whilst not causing a diversion of material funds away from front line services where there are clearly continuing pressures. 20.6 The level of the general fund balance, the raising of the lower limit, the additional funding being put into directorate budgets and the review and consolidation of the Council’s reserves will all strengthen the organisation’s resilience. Work is also ongoing as part of the review of the Council’s resilience indicators as published by CIPFA. 21 Consultation, communication and equality 21.1 Dorset Council’s 2020/21 budget was approved by Full Council in February 2020. Members have been updated on the Council’s financial performance throughout 2020/21 through quarterly finance reports to Cabinet, and through regular updates at all-member seminars. An all-day budget seminar for all members was held in December 2020. 21.2 In October 2020 Cabinet received a paper outlining the initial, high-level budget assumptions for 2021/22, and these assumptions have continued to be refined as the budget setting process has developed through the autumn. 21.3 The 2021/22 budget proposals are driven by the Dorset Council Plan. The Plan was agreed by Council in February 2020 following wide consultation with partners, the public, local businesses, Town and Parish Councils, employees and other stakeholders throughout Dorset. More than 1,600 responses were received through the consultation, and these were used to shape - and continue to shape - the new Council’s priorities, as reflected in the Budget proposals. 22 S151 Officer assurance 22.1 Part 2 of the Local Government Act 2003 requires officers with responsibilities under s151 of the Local Government Act 1972 to make a statement regarding the robustness of estimates and the adequacy of reserves at the time the budget is set. 22.2 There are other safeguards aimed at ensuring local authorities do not over-commit themselves financially. These include: the Chief Financial Officer's powers under section 114 of the Local Government Act 1988, which requires a report to the Cabinet and to all
Page 49 members of the local authority if there is or is likely to be unlawful expenditure or an unbalanced budget; the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which requires a local authority to calculate its budget requirement for each financial year, including the revenue costs which flow from capital financing decisions. The Act also requires an authority to budget to meet its expenditure after taking into account other sources of income. This is known as the balanced budget requirement; the Prudential Code, introduced under the Local Government Act 2003, which has applied to capital financing and treasury management decisions; the assessment of the financial performance and standing of the authority by the external auditors, who give their opinion on the council and the value for money it provides as part of their annual report to those charged with governance. 22.3 The robustness of the budget critically depends on the maintenance of a sound financial control environment including effective financial management in each of the Council’s service directorates. Dorset Council’s scheme of financial management sets out the responsibilities of all those involved in managing budgets and incurring commitments on behalf of the Council. 22.4 Whilst financial projections are based on realistic assumptions, known demand and well-formed models, some budgets are subject to a degree of estimating error as actual expenditure can be determined by factors outside the Council’s control, for example demand for provision for adults with complex needs. Some activity is also subject to much more volatility and things can change very quickly and unexpectedly. 22.5 It is also generally not appropriate or affordable to increase budgets simply to reflect overspends in current or previous years. A reasonable degree of challenge to manage within the resources available is necessary and monitoring of expenditure, in order to take corrective action if necessary, is particularly important during a time of budget reductions. 22.6 The Council has well-developed arrangements for financial monitoring during the year. Budget performance is reported quarterly through the Cabinet and scrutinised by a number of other committees, including Audit & Governance Committee. There is also a well-defined model of finance staff working as business partners alongside service managers to support financial management and control. The Council’s financial management system also operates on a self-service basis, enabling all officers to interrogate financial information at any point in time. Finance business partners routinely report to directorate leadership teams each month and the S151 Officer meets weekly with the Lead Member for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy.
Page 50 22.7 Member involvement in budget development has been exercised, particularly through meetings of the Performance Leadership Board, regular update reports to the Lead Member, Leader and Deputy Leader, the wider Cabinet and in all-member briefings. There was also a significant programme of induction and training for all Councillors following the elections in May 2019. 22.8 The budget itself has also been subjected to all-councillor scrutiny, firstly through an all-day briefing session, led by Portfolio Holders and Executive Directors, then more formally through the Place and Resources, and People and Health Scrutiny Committees which were both held on 11 December 2020. 22.9 These budget proposals have been developed by the Council’s officer group, led by the Executive Directors with significant input from members, and co-ordination by the finance team. 22.10 In order to gain further assurance about the affordability of the Council’s strategy and plans, each Executive Director is taking personal responsibility for their budget through a formal sign-off process which will also form part of their performance assessment during the year. 22.11 Taking all these factors into consideration, I consider that the estimates prepared in line with the strategy explained in this report are robust. I also consider the levels of reserves to be adequate as set out earlier in this report. 22.12 Despite the steps taken to gain assurance and the processes, controls and monitoring that the Council has in place, the challenge and complexity of managing activity and associated expenditure within these estimates should not be underestimated. Against the backdrop of Covid-19 and our inability to be more certain over funding arrangements beyond the first year of our MTFP, the future will therefore remain challenging and balancing future years’ budgets will require sustained transformation. Close monitoring will be required during the year and prompt action will be needed if performance and forecasts vary materially from budget. 23 Summary and conclusions 23.1 The financial climate remains extremely challenging, though the Spending Review and settlement were perhaps slightly more positive than we had been anticipating. There are challenges ahead meaning the Council started planning for 2021/22 early to develop and implement robust plans to fit within our assumed budget envelope. 23.2 Despite an overspend in 2019/20 and another being predicted for 2021/22, the Council’s predecessors’ decision to reorganise and become a unitary council mean that savings were generated in advance of the pandemic and further efficiency and cost reductions continue to be implemented this year and in the budget. Consolidating our risks and
Page 51 reserves has also given us a better starting point than we would have had as individual councils. 23.3 Despite this, there is still significant risk and volatility ahead. The 20201/22 budget provides further strengthening of people services budgets, both for adults and children. The data in Appendix 1 show that both of these budgets are proposed to increase by more than 5%. Against this, Place budgets have contracted by 7.87% and Corporate by 4.89%. 23.4 Members of the two scrutiny committees have considered these budget proposals and their input to the process is set out at appendix 7, with proposed responses for Cabinet to agree alongside the other recommendations in this paper.
Aidan Dunn Executive Director, Corporate Development
Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 52 Appendix 1 – Summary Budget 2021/22 Appendix 1a -– Subjective analysis
Page 53 Appendix 1b – Cost Type Analysis
Original Budget Cost Type £'000 Internal Charges 7,429 (Expenditure) Authority (Democratic)Costs 1,763 Pay Related Costs 147,102 Premises Related Costs 20,029 Transport Related Costs 20,468 Supplies and Services 101,723 Transfer Payments 111,938 Levies & Precepts 738 Third Party (Contracted Out) 135,857 Payments Net Schools Budget 878 Contingency and movement 19,357 in reserves Gross Expenditure 567,282
Government Grants (Specific) (117,958) Income, Fees & Charges (136,930) Gross Income (254,888)
Budget Requirement 312,394
Council Tax 263,905 Business Rates 44,312 New Homes Bonus 1,702 Rural Services Delivery Grant 2,475 Total Funding 312,394
Page 54 Appendix 1c – Changes in Budget from 2020/21 to 2021/22
Page 55 Appendix 1d – Adult Services £ Opening Base Budget 20/21 122,253,222 Extra cost of Care and Operations 7,449,000 Cost of Increments 295,000 Inflation on sales, fees & charges (395,622) Pathways to employment 11,000 Housing benefits in excess of Govt cap 1,000,000 Adult Care packages 5,208,076 Building Better Lives 355,000 Respite Care 600,000 Introduction of assistive technology (375,000) Increased income from self-funders (31,000) Less reliance on contracted care (current arrangements) (833,500) Reduction of Learning and Development budget @10% (45,000) Flexible and remote working - less travel (30,000) More efficient brokerage pathways and digitising of routine tasks (60,000) Administrative savings (25,000) Reduction in housing benefit costs through capital investment (400,000) Fewer people going into residential and nursing care (3,700,000) Helping people do more for themselves, less reliance on home care (1,181,922) Development of more flexible and responsive menu of day opportunities (500,000) Realignment of long-term health and care costs within the system (1,200,000) Proposed 2021/22 budget 128,394,254
Page 56 Appendix 1e – Corporate Development & Legal Services
£ Opening base budget 20/21 31,120,112 Cost of Increments 320,199 Inflation on sales, fees & charges (48,741) Pathways to employment 11,000 Trade Union Secondees 140,000 McFarlane telephone, cyber security 205,000 Hive - staff survey 48,000 Licences for Power Business Intelligence 50,000 Treasury Management 50,000 Lost income for Dorset Magazine 50,000 Legal Services - case management software 50,000 Members allowances 89,315 Finance & Commercial Convergence savings (608,000) Finance & Commercial Establishment savings (247,000)
Finance & Commercial other savings (38,000) ICT operations efficiency savings (449,150) ICT operations savings (48,400) ICT Operations establishment savings (176,624) HR and OD Convergence savings (30,000) HR and OD efficiency savings (63,000) HR and OD establishment savings (102,000) Assurance Convergence savings (26,500) Assurance efficiency savings (51,000) Assurance other savings and audit fee savings (211,561) Assurance training and travel savings (4,000) Democratic & Electoral convergence savings (144,400) Democratic & Electoral efficiency savings (122,500) Democratic & Electoral establishment savings (13,000) Democratic & Electoral training and travel savings (6,600) Legal convergence savings (13,900) Legal efficiency savings (3,400) Legal other savings and audit fee reduction (27,000) Legal training and travel savings (6,000) Business Intelligence efficiency savings (5,000) Business Intelligence training and travel savings (13,000) Communications efficiency savings (5,000) Communications training and travel savings (2,590) Chief Executive Office convergence savings (36,550) Chief Executive Office efficiency savings (2,700) Chief Executive training and travel savings (28,220) Community grants - efficiency savings (750) Community Grants - training and travel savings (2,000) Proposed 2021/22 budget 29,597,040
Page 57 Appendix 1f – Place £ Opening base budget 20/21 68,456,066 Cost of Increments 810,216 2020/21 existing budget pressures in Place 1,850,000 Transfer of SEN Travel Team to Place 123,718 Inflation on sales, fees & charges (642,195) Move Waste Asset Financing to Central Finance (3,570,527) Pathways to employment 11,000 Unfunded TIC's 60,000 Increase in property costs 200,000 Gully clearance 400,000 Increase in school transport costs 750,000 Waste pressures 796,000 CCTV replacement programme 25,000 Harbour base budget adjustment 65,000 Loss of café income at Durlston 20,000 Harbour dredging 85,000 Streetlighting contract prices 400,000 Service redesign of Property and Assets Service (850,000) Ex RCCO Revenue Maintenance Budget (187,500) Dorset Innovation Park-Insource CBRE Services (64,000) Increased income Housing Support (50,000) Reduction in property costs (672,000) Reprofile support to Dorset LEP (52,500) Community economic development (formerly North Dorset DC) (12,144) Delete currently vacant positions - Economic Growth (57,344) Service efficiencies across the Parking Service (136,590) Car Parking Phase 1 Project (788,800) Street Lighting LED energy savings (160,000) Service efficiencies across the Highways Service (4,000) Change of operating model for Fleet Services (Dorset Travel) (880,000) Service efficiencies across Dorset Travel (163,935) Increase in Commercial Income across Harbours, Coast and Greenspace and Fleet Maintenance (245,000) Managed reduction in transport costs (20,000) Income generation for listed building and EPC pack (25,000) Income generation for Neighbourhood Plan support service (15,000) Income generation for discretionary planning services (pre-app and Planning Performance Agreements) (250,000) Planning transformation (490,000) Behavioural change - Right Stuff Right Bin Campaign (187,250) Trade Waste - increased income (100,000) Garden Waste - increased income (330,000) Convergence of service budgets (43,353) Waste disposal technical consultancy budget reduction (25,000) Reduction of vacant posts and running costs of Customer Services (244,254) Service efficiencies in Libraries (155,000) Service redesign of the remaining TIC's (52,000) Leisure centres - reduce casual and zero hours staff with revised service offer 21/22 (115,000) Service efficiencies across the Outdoor Education Service (80,000) Increased income across the Regulation Service (152,500) Regulatory convergence and transformation (70,000) Reduction in travel budget - 30% (55,843) Reduction in training budget - 20% (37,000) Proposed 2021/22 budget 63,068,265
Page 58 Appendix 1g – Children’s Services £ Opening base budget 20/21 72,978,419 Cost of Increments 550,000 Add in additional pressures from overspend 625,000 Transfer of SEN Travel to Place (123,718) Inflation on sales, fees & charges (36,983) Pathways to employment 11,000 Increase in no. and costs of external Placements 6,171,293 SEND Transport 1,000,000 Weymouth residential home project staffing 345,000 Blueprint for Change pay protection (8,300) MASH savings - relocation and redesign of front door operations (100,000) Review Short Breaks programme and increase wraparound offer (125,000) Reduce staff travel budgets by 10% (132,000) Remove 15% from all training budgets (64,000) Increase trading charges by 10% in targeted areas (100,000) Review and reduce subscription spend (30,000) Review and decrease external room usage (50,000) Review Early Years sector qualification support (150,000) Reduction in recharges to Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) (1,000,000) Review information, advice and guidance delivery model (400,000) Redesign of Family Contact delivery model (150,000) Additional contributions from Health and Education to Placements (500,000) Review support packages for families with SGO and Troubled Families arrangements (200,000) Review of existing CIC internal and external placements (1,470,000) Development of Family Hubs (400,000) Proposed 2021/22 budget 76,640,711
Page 59 Appendix 1h - Capital Finance, Contingency and Repairs & Maintenance £ Opening base budget 20/21 9,412,263 Shortfall in savings 20/21 6,000,000 Cost of funding increments from contingency (1,975,415) Waste Asset Financing transfer to Capital Finance 3,570,527 Increase in cost pressures held in contingency 1,504,534 Allocation of inflation held in contingency 2,000,000 Increase in R&M costs 268,000 Increase in MRP calculation 250,000 Increase in Pension costs 252,000 Increase in grant funding (588,000) Reduction in overall asset financing (3,000,000) Public Health adjustment (500,000) Reduction of contingency budget (2,500,000)
Proposed 2021/22 budget 14,693,909
Page 60 Appendix 1i. Sources of funding
Page 61 Appendix 1j. How the budget is spent
Page 62 Appendix 2 Council tax resolution (Council paper only, blank for Cabinet paper)
Page 63 Appendix 3 Capital Strategy 2021-2026 1. Introduction 1.1. This capital strategy gives a high-level overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contribute to the provision of local public services along with an overview of how associated risk is managed and the implications for future financial sustainability. 1.2. Decisions made this year on capital and treasury management will have financial consequences for the Council for many years to come. They are therefore subject to both a national regulatory framework and a local policy framework, summarised in this report. 2. Capital expenditure and financing 2.1. Capital expenditure is where the Council spends money on assets, such as property or vehicles, that will be used for more than one year. In local government this includes spending on assets owned by other bodies, and loans and grants to other bodies enabling them to buy assets. The Council has some limited discretion on what is treated as capital expenditure, for example, land and building assets costing less than £25k are generally not capitalised and are instead charged to revenue in the year of purchase. 2.2. In 2021/22, the Council is planning capital expenditure of £63m as detailed in Appendix 4 and summarised below. Table 1: Prudential Indicator: Estimates of Capital Expenditure in £m
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Projects with full external funding 54 15 0 0 Projects with partial external funding 32 9 3 0 Projects with no external funding 48 39 12 15 TOTAL 134 63 15 15
2.3. The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (IFRS16) Leases for the 2022/23 financial year, requires all ‘right of use’ assets to be shown on the balance sheet. The impact of this change in accounting treatment is currently being formulated. 2.4. Capital investments include loans and shares made for service purposes and property to be held primarily for financial return in line with the definition in the CIPFA Treasury Management Code. 2.5. Service managers bid annually for approval of capital projects. A sum of £15m has been set aside in the capital programme as an investment fund against which new bids can be submitted. This amount is affordable within the capital financing budget.
Page 64 2.6. Bids are collated by the Finance Policy & Compliance team who calculate the financing cost (which can be net nil if the project is fully externally financed). The Capital Strategy and Asset Management Group (CSAMG) appraises all bids based on a comparison of service priorities against financing costs and makes proposals to Cabinet. The final capital programme is then presented to Cabinet and then to Council for approval. 2.7. Capital projects with the most beneficial impact on the revenue budget will be prioritised. The Council also intends to repurpose assets for better service delivery. 2.8. All capital expenditure must be financed, either from external sources (government grants and other contributions), the Council’s own resources (revenue, reserves and capital receipts) or debt (borrowing, leasing and Private Finance Initiative). The planned financing of the above expenditure is summarised below: Table 2: Capital financing in £ millions
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Grants and contributions 72 19 0 0 Capital receipts applied 0 0 0 0 Reserves 0 0 0 0 Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) 9 10 10 10 Other revenue contributions 0 0 0 0 Debt 53 34 5 5 TOTAL 134 63 15 15
2.9. Debt is only a temporary source of finance, since loans and leases must be repaid, and this is therefore replaced over time by other financing, usually from revenue which is known as minimum revenue provision (MRP). Alternatively, proceeds from selling capital assets (known as capital receipts) may be used to replace debt finance. 2.10. The Council’s cumulative outstanding amount of debt finance is measured by the capital financing requirement (CFR). This increases with new debt- financed capital expenditure and reduces with MRP and capital receipts used to replace debt. The CFR is expected to increase by £53m during 2021/22. Based on the above figures for expenditure and financing, the Council’s estimated CFR is as follows: Table 3: Prudential Indicator: Estimates of Capital Financing Requirement in £m 31-Mar-20 31-Mar-21 31-Mar-22 31-Mar-23 31-Mar-24
Actual Forecast Budget Budget Budget Capital Financing Requirement 320 373 407 412 417
Page 65 2.11. When a capital asset is no longer needed, it may be sold so that the proceeds, known as capital receipts, can be spent on new assets or to repay debt. The Council is currently also permitted to spend capital receipts on service transformation projects until 2022/23. The Council forecasts that £2m of capital receipts will be received in 2020/21. Table 4: Capital receipts receivable in £m 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Asset sales 2 0 0 0 2.12. The capital programme does not assume any capital receipts as financing beyond 2019/20, though clearly where the asset management strategy indicates that a property is surplus and disposal is the correct option, the asset will be disposed of in the best way. A decision about the use of any capital receipts that do accrue will be taken by Cabinet in 2020/21 as they can either be used to finance new capital expenditure, or flexibly to finance revenue transformation costs. 3. Treasury Management 3.1. Treasury management is concerned with keeping sufficient but not excessive cash available to meet the Authority’s spending needs, while managing the risks involved. Surplus cash is invested until required, while a shortage of cash will be met by borrowing, to avoid excessive credit balances or overdrafts in the bank current account. Borrowing strategy 3.2. The Council’s main objective when borrowing is to achieve a low and certain cost of finance while retaining flexibility should plans change in future. These objectives are often conflicting, and the Council therefore seeks to strike a balance between relatively inexpensive short-term loans (currently available at annual interest rates of approximately 0.2%-0.5%) and long- term, fixed-rate loans where the future cost is known but higher (currently available at annual interest rates of approximately 2% to 3%). 3.3. Projected levels of the Council’s total outstanding debt (which comprises borrowing, PFI liabilities, leases and transferred debt) are shown below, compared with the capital financing requirement. Clearly these are subject to change as the Council’s capital programme for the future develops.
Page 66 Table 5: Prudential Indicator: Capital Financing Requirement and Gross Debt in £m 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Actual Forecast Budget Budget Budget Capital Financing Requirement 320 373 407 412 417 External Debt (incl. PFI & leases): External borrowing 216 239 283 298 313 Long-Term PFI Liabilities 24 23 22 21 20 Obligations under Finance Leases 3 3 3 3 3 Total Debt 243 265 308 322 336 Internal Borrowing 77 108 99 90 81
3.4. Statutory guidance is that debt should remain below the capital financing requirement, except in the short-term. The Council expects to comply with this requirement in the medium-term, as shown in the table above. 3.5. To compare the Council’s actual borrowing against an alternative strategy, a ‘liability benchmark’ has been calculated based on the lowest possible level of borrowing. This assumes that cash and investment balances are kept to a minimum level of £20m at each year-end and may not be possible to implement in practice due to constraints on the Council’s ability to repay existing borrowing. Table 6: Borrowing and the Liability Benchmark in £m
31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Actual Forecast Budget Budget Budget Outstanding borrowing 216 239 283 298 313 Liability benchmark 128 149 198 213 228 Difference 88 90 85 85 85
3.6. The table above shows that the Council expects to remain borrowed above its liability benchmark by approximately £90m over the medium-term. 3.7. The Council is legally obliged to set an affordable borrowing limit (also termed the “authorised limit” for external debt) each year, and to keep it under review. In line with statutory guidance, a lower “operational boundary” is also set as a warning level should debt approach the authorised limit. The Council’s total operational boundary has been set at £25m above the CFR, with the total authorised limits a further £25m higher. Table 7: Prudential Indicators: Authorised limit and operational boundary for external debt in £m
Page 67 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Authorised Limits: Borrowing 386 421 427 433 PFI and leases 37 36 35 34 Total External Debt 423 457 462 467 Operational Boundary: Borrowing 366 401 407 413 PFI and leases 32 31 30 29 Total External Debt 398 432 437 442
3.8. The authorised limit and operational boundary for 2022/23 and subsequent years may need to be reviewed when the impact of the changes in accounting for leases under IFRS 16 are more fully understood. Treasury investments strategy 3.9. Treasury investments arise from receiving cash before it is paid out again. Investments made for service or commercial reasons are not generally considered to be part of treasury management (see paragraphs 4 and 5 below). 3.10. The Council’s policy on treasury investments is to prioritise security and liquidity over yield, that is to focus on minimising risk rather than maximising returns. Cash that is likely to be spent in the near term is invested securely, for example with the Government, other local authorities or selected high- quality banks, to minimise the risk of loss. Money that will be held for longer terms is invested more widely, including in bonds, shares and property, to balance the risk of loss against the risk of receiving returns below inflation. 3.11. Both near-term and longer-term investments may be held in pooled funds, where an external fund manager makes decisions on which particular investments to buy and the Council may request its money back at short notice. Table 8: Cash and treasury investments in £m
31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Actual Forecast Budget Budget Budget Cash & cash 31.5 35 30 30 30 equivalents Treasury investments 76.1 75 75 75 75 Total Investments 107.6 110 105 105 105 3.12. The effective management and control of risk are prime objectives of the Council’s treasury management activities. The treasury management
Page 68 strategy therefore sets out various indicators and limits to constrain the risk of unexpected losses. 3.13. Decisions on treasury management investment and borrowing are made daily and are therefore delegated to the Section 151 Officer and staff, who must act in line with the treasury management strategy approved by Council each year. The Audit and Governance Committee is responsible for scrutinising treasury management decisions, and regular reports on treasury management activity are presented to this committee. 3.14. The Council’s treasury management strategy includes further details of the Council’s borrowing and treasury investments. 4. Investments for Service Purposes 4.1. The Council may make investments to assist local public services, including making loans to or investing in local service providers, including its own subsidiaries. In light of the public service objective, the Council may be willing to take more risk than with treasury investments, however it still plans for such investments to break even after all costs. 4.2. Decisions on service investments must be made in line with the criteria and limits laid down in the investment strategy to be approved by Council. 5. Commercial Activities 5.1. The Council may invest in property or other commercial activities purely or mainly for financial gain. As financial return is the main objective, the Council may accept a higher level of risk on commercial investments than with treasury investments. The value and risks of commercial investments must remain proportionate to the size of the Council, and contingency plans must be put in place should expected yields not materialise. 6. Revenue Budget Implications 6.1. Although capital expenditure is not charged directly to the revenue budget, interest payable on loans and MRP are charged to revenue, offset by any investment income receivable. Estimated financing costs are summarised in the table below. Table 9: Estimated financing costs in £m 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Interest Payable 8.3 8.3 9.5 9.8 Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) 9.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 Gross Financing Costs 17.3 18.3 19.5 19.8 Less Investment Income -3.6 -3.8 -3.8 -3.8 Net Financing Costs 13.7 14.5 15.7 16.0
Page 69 6.2. The table below compares estimated financing costs to the Council’s estimated net revenue stream i.e. the amount funded from council tax, business rates and general government grants. Table 10: Prudential Indicator: Proportion of financing costs to net revenue stream
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Forecast Budget Budget Budget Net financing costs (£m) 14 15 16 16 Proportion of net revenue stream 4.5% 4.6% 4.9% 4.9%
6.3. MRP is calculated with regard to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Guidance on Minimum Revenue Provision (the MHCLG Guidance), most recently issued in 2018. In accordance with this guidance, where capital expenditure was incurred before 1 April 2008, MRP will be charged at 4% of the outstanding capital financing requirement, and for capital expenditure incurred on or after 1 April 2008, MRP will be charged based on the expected useful life of the assets funded from this borrowing. 6.4. Financing costs for 2022/23 and subsequent years will need to be reviewed when the impact of the changes in accounting for leases under IFRS 16 are more fully understood. 6.5. Due to the very long-term nature of capital expenditure and financing, the revenue budget implications of expenditure incurred in the next few years may extend many years into the future. The Section 151 Officer is satisfied that the proposed capital programme is prudent, affordable and sustainable. 7. Knowledge and skills 7.1. The Council employs professionally qualified and experienced staff in senior positions with responsibility for making capital expenditure, borrowing and investment decisions. The Council supports junior staff to study towards relevant professional qualifications. 7.2. Where Council staff do not have the knowledge and skills required, use is made of external advisers and consultants that are specialists in their field. This approach is more cost effective than employing such staff directly and ensures that the Council has access to knowledge and skills commensurate with its risk appetite. Arlingclose are employed as the Council’s treasury management advisers.
Page 70 Appendix 4 Capital programme budget summary and financing
21/22-25/26 Part I - projects with full external funding 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Total £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Funding source Capital grant DfT/DfE/other (15,101) (15,101) Total funding (15,101) 0 0 0 0 (15,101) Projects Local Transport Plan programme of works 15,101 15,101 Total spend 15,101 0 0 0 0 15,101
Net expenditure 0 0 0 0 0 0
21/22-25/26 Part II - projects with partial external funding 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Total £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Funding source Section 106 Agreements/Contributions/Growth Deal 0 Contribution from MHCLG (Blandford) 0 Total funding (3,891) 0 0 0 0 (3,891) Projects Dorset History Centre original bid 2,334 165 2,499 DWP Infrastructure - Blandford site 1,948 2,902 4,850 Schools Basic Need programme 4,491 4,491 Total spend 8,773 3,067 0 0 0 11,840
Net expenditure 4,882 3,067 0 0 0 7,949
21/22-25/26 Part III - projects with no external funding 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Total £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Projects Schools Access Initiative 200 200 200 200 200 1,000 Property Improvements Programme 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 30,000 Dorset Council Fleet Replacement Programme 4,781 2,983 6,024 5,770 4,890 24,448 Weymouth Peninsula including Harbour Walls (W&PBC) 4,946 4,946 ICT minor capital works and projects 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 10,000 ITS replacement programme 200 200 200 200 200 1,000 Acquisition of temporary accommodation 1,650 1,650 Healthy homes Dorset 75 75 75 225 Compulsory purchase of long-term empty property 489 489 Residential sufficiency in Weymouth 1,072 1,072 Minor capital works 500 500 Capital contingency 2,000 2,000 Investment fund 15,000 15,000 Total spend 38,913 11,458 14,499 14,170 13,290 92,330
Net expenditure 38,913 11,458 14,499 14,170 13,290 92,330
Summary of net expenditure and funding 21/22-25/26 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Total £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Total expenditure 62,787 14,525 14,499 14,170 13,290 119,271
Full external funding (15,101) 0 0 0 0 (15,101) Partial external funding (3,891) 0 0 0 0 (3,891) Dorset Council part funding (borrowing) (4,882) (3,067) 0 0 0 (7,949) Dorset Council funding (borrowing) (29,013) (1,308) (4,099) (3,520) (2,390) (40,330) Dorset Council funding (reserves) 0 0 0 0 0 Dorset Council funding (capital receipts) 0 0 0 0 0 Minimum Revenue Provision (9,900) (10,150) (10,400) (10,650) (10,900) (52,000) Total funding (62,787) (14,525) (14,499) (14,170) (13,290) (119,271)
Page 71 Appendix 5 Treasury management strategy 1 Introduction 1.1 Treasury management is the management of the Council’s cash flows, borrowing and investments, and the associated risks. The Council has borrowed and invested substantial sums of money and is therefore exposed to financial risks including the loss of invested funds and the revenue effect of changing interest rates. The successful identification, monitoring and control of financial risk are therefore central to the Council’s prudent financial management. 1.2 Treasury risk management at the Council is conducted within the framework of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s Treasury Management in the Public Services: Code of Practice 2017 Edition (the CIPFA Code) which requires the Council to approve a treasury management strategy before the start of each financial year. This report fulfils the Council’s legal obligation under the Local Government Act 2003 to have regard to the CIPFA Code. 2 Treasury Management Advisers 2.1 The Council employs professionally qualified and experienced staff with responsibility for making borrowing and investment decisions. Officers are supported by external advisers who are specialists in their fields. The Council currently employs Arlingclose Limited as treasury management advisers. 2.2 This approach ensures that the Council has access to a wide pool of relevant market intelligence, knowledge and skills, that would be very difficult and costly to replicate internally. However, whilst advisers provide support to the internal treasury function, final decisions on treasury matters always remain with the Council. 3 External Context (Economic Background and Outlook) 3.1 Treasury management decisions made by the Council must take into consideration external factors, particularly the wider economic backdrop and the outlook for financial markets and interest rates. 3.2 Arlingclose are forecasting that Bank of England Bank Rate will remain at 0.1% until the end of 2023. A detailed economic commentary and interest rate forecast produced by Arlingclose is provided in Annex 1. 4 Local Context 4.1 Each of Dorset Council’s six predecessor councils had different balance sheets and different capital programmes, and each had therefore developed different treasury management strategies to suit their individual circumstances. Dorset Council continues to develop its own strategy to meet the needs of its combined balance sheet and capital programme.
Page 72 Existing borrowing and investment positions will continue to be reviewed to achieve an appropriate balance between cost and risk. 4.2 The Council’s balance sheet summary and forecast are shown in table 1 below. Table 1: Balance Sheet summary in £ millions
31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Actual Forecas Budget Budget Budget t Capital Financing Requirement 320 373 407 412 417 External Debt (incl. PFI & leases): External borrowing 216 239 283 298 313 Long-Term PFI Liabilities 24 23 22 21 20 Obligations under Finance Leases 3 3 3 3 3 Total External Debt 243 265 308 322 336 Internal Borrowing 77 108 99 90 81 Cash & cash equivalents 31.5 35 30 30 30 Treasury investments 76.1 75 75 75 75 Total Cash and Investments 107.6 110 105 105 105
4.3 The underlying need to borrow for capital purposes is measured by the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR), while usable reserves and working capital are the underlying resources available for investment. The Council’s current strategy is to maintain borrowing and investments below their underlying levels, sometimes known as internal borrowing. 4.4 CIPFA’s Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities recommends that the Council’s total debt should be lower than its highest forecast CFR over the next three years. Table 1 shows that the Council expects to comply with this recommendation over the medium term. 4.5 To compare the Council’s actual borrowing against an alternative strategy, a liability benchmark has been calculated showing the lowest risk level of borrowing. This assumes the same forecasts as table 1 above, but that cash and investment balances are kept to a minimum level of £20m at each year-end to maintain sufficient liquidity but minimise credit risk. Table 2: Borrowing and the Liability Benchmark in £ millions
31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 31-Mar 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Actual Forecast Budget Budget Budget Outstanding borrowing 216 239 283 298 313 Liability benchmark 128 149 198 213 228 Difference 88 90 85 85 85
Page 73 5 Borrowing Strategy 5.1 As at 31 December 2020, the Council held £210.5 million of loans as part of its strategy for funding this year’s and previous years’ capital programmes. External borrowing as at 31 December 2020 is summarised in Table 3 below. Table 3 External borrowing as at 31 December 2020
31.12.20 31.12.20 31.12.20 Balance Average Average £m Rate Maturity % (years) Public Works Loan Board 84.4 4.0 17.7 Banks (fixed-term) 25.6 4.7 57.1 Banks (LOBO) 11.0 4.6 56.6 Local authorities (long-term) 15.0 4.4 39.7 Local authorities (short-term) 10.0 0.5 0.5 Other lenders (fixed-term) 45.0 3.3 45.7 Other lenders (LOBO) 19.5 2.6 12.6 Total External Borrowing 210.5 3.7 28.3
5.2 The chief objective of the Council (and its predecessors) when borrowing has been to strike an appropriately low risk balance between securing low interest costs and achieving cost certainty over the period for which funds are required. The flexibility to renegotiate loans should long-term plans change is a secondary objective. 5.3 The Council’s borrowing strategy continues to address the key issue of affordability without compromising the longer-term stability of the debt portfolio. With short-term interest rates remaining much lower than long- term rates, it is likely to be more cost effective in the short term to use internal resources or borrow short-term loans rather than long term loans. 5.4 This strategy has enabled the Council to reduce net borrowing costs (despite foregone investment income) and to reduce overall treasury risk. The benefits of internal and/or short-term borrowing will be monitored regularly against the potential for incurring additional costs by deferring borrowing into future years when long-term borrowing rates are forecast to rise modestly. Arlingclose will assist the Council with this ‘cost of carry’ and breakeven analysis. 5.5 The predecessor councils had previously raised a significant proportion of their long-term borrowing from the PWLB but the Council will also consider long-term loans from other sources including banks, pension funds and other local authorities, and will investigate the possibility of issuing bonds and similar instruments, in order to lower interest costs and reduce over- reliance on one source of funding in line with the CIPFA Code.
Page 74 5.6 Alternatively, the Council may arrange forward starting loans, where the interest rate is fixed in advance, but the cash is received in later years. This would enable certainty of cost to be achieved without suffering a cost of carry in the intervening period. In addition, the Council may borrow short-term loans to cover unplanned cash flow shortages. 5.7 The Council’s approved sources of long-term and short-term borrowing are: • HM Treasury’s PWLB lending facility (formerly the Public Works Loan Board) and any successor body • any institution approved for investments (see below) • any other bank or building society authorised to operate in the UK • any other UK public sector body • UK public and private sector pension funds (including the Dorset County Pension Fund) • capital market bond investors, and • UK Municipal Bonds Agency plc and other special purpose companies created to enable local Council bond issues. 5.8 In addition, capital finance may be raised by the following methods that are not borrowing, but may be classed as other debt liabilities: • leasing • hire purchase • Private Finance Initiative • sale and leaseback. 5.9 UK Municipal Bonds Agency plc was established in 2014 by the Local Government Association as an alternative to the PWLB. It issues bonds on the capital markets and lend the proceeds to local authorities. This is a more complicated source of finance than the PWLB for two reasons: borrowing authorities will be required to provide bond investors with a guarantee to refund their investment in the event that the agency is unable to for any reason; and there will be a lead time of several months between committing to borrow and knowing the interest rate payable. Any decision to borrow from the Agency will therefore be the subject of a separate report. 5.10 The Council holds £30.5m of Lender’s Option Borrower’s Option (LOBO) loans where the lender has the option to propose an increase in the interest rate at set dates, following which the Council has the option to either accept the new rate or to repay the loan at no additional cost. £11m of these LOBOs have options during 2021/22, and although the Council believes that lenders are unlikely to exercise their options in the current low interest rate environment, there remains an element of refinancing
Page 75 risk. The Council will take the option to repay LOBO loans at no cost if it has the opportunity to do so. 5.11 Short-term and variable rate loans leave the Council exposed to the risk of short-term interest rate rises and are therefore subject to the interest rate exposure limits in the treasury management indicators below. Financial derivatives may be used to manage this interest rate risk (see section below). 5.12 The PWLB allows authorities to repay loans before maturity and either pay a premium or receive a discount according to a set formula based on current interest rates. Other lenders may also be prepared to negotiate premature redemption terms. The Council may take advantage of this and replace some loans with new loans, or repay loans without replacement, where this is expected to lead to an overall cost saving or a reduction in risk. 6 Treasury Investment Strategy 6.1 The Council holds significant levels of invested funds, representing income received in advance of expenditure plus balances and reserves held. Cash, cash equivalents and investments held on 31 December 2020 are summarised in Table 4 below. Table 4: Cash and Treasury Investments
31.12.20 Balance £m Cash and Cash Equivalents: Banks (unsecured) 26.2 Building Societies (unsecured) 0.0 Money Market Funds 89.5 Less Dorset LEP Balances* -28.9 Total Cash and Cash Equivalents 86.8 Investments: Short-dated bond funds 2.9 Strategic bond funds 10.4 Equity income funds 38.7 Property funds 20.4 Multi asset income funds 6.0 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) 0.0 Total Investments 78.4 Total Cash and Investments 165.2
*The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership’s bank balances are held in the same NatWest Bank interest group as Dorset Council’s bank balances. Interest is only charged if this interest group as a whole is overdrawn.
Page 76 6.2 Objectives: The CIPFA Code requires the Council to invest its treasury funds prudently, and to have regard to the security and liquidity of its investments before seeking the highest rate of return, or yield. The Council’s objective when investing money is to strike an appropriate balance between risk and return, minimising the risk of incurring losses from defaults and the risk of receiving unsuitably low investment income. Where balances are expected to be invested for more than one year, the Council will aim to achieve a total return that is equal or higher than the prevailing rate of inflation, in order to maintain the spending power of the sum invested. 6.3 Negative interest rates: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk that the Bank of England will set its Bank Rate at or below zero, which is likely to feed through to negative interest rates on all low risk, short-term investment options. Since investments cannot pay negative income, negative rates will be applied by reducing the value of investments. In this event, security will be measured as receiving the contractually agreed amount at maturity, even though this may be less than the amount originally invested. 6.4 Strategy: Given the increasing risk and very low returns from short-term unsecured bank investments, the Council aims to continue to diversify into more secure and/or higher yielding asset classes during 2021/22. 6.5 The Council has investments of approximately £80m in externally managed strategic pooled investment vehicles (bond, equity, multi-asset and property funds) where short-term security and liquidity are lesser considerations, and the objectives instead are regular revenue income and long-term price stability. 6.6 These funds have no defined maturity date, but are available for withdrawal after a notice period, and their performance and continued suitability in meeting the Council’s investment objectives are regularly reviewed. Strategic fund investments are made in the knowledge that capital values will move both up and down on months, quarters and even years; but with the expectation that over a three to five-year period total returns should exceed cash interest rates. 6.7 Business models: Under International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9, the accounting treatment for certain investments depends on the Council’s “business model” for managing them. The Council aims to achieve value from its internally managed treasury investments by a business model of collecting the contractual cash flows and therefore, where other criteria are also met, these investments will continue to be accounted for at amortised cost. 6.8 Approved counterparties: The Council may invest its surplus funds with any of the counterparty types in table 5 below, subject to the cash limits (per counterparty) and the time limits shown.
Page 77 Table 5 Treasury investment counterparties and limits
Sector Time limit Counterparty limit Sector limit The UK Government 50 years Unlimited n/a Local authorities & other government 25 years £30m Unlimited entities Secured investments * 25 years £30m Unlimited Banks (unsecured) * 12 months £15m Unlimited Building societies 12 months £15m £30m (unsecured) * Registered providers 5 years £15m £30m (unsecured) * Money market funds * n/a £30m Unlimited Strategic pooled funds n/a £20m £150m Real estate investment n/a £20m £100m trusts Other investments * 5 years £15m £30m
6.9 This table must be read in conjunction with the notes below. 6.10 *Minimum credit rating: Treasury investments in the sectors marked with an asterisk will only be made with entities whose lowest published long- term credit rating is no lower than A-. Where available, the credit rating relevant to the specific investment or class of investment is used, otherwise the counterparty credit rating is used. However, investment decisions are never made solely based on credit ratings, and all other relevant factors including external advice will be taken into account. For entities without published credit ratings, investments may be made either where external advice indicates the entity to be of similar credit quality. 6.11 Government: Loans, bonds and bills issued or guaranteed by national governments, regional and local authorities and multilateral development banks. These investments are not subject to bail-in, and there is generally a lower risk of insolvency, although they are not zero risk. Investments with the UK Central Government are deemed to be zero credit risk due to its ability to create additional currency and therefore may be made in unlimited amounts for up to 50 years. 6.12 Secured investments: Investments secured on the borrower’s assets, which limits the potential losses in the event of insolvency. The amount and quality of the security will be a key factor in the investment decision. Covered bonds and reverse repurchase agreements with banks and building societies are exempt from bail-in. Where there is no investment
Page 78 specific credit rating, but the collateral upon which the investment is secured has a credit rating, the higher of the collateral credit rating and the counterparty credit rating will be used. The combined secured and unsecured investments with any one counterparty will not exceed the cash limit for secured investments. 6.13 Banks and building societies (unsecured): Accounts, deposits, certificates of deposit and senior unsecured bonds with banks and building societies, other than multilateral development banks. These investments are subject to the risk of credit loss via a bail-in should the regulator determine that the bank is failing or likely to fail. See below for arrangements relating to operational bank accounts. 6.14 Registered providers (unsecured): Loans and bonds issued by, guaranteed by or secured on the assets of registered providers of social housing and registered social landlords, formerly known as housing associations. These bodies are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (in England), the Scottish Housing Regulator, the Welsh Government and the Department for Communities (in Northern Ireland). As providers of public services, they retain the likelihood of receiving government support if needed. 6.15 Money market funds: Pooled funds that offer same-day or short notice liquidity and very low or no price volatility by investing in short-term money markets. They have the advantage over bank accounts of providing wide diversification of investment risks, coupled with the services of a professional fund manager in return for a small fee. Although no sector limit applies to money market funds, the Council will take care to diversify its liquid investments over a variety of providers to ensure access to cash at all times. 6.16 Strategic pooled funds: Bond, equity and property funds offer enhanced returns over the longer term but are more volatile in the short term. These allow the Council to diversify into asset classes other than cash without the need to own and manage the underlying investments. These funds have no defined maturity date, but are available for withdrawal after a notice period, therefore their performance and continued suitability in meeting the Council’s investment objectives will be monitored regularly. 6.17 Real estate investment trusts (REITs): Shares in companies that invest mainly in real estate and pay the majority of their rental income to investors in a similar manner to pooled property funds. As with property funds, REITs offer enhanced returns over the longer term, but are more volatile especially as the share price reflects changing demand for the shares as well as changes in the value of the underlying properties. 6.18 Other investments: This category covers treasury investments not listed above, for example unsecured corporate bonds and company loans. Non- bank companies cannot be bailed-in but can become insolvent placing the Council’s investment at risk.
Page 79 6.19 Operational bank accounts: The Council may incur operational exposures, for example though current accounts, collection accounts and merchant acquiring services, to any UK bank with credit ratings no lower than BBB- and with assets greater than £25 billion. These are not classed as investments but are still subject to the risk of a bank bail-in, and balances will therefore be kept below £10m per bank. The Bank of England has stated that in the event of failure, banks with assets greater than £25 billion are more likely to be bailed-in than made insolvent, increasing the chance of the Council maintaining operational continuity. 6.20 Risk assessment and credit ratings: Credit ratings are obtained and monitored by the Council’s treasury advisers, who will notify changes in ratings as they occur. Where an entity has its credit rating downgraded so that it fails to meet the approved investment criteria then: • no new investments will be made, • any existing investments that can be recalled or sold at no cost will be, and • full consideration will be given to the recall or sale of all other existing investments with the affected counterparty. 6.21 Where a credit rating agency announces that a credit rating is on review for possible downgrade (also known as “rating watch negative” or “credit watch negative”) so that it may fall below the approved rating criteria, then only investments that can be withdrawn on the next working day will be made with that organisation until the outcome of the review is announced. This policy will not apply to negative outlooks, which indicate a long-term direction of travel rather than an imminent change of rating. 6.22 Other information on the security of investments: The Council understands that credit ratings are good, but not perfect, predictors of investment default. Full regard will therefore be given to other available information on the credit quality of the organisations in which it invests, including credit default swap prices, financial statements, information on potential government support, reports in the quality financial press and analysis and advice from the Council’s treasury management adviser. No investments will be made with an organisation if there are substantive doubts about its credit quality, even though it may otherwise meet the above criteria. 6.23 When deteriorating financial market conditions affect the creditworthiness of all organisations, as happened in 2008 and 2020, this is not generally reflected in credit ratings, but can be seen in other market measures. In these circumstances, the Council will restrict its investments to those organisations of higher credit quality and reduce the maximum duration of its investments to maintain the required level of security. The extent of these restrictions will be in line with prevailing financial market conditions. If these restrictions mean that insufficient commercial organisations of
Page 80 high credit quality are available to invest the Council’s cash balances, then the surplus will be deposited with the UK Government or with other local authorities. This will cause investment returns to fall but will protect the principal sum invested. 6.24 Investment limits: the maximum that will be lent to any one organisation (other than the UK Government) will be £30 million. A group of entities under the same ownership will be treated as a single organisation for limit purposes. Credit risk exposures arising from non-treasury investments, financial derivatives and balances greater than £10 million in operational bank accounts count against the relevant investment limits. 6.25 Limits will also be placed on fund managers, investments in brokers’ nominee accounts, foreign countries and industry sectors as below. Investments in pooled funds and multilateral development banks do not count against the limit for any single foreign country, since the risk is diversified over many countries. Table 6 Additional investment limits Cash limit Any group of pooled funds under the same management £50m per manager Negotiable instruments held in a broker’s nominee £50m per broker account Foreign countries £25m per country
6.26 Liquidity management: The Council monitors its cash flow forecasting on a daily basis to determine the maximum period for which funds may prudently be committed. The forecast is compiled on a prudent basis to minimise the risk of the Council being forced to borrow on unfavourable terms to meet its financial commitments. Limits on long-term investments are set by reference to the Council’s medium-term financial plan and cash flow forecast. The Council will spread its liquid cash over at least three providers (e.g. bank accounts and money market funds) to ensure that access to cash is maintained in the event of operational difficulties at any one provider. 7 Treasury Management Indicators 7.1 The Council measures and manages its exposures to treasury management risks using the following indicators. 7.2 Security: The Council has adopted a voluntary measure of its exposure to credit risk by monitoring the value-weighted average credit score of its investment portfolio. Arlingclose calculate the credit score by applying a score to each investment (AAA = 1, AA+ = 2 etc.) and taking the average, weighted by the size of each investment. Unrated investments are assigned a score based on their perceived risk. 7.3 The target for the portfolio average credit score is 6.0.
Page 81 7.4 Liquidity: The Council has adopted a voluntary measure of its exposure to liquidity risk by monitoring the amount of cash available to meet unexpected payments within a rolling three-month period. 7.5 The target level of cash available within three months is £30m. In addition, the Council aims to hold a minimum of £10m readily available in same day access bank accounts and Money Market Funds. 7.6 Interest rate exposure: This indicator is set to control the Council’s exposure to interest rate risk. The impact of a change in interest rates is calculated on the assumption that maturing loans and investments will be replaced at current rates. The upper limits on the one-year revenue impact of a 1% rise or fall in interest rates will be £1m. 7.7 Principal sums invested for longer than a year: The purpose of this indicator is to control the Council’s exposure to the risk of incurring losses by seeking early repayment of its investments. The limits on the long-term principal sum invested to final maturities beyond the period end will be: Table 7 Limits on principal invested beyond year end
2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Limit on principal invested beyond year end £20m £15m £10m
7.8 Maturity structure of borrowing: This indicator is set to control the Council’s exposure to refinancing risk. The upper and lower limits on the maturity structure of borrowing will be: Table 8 Maturity structure of borrowing
Upper Lower Complie Limit Limit d Yes/No
Under 12 months 25% 0% Yes 12 Months to 2 Years 25% 0% Yes 2 Years to 5 Years 25% 0% Yes 5 Years to 10 Years 35% 0% Yes 10 Years to 15 Years 35% 0% Yes 15 Years to 20 Years 35% 0% Yes 20 Years to 25 Years 45% 0% Yes 25 Years to 30 Years 45% 0% Yes 30 Years to 35 Years 45% 0% Yes 35 Years to 40 Years 45% 0% Yes 40 Years to 45 Years 45% 0% Yes 45 Years to 50 Years 45% 0% Yes 50 Years and above 75% 0% Yes
Page 82 7.9 Time periods start on the first day of each financial year, so borrowing maturing “under 12 months” is all borrowing that may mature before the end of this financial year. The maturity date used is the earliest date on which the lender can demand repayment, or the borrower has the option to repay without penalty. The next option dates on LOBOs have therefore been treated as the potential repayment date. 8 Financial Derivatives 8.1 Local authorities have previously made use of financial derivatives embedded into loans and investments both to reduce interest rate risk (e.g. interest rate collars and forward deals) and to reduce costs or increase income at the expense of greater risk (e.g. LOBO loans and callable deposits). The general power of competence in Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011 removes much of the uncertainty over local authorities’ use of standalone financial derivatives (i.e. those that are not embedded into a loan or investment). 8.2 The Council will only use standalone financial derivatives (such as swaps, forwards, futures and options) where they can be clearly demonstrated to reduce the overall level of the financial risks that the Council is exposed to. Additional risks presented, such as credit exposure to derivative counterparties, will be taken into account when determining the overall level of risk. Embedded derivatives, including those present in pooled funds and forward starting transactions, will not be subject to this policy, although the risks they present will be managed in line with the overall treasury risk management strategy. 8.3 Financial derivative transactions may be arranged with any organisation that meets the approved investment criteria, assessed using the appropriate credit rating for derivative exposures. The current value of any amount due from a derivative counterparty will count against the counterparty credit limit and the relevant foreign country limit. 8.4 In line with the CIPFA Code, the Council will seek external advice and will consider that advice before entering into financial derivatives to ensure that it fully understands the implications. 9 Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) 9.1 The Council has opted up to professional client status with its providers of financial services, including advisers, banks, brokers and fund managers, allowing it access to a greater range of services but without the greater regulatory protections afforded to individuals and small companies. Given the size and range of the Council’s treasury management activities, the Section 151 Officer believes this to be the most appropriate status.
Page 83 10 Member and Officer Training 10.1 The high level of risk inherent in treasury management means officers need to be adequately experienced and qualified. Officers attend national treasury management events and training courses, and have regular strategy and review meetings with advisers, as well as regular telephone contact. 10.2 On 23 January 2020 a training session for all Dorset Council’s elected members was provided by officers and advisers to explain the responsibilities that members have in relation to treasury management. Further training will also be provided from time to time as necessary. 11 Other Options Considered
11.1 The CIPFA Code does not prescribe any particular treasury management strategy for local authorities to adopt. The Section 151 Officer believes that the above strategy represents an appropriate balance between risk management and cost effectiveness. Some alternative strategies, with their financial and risk management implications, are listed below. Alternative Impact on income and Impact on risk expenditure management Invest in a narrower range Interest income will be Lower chance of losses of counterparties and/or for lower from credit related defaults, shorter times but any such losses may be greater Invest in a wider range of Interest income will be Increased risk of losses counterparties and/or for higher from credit related defaults, longer times but any such losses may be smaller Borrow additional sums at Debt interest costs will Higher investment balance long-term fixed interest rise; this is unlikely to be leading to a higher impact rates offset by higher investment in the event of a default; income however long-term interest costs may be more certain Borrow short-term or Debt interest costs will Increases in debt interest variable loans instead of initially be lower costs will be broadly offset long-term fixed rates by rising investment income in the medium term, but long-term costs may be less certain Reduce level of borrowing Saving on debt interest is Reduced investment likely to exceed lost balance leading to a lower investment income impact in the event of a default; however long-term interest costs may be less certain
Page 84 Annex 1 Economic and Interest Rate Forecast (Arlingclose December 2020) Economic background: The impact on the UK from coronavirus, together with its exit from the European Union and future trading arrangements with the bloc, will remain a major influence on the Council’s treasury management strategy for 2021/22. The Bank of England (BoE) maintained Bank Rate at 0.10% in November 2020 and also extended its Quantitative Easing programme by £150 billion to £895 billion. The Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for both, but no mention was made of the potential future use of negative interest rates. Within the latest forecasts, the Bank expects the UK economy to shrink -2% in Q4 2020 before growing by 7.25% in 2021, lower than the previous forecast of 9%. The BoE also forecasts the economy will now take until Q1 2022 to reach its pre- pandemic level rather than the end of 2021 as previously forecast. UK Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) for September 2020 registered 0.5% year on year, up from 0.2% in the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes the more volatile components, rose to 1.3% from 0.9%. The most recent labour market data for the three months to August 2020 showed the unemployment rate rose to 4.5% while the employment rate fell to 75.6%. Both measures are expected to deteriorate further due to the ongoing impact of coronavirus on the jobs market, particularly when the various government job retention schemes start to be unwound in 2021, with the BoE forecasting unemployment will peak at 7.75% in Q2 2021. In August, the headline 3-month average annual growth rate for wages were 0% for total pay and 0.8% for regular pay. In real terms, after adjusting for inflation, total pay growth fell by -0.8% while regular pay was up 0.1%. GDP growth fell by -19.8% in the second quarter of 2020, a much sharper contraction from -2.0% in the previous three months, with the annual rate falling - 21.5% from -1.6%. All sectors fell quarter-on-quarter, with dramatic declines in construction (-35.7%), services (-19.2%) and production (-16.3%), and a more modest fall in agriculture (-5.9%). Monthly GDP estimates have shown the economy is recovering but remains well below its pre-pandemic peak. Looking ahead, the BoE’s November Monetary Policy Report forecasts economic growth will rise in 2021 with GDP reaching 11% in Q4 2021, 3.1% in Q4 2022 and 1.6% in Q4 2023. GDP growth in the euro zone rebounded by 12.7% in Q3 2020 after contracting by -3.7% and -11.8% in the first and second quarters, respectively. Headline inflation, however, remains extremely weak, registering -0.3% year-on-year in October, the third successive month of deflation. Core inflation registered 0.2% y/y, well below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of ‘below, but close to 2%’. The ECB is expected to continue holding its main interest rate of 0% and deposit facility rate of -0.5% for some time with further monetary stimulus expected later in 2020.
Page 85 The US economy contracted at an annualised rate of 31.7% in Q2 2020 and then rebounded by 33.1% in Q3. The Federal Reserve maintained the Fed Funds rate at between 0% and 0.25% and announced a change to its inflation targeting regime to a more flexible form of average targeting. The Fed also provided strong indications that interest rates are unlikely to change from current levels over the next three years. Former vice-president Joe Biden won the 2020 US presidential election. Mr Biden is making tackling coronavirus his immediate priority and will also be reversing several executive orders signed by his predecessor and take the US back into the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. Credit outlook: After spiking in late March as coronavirus became a global pandemic, credit default swap (CDS) prices for the larger UK banks have steadily fallen back to almost pre-pandemic levels. Although uncertainly around COVID- 19 related loan defaults lead to banks provisioning billions for potential losses in the first half of 2020, drastically reducing profits, reported impairments for Q3 were much reduced in some institutions. However, general bank profitability in 2020 is likely to be significantly lower than in previous years. The credit ratings for many UK institutions were downgraded on the back of downgrades to the sovereign rating. Credit conditions more generally though in banks and building societies have tended to be relatively benign, despite the impact of the pandemic. Looking forward, the potential for bank losses to be greater than expected when government and central bank support starts to be removed remains a risk, as does the UK not achieving a Brexit deal, suggesting a cautious approach to bank deposits in 2021/22 remains advisable. Interest rate forecast: The Council’s treasury management adviser Arlingclose is forecasting that BoE Bank Rate will remain at 0.1% until at least the end of 2023. The risks to this forecast are judged to be to the downside as the BoE and UK government continue to react to the coronavirus pandemic and the Brexit transition period ends. The BoE extended its asset purchase programme to £895 billion in November while keeping Bank Rate on hold. However, further interest rate cuts to zero, or possibly negative, cannot yet be ruled out but this is not part of the Arlingclose central forecast. Gilt yields are expected to remain very low in the medium-term while short-term yields are likely remain below or at zero until such time as the BoE expressly rules out the chance of negative interest rates or growth/inflation prospects improve. The central case is for 10-year and 20-year to rise to around 0.5% and 0.75% respectively over the time horizon. The risks around the gilt yield forecasts are judged to be broadly balanced between upside and downside risks, but there will almost certainly be short-term volatility due to economic and political uncertainty and events.
Page 86 Underlying assumptions: The medium-term global economic outlook remains weak. Second waves of Covid cases have prompted more restrictive measures and further lockdowns in Europe and the UK. This ebb and flow of restrictions on normal activity will continue for the foreseeable future, at least until an effective vaccine is produced and importantly, distributed. The global central bank and government responses have been significant and are in many cases on-going, maintaining more stable financial, economic and social conditions than otherwise. Although these measures supported a sizeable economic recovery in Q3, the imposition of a second national lockdown in England during November will set growth back and likely lead to a fall in GDP in Q4. Signs of a slowing economic recovery were already evident in UK monthly GDP and PMI data, even before the latest restrictions. Despite some extension to fiscal support measures, unemployment is expected to rise when these eventually come to an end in mid-2021. This situation will result in central banks maintaining low interest rates for the medium term. In the UK, Brexit is a further complication. Bank Rate is therefore likely to remain at low levels for a very long time, with a distinct possibility of being cut to zero. Money markets continue to price in a chance of negative Bank Rate. Longer-term yields will also remain depressed, anchored by low central bank policy rates, expectations for potentially even lower rates and insipid inflation expectations. There is a chance yields may follow a slightly different path in the medium term, depending on investor perceptions of growth and inflation, the development of a vaccine or if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Forecast: Arlingclose expects Bank Rate to remain at the current 0.10% level. Additional monetary loosening through increased financial asset purchases was delivered as we expected. Our central case for Bank Rate is no change, but further cuts to zero, or perhaps even into negative territory, cannot be completely ruled out. Gilt yields will remain low in the medium term. Shorter term gilt yields are currently negative and will remain around zero or below until either the Bank expressly rules out negative Bank Rate or growth/inflation prospects improve. Downside risks remain in the near term, as the government continues to react to the escalation in infection rates and the Brexit transition period comes to an end.
Page 87 PWLB Certainty Rate (Maturity Loans) = Gilt yield + 0.80% PWLB Local Infrastructure Rate (Maturity Loans) = Gilt yield + 0.60%
Page 88 Appendix 6 Summary of financial planning assumptions The latest budget assumptions are shown in the table below compared with those originally used. Original Updated assumption assumption 2021/22 2021/22 Council tax increase <2% <2% Council tax base growth 0.75% -0.02% Social Care Precept 0% 3% Business rates growth 0% -5% Pay award 2.50% 0% General inflation 2.25% 0.65% Supplier/contract price uplifts 2.25% 0% Increase in fees & charges 2.25% 1.50% Employer pension contribution 0% +£252k 0% +£252k
Page 89 Appendix 7 Matters raised by Scrutiny Committees At their meetings on the 11th December 2020, the members of the People and Health Scrutiny Committee and the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee reviewed the draft proposals for the 2021/22 revenue budget and the assumptions used in developing them. There was also an overview of the proposed transformation and tactical efficiencies to be made during the year. Each of the Committees endorsed the draft budget proposals, but also raised a series of issues for Cabinet to consider prior to finalising the budget. The table below summarises the issues raised and provides a response to the consideration given. People & Health Scrutiny Committee Question/issue raised Response Adult Social Care and Housing Directorate Whether the funding was Getting the “right” resource balance between split right? services is always challenging and is informed by (amongst other things) specific funding streams, demand pressures, transformation opportunities and priorities in the Dorset Council Plan. Resourcing is kept under continuous review. The budget flagged the The approach to managing these demands is to demographic risks for DC further enhance, through the ‘A Better Life’ around rising numbers of transformation programme, supporting people at residents over 80 (higher an early stage, ensuring people are supported than the national average) with the right intervention at the right time, in their and high numbers of self- local communities. This is through: funders. Providing accessible advice, information, guidance and signposting to identify informal support Early advice to help self-funders to make their money go further Work with communities to develop sustainable informal support in localities Provide more reablement at the right time to improve individual’s independence Taking a strength-based approach to assessment and support planning (identifying family and community networks of support so the statutory
Page 90 services only provide support for peoples’ more complex needs Outcome based commissioning with providers Moving to Personal Budgets being the default offer for individuals needing Adult Social Care support Sections 6 and 16 of the budget report cover risks and mitigations. There is always risk in delivering the Council’s plans but officers are as confident as they can be that the best approach has been adopted and that close monitoring of the position during the year, as set out in section 6 will highlight any matters needing to be brought to members’ attention. Adult Social Care & Housing will continue to promote a whole council approach to meeting the needs of people over 85 by promotion of positive lifestyle initiatives, housing options that support independent living, digital and equipment solutions that can enable people to help themselves, and the right care in the right place to support them when they need more complex care later in their lives. The closure of care homes. Nationally there has not been, to date, a significant number of care home closures. It is appropriate for some to close for example when they are not positioned correctly to support their communities’ needs. There is also currently over-provision of residential care. Some care homes were closing by choice rather than for financial reasons, some due to Covid-19 and some were not providing the right level of care for residents. People are also now choosing not to enter care homes until later in their lives when their needs are more complex. This provides an opportunity to look at the situation strategically to get the right care homes in the right places. The basis for assumptions Further information explaining the savings profile behind the significant has been provided. saving of £3.7m in Appendix 1 and whether
Page 91 there was a trade off of There is a place for residential and nursing care less residential and nursing but there is also a history of placing people in care needed and increased residential care before it is necessary, thereby numbers of care packages reducing their independence. The Home First programme will ensure people receive interim care, reablement or rehabilitation and are able to return home, maximising their independence and having better outcomes. This means increasing numbers of people will need care in their own homes so resources will be required for this. Investment of this kind is important to enable earlier intervention, before a crisis occurs, requiring more expensive and long-term interventions. Residents are also being encouraged to take up direct payments to employ local support where this is appropriate and can deliver better outcomes. Financial support received The Home First Programme is being developed from elsewhere: could the with partners to get the right system and right money released by people funding in place to maximise support for leaving hospital sooner be residents and to share any risk and address added to adult social care financial inequalities. budget? Conversations with health partners are ongoing about the fair price for care, to ensure organisations were acting legally in providing an adult social care response, and that the Council is not paying for clinical interventions. A fair balance of health and social care funding is needed and discussions with the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group are happening regarding joint health budgets, continuing healthcare and a fair share approach for those coming out of mental health, long stay hospitals and for those with significant complex needs. A lot of care was provided Working with communities to enable them to by volunteers, community provide support at an early stage and increase groups, friends and resilience continues to be vital. The Council also relatives. What support needs to respond when individuals need help by was available to them? having the budget to provide this in the right way so that carers can continue caring and by putting them in touch with other carers. Currently the majority of spend is in providing packages of
Page 92 care when there needs to be a shift towards earlier intervention and prevention to free up the budget to move support to those who needed it and to do this in the best way possible. As data improves the Council will be able to support groups and communities in different ways. Developing partnerships is not always about funding but delivery in a different way. It is important for people The Home First approach is about getting the coming out of hospital to right support for people who have had an acute have wrap around care episode so that they can manage at home with available and that this support. Work with the integrated care system should be consistent and primary care providers is under way to across Dorset. ensure the right health and care support is available in the community to support people to live at home. There is increasing emphasis on this approach and the pandemic had accelerated this work. The challenge is how money can be moved from the acute to primary care and community health services to support this. This is being explored. Digital help should be used All the transformation programmes focus on more. It would be an technological solutions to enable people to investment to save in the manage without intervention of a carer or longer term. support. There are many different digital devices available which can support customers’ needs. The need for these has escalated during the pandemic. They also support independence. People are gaining greater access to advice and information in order manage their own care choices. The Council had to do the Improved data regarding future population needs best it could within the will support the transformation of care in Dorset resources available. in order to ensure that the right care is available, in the right place at the right time. This will be achieved by maximising the use of existing universal/community services and assets and supporting the care provider market to develop, in conjunction with assistive technology and digital solutions, models of care that improve and/or maintain people’s ability to live as independently as possible in their own home for as long as possible.
Page 93 The recent changes to Home First and Discharge to Assess have driven integrated health and social a greater level of integration across the health services discharge and care system in Dorset. The focus for Adult processes (the Single Point Social Care & Housing is to ensure that the focus of Access (SPA) and One of the ICS on hospital discharge is balanced Team approach) have against community-based care in order to been a significant step prevent escalation of health & care needs and forward additional demands upon acute health services. These arrangements have enabled a joined-up approach to individuals needs when they are ready for discharge and also enables us to more effectively identify gaps in support or services that we can commission There was a recognition Even prior to the Covid crisis the council was that previously in Dorset seeing circa a 5% reduction in demand for people have moved into traditional residential care. Conversely there was care homes at an earlier a noted increase in demand for dementia and stage in their lives. nursing residential care. There still remains a trend for people who self-fund their own care to enter in to residential care prematurely which can mean, as they will tend to have a longer length of stay, that they become financially eligible for council funded social care support when their personal assets become depleted. Adult Social Care & Housing are proactively working to ensure that the right information, advice and guidance is available to self-funders and all residents so that the broader accommodation, support and care offers can be considered prior to deciding on a residential home placement. The provider market is being supported to look at how business models may need to change in order to meet the higher levels of need that present when people do need residential based care. Cuts to Adult Social Care The council continues, along with the Care budgets would mean we Quality Commission, to monitor the quality and would need to refocus our safety of all services commissioned. The Dorset support. area has a higher than the National average level of care providers rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The Adult Social Care Quality Improvement Team monitor all CQC registered and unregulated care and support providers and
Page 94 delivers an active program of interventions that support providers to maintain and improve the levels of care that they provide. Where services fail to meet the appropriate level of quality the Council works with other partners to support improvement. Where quality continues to be an issue the Council will, in appropriate cases, look to decommission and re-provide services through alternative means. Reduction to funding, however, can impact on the Council’s ability to support the transformation of services in order to meet future need. Increasing demand and complexity means that the care workforce for the future will need a higher level of skill and training to meet the challenge. Essentially this would mean we would not be able to focus more of our resources on early intervention and preventative services (invest to save) and would have to prioritise those in greatest need. This would not deal with the long- term pressures arising from the increasing demand as outlined above The Council should be The Council continues to lobby Government for lobbying for a better extra funding and works with partners like CCN, national settlement and a SCT, LGA and others to press the case. better settlement for adult Dorset’s MPs are also advocating for increased social care. Council funding and together we have an effective voice. However, the harsh economic reality of the pandemic against a backdrop of ten years of austerity mean Government budgets themselves are tight. However, transformation is needed regardless of budget pressures because it is the right thing to do to improve outcomes. The council is actively working to promote the needs of social care through both regional and national networks and highlighting the specific needs of Dorset. We regularly meet and brief Dorset MPs on the challenges faced.
Page 95 The future funding of social care is a national issue and Dorset inputs regularly into this agenda through the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association. Children's Services Directorate It was difficult to predict the Children should not generally come into care numbers of children without being known to the Council. There have coming into care and the been some recent success in finding placements costs of placements. for three or four sibling groups together and there Would more funding be were families wanting to adopt four or more requested at a later date? children from the same family. More of this is really needed.
Currently there are older children who have been in care for longer than would have been hoped. Their plans are being reviewed sensitively and where they live a long way from home, the Council looks to bring them home as soon as possible. The importance of early This was one of the savings targets under years and early review. A small amount of top up was paid but intervention which would this needed to be fair and transparent. The save money in the longer review had just been signed off. Early years term. Was the review work was essential, for SEND children too, many supporting qualifications of the families were under financial pressure and and training for early any support should be provided fairly and years? Whilst it was transparently. This point will be taken into acknowledged that savings consideration. needed to be made, was there an innovative way of making sure this qualification support continued? Information, advice and Efforts focus on what the Council is required to guidance. Teenagers do and there is a need to use investment in a would need support now different way. Changes to information for carers more than ever because of has been delivered and the focus would be more higher unemployment, on prevention of those who might become increased mental health NEETs and more at risk. issues and low self- Current numbers of NEETs could be provided esteem. How would the outside of the meeting. There had been a slight review impact on those increase as a result of the pandemic. There young people not in
Page 96 education, employment would be a focus on post 16 apprenticeships and and training (NEETs)? routes for them. Hidden NEETs should not We are working to ensure we are proactively be forgotten. looking for young people at risk of falling out of provision as a response to having been out of school due to continual Covid lockdown measures.
Place & Resources Scrutiny Committee Issues raised by the Place Response and Resources Scrutiny Committee
Consideration to be given to Noted. developing an approach to increase car parking fees by 5% across the board. This to be flagged up as a direction of travel for officers to undertake more detailed work on. There is a need for careful Noted. funding plans for any future transition of libraries or tourist information centres. Concern with regard to the Please also see comments elsewhere about availability of continued lobbying for funding. budget/resources for work The Council also continues to bid separately to identified in the Dorset Government for funding to support its Climate and Council Climate and Ecological Emergency strategy Ecological Emergency Strategy action plan and the Section 6 of the budget report confirms that the potential issues this may majority of our strategy implementation cannot be have on the climate and the delivered by councils on their own and significant reputation of the council. funding is needed from Government. However, proposals are also coming through the CSAMG The committee wishes to officer group and will be referred to Cabinet in due support the Leader of the course. Council in the continued lobbying of the government for a fairer funding deal for local government and the
Page 97 exploration of additional funding from government. Councillors appointed as Noted. Dorset Council representatives on outside bodies are encouraged to resist requests for increases in funding for these bodies at this time. Concern over the level of This area is due to be reviewed by the Place and resource available for Resources Scrutiny Committee at its January 2021 planning enforcement meeting. activities. There is a need to review Care has been taken with budget reviews to make the impact of proposed sure training budgets are not seen as an easy reductions to staff training source for savings. Part of being an employer of budgets. The example choice is to continue to invest in human resources raised at committee was and the Council is keen that this continues. within the Place budget and A significant element of the reduction in training a reduction of 20%. budgets is due to more training being accessed As a post meeting note, the online and through the apprenticeship route. The Executive Director of Place Council already pays significant sums as the levy on notes that this review may all employers with a payroll of a certain size, so it is need to go wider than Place important that we access what we have paid in and as it is thought that the direct training through that avenue where council is proposing appropriate. reductions across the board – therefore this may need to be dealt with as a corporate issue. There is a requirement for Savings elsewhere will be required to make increased capacity in the resources available to support this request. This is Democratic Services Team not included within the budget proposals, but with particular reference to Officers will review the position and report back. support to overview and scrutiny functions, if resources are available in the budget. A concern is raised in The need for legal support is dictated by the respect of capacity within priorities and needs of the council and is met by the the Legal Services Team in core in-house team or is commissioned through order to ensure that the them. Capacity and the need for any additional legal
Page 98 council can conduct its support will be discussed between directorates and business requirements. the Head of Legal Services. Concern raised with regard Noted. Due to Dorset’s historically low level of to the proposed level of funding from Government, council tax has had to be council tax increase for kept relatively high compared with other Councils. residents linked to the This Council continues to press Government for current situation with Covid- additional funds and also contributes actively to the 19 and EU exit and the debate around future models for funding to ensure a impact that this may have better deal for Dorset. on the council’s collection rates. Locally, the impact on the collection funds is monitored monthly and shared with the Portfolio Holder and through the quarterly Cabinet financial management reports. Government has also announced support for collection funds in 2020/21 and in 2021/22. The impact on the council of Noted. A briefing on council tax has been prepared delays in the valuing of for members and the process for properties banding for new properties becoming liable for council tax can be clarified. needs to be kept under review. A request is made to include Officers will bring forward plans to review base scrutiny of the Base Budget budgets for services which members may want to in next year’s budget focus specific attention on. This will need to be scrutiny process. done in advance of the budget setting/scrutiny process so that resource allocation next year can take place against a good knowledge of the current budget. Additional information is Officers will work on this approach for the next requested to be included in budget round. It can be tied-in to the base budget the appendices provided review work mentioned in the preceding point. with the budget report – additional columns are requested in order to set out the current budget for each area and the variance between the current budget and the proposal for the next year’s budget.
Page 99 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 8
Cabinet 19 January 2021 Quarter 3 (Q3) financial management report
For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr G Suttle, Finance, Commerical & Capital Strategy
Local Councillor(s): N/A
Executive Director: A Dunn, Executive Director, Corporate Development
Report Author: Jim McManus Title: Corporate Director, Finance & Commercial Tel: 01305 221235 Email: [email protected] Report status: Public Recommendations: 1. Note the Senior Leadership Team’s forecast for Dorset Council’s revenue budget position at the end of Q3 and the change since Q2; 2. comment on the actions/proposals to improve the position during the year and consider further action to address the budget gap; 3. note the latest position on the capital programme and the impact this is having on capital financing in the revenue budget (appendix 1); 4. note the current positions on collection funds and collection rates and the impact that the council tax position in particular might have on local preceptors. Also note the Government consultation on support for local tax losses in 2020/21; 5. note the impact that Spending Review 2020 (SR20) has had on the expectations for this year. Impact on the budget strategy and medium-term financial plan (MTFP) are covered in a separate report. Reason for recommendation: The Council has responsibilities to deliver against its 2020/21 revenue budget and capital programme whilst maintaining adequate reserves. Cabinet wishes to understand clearly the financial impact and consequences of the Council’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as other matters affecting the financial performance and position.
Page 101 Understanding the current year’s position and performance is a key component of assurance around the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and budget strategy. 1. Executive summary 1.1 This paper comes to Cabinet to provide the third update on the financial impact of Covid-19 and other matters on the current year’s financial performance. 1.2 The report also updates Cabinet on the progress of the capital programme at a summary level and summarises the impact of SR20 on this year’s prospects. The impact for 2021/22 and beyond is covered in the budget strategy report. 2. Financial implications 2.1 Financial implications are covered throughout this paper. 3. Wellbeing and health implications 3.1 None specifically identified in this report. 4. Climate implications 3.1 None specifically identified in this report. 5. Other implications 4.1 None identified in this paper. The Council is taking action to reduce its operating costs before 1 April 2021 to deliver a balanced budget and a sustainable MTFP. Detailed implications of that have been shared with Councillors through the scrutiny process as part of consultation on the development of the MTFP and budget strategy 2021/22. 6. Risk assessment 5.1 The Q3 forecast sets out continuing, significant risks for the Council in dealing with the current pandemic and its longer-lasting financial implications. The Council has reserves, some of which can be used as a short-term measure to balance the budget, but longer-term use of reserves is not sustainable. This was a key issue in developing, scrutinising and finalising the budget strategy proposals for 2021/22. Current Risk: High Residual Risk: High 7. Equalities Impact Assessment 6.1 None. 8. Appendices 1. Capital programme summary 2020/21 2. Summary of approved projects from £15m capital fund 2020/21
Page 102 9. Background Papers Quarter 1 financial management report to Cabinet. Quarter 2 financial management report to Cabinet. Cabinet budget strategy paper, February 2020. MTFP and budget report to Cabinet October 2020. 10. Covid-19 context update 10.1 The Covid-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect Dorset Council’s income and expenditure levels despite the Council’s efforts to mitigate and manage the impact. At the end of Q1, Dorset Council was forecasting an overspend of £43m for the financial year. At Q2 this had moved on to £27.6m and at Q3, the estimate of outturn is an overspend of £18.6m. 10.2 This continued improvement in the financial forecast reflects the Council’s cautious approach to financial management. The initial financial forecasts were prudent and based on the financial and economic assessment of a prolonged period of lockdown. During the summer, the easing of restrictions and the reduced level of local infections led to a partial recovery in income and a reduction in anticipated expenditure levels, allowing Dorset Council to refocus on its transformation programme. Management also took a series of in-year actions to reduce planned expenditure such as implementing recruitment controls and accelerating some of the convergence activities. 10.3 The Council has also worked closely with Government to ensure that the financial consequences of Covid-19 are understood at a national level. The regular briefing of Dorset MPs, direct communication with Government Ministers and senior civil servants, combined with the close work with organisations such as the Local Government Association and County Councils Network have all helped Government understand the acute financial pressure that Covid-19 has placed on Local Government. Government has responded during the course of the year providing significant additional funding which improved the Council’s financial position, though not enough to fully cover the budget gap caused by the pandemic. 10.4 These factors of increased funding, reduced expenditure, and higher than anticipated income levels enabled the forecast overspend to be brought down, despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the national and local picture as we entered the autumn and winter period. 10.5 Despite the improving position, the overspend remains a significant concern, and the financial uncertainty continues. The current local and national restrictions are continuing to cause service and financial pressures and there is still material risk in the forecast for the last quarter of the year.
Page 103 11. Forecast of outturn, Q3 2020/21 11.1 The paragraphs below provide an overview of the position for each directorate as set out in the table.
Forecast Forecast (Overspend)/ Directorate Net Budget Outturn Underspend £k £k £k % People - Adults 122,537 137,493 (14,957) (12.21%) People - Children's 75,075 83,928 (8,853) (11.79%) Place 66,246 79,539 (13,293) (20.07%) Corporate Development 25,455 25,332 122 0.48% Legal & Democratic Services 6,182 9,764 (3,582) (57.93%) Public Health 0 0 0 0.00% Total Service Budgets 295,495 336,057 (40,562) (13.73%) Central Finance (296,799) (318,799) 22,000 (7.41%) Whole Authority (1,304) 17,258 (18,561)
People Services – Adults and Housing 11.2 The budget is forecast to overspend by £14.957m (12.21%) a movement of £0.67m since Q2. In light of the new national lockdown the pressures on the budget are likely to increase as we go into Q4 and this will be kept under review. 11.3 Throughout Q3 effective budget controls and processes have continued to be in place to manage and monitor costs especially in light of the current pandemic. These will continue and be kept under review as the national and global position develops. During Q3 we were seeing an improving budget position and had been on track to report a reduction from the Q2 prediction of approximately £0.25m. 11.4 However, due to Health partners asking for care arrangements previously agreed and confirmed as funded to be reviewed (£0.57m) and additional pressure through emergency bed and breakfast accommodation (£0.35m) due to the pandemic, a new pressure arose. Though the impact of this has been mitigated in part, through underspends in other parts of the service, it has still created an increase in the forecast overspend at this point of £0.67m compared to Q2. 11.5 The Adult Care Packages forecast has increased since Q2 by £0.54m. There are several factors that have influenced this: Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (DCCG) sought a retrospective review of the financial agreements previously made regarding the Covid Scheme 1 Hospital Discharge Programme and the costs that were being claimed by both Dorset Council and BCP due to pressures from National Health Service England (NHSE). As a result, an offer of £0.57m into a Pooled budget was made and agreed by both DCCG and NHSE. Dorset Council and BCP agreed to this negotiated contribution in spirit of partnership working across the system. DCCG
Page 104 unlike others had asked for a significantly higher contribution which was not agreed. The forecast for Locality and Mental Health packages has had a net increase of £0.28m, with two new high-cost packages (£0.85m & £0.86m) offset by several smaller reductions in care packages. There has been a £0.15m reduction in income relating to services users not being able to attend Tricuro day centres due to Covid-19. Negotiations are taking place with Tricuro and there will be a one-off adjustment in Q4. 11.6 There has been an improvement in Adult Care Operations of £0.37m. £0.26m is due to staffing vacancies and delays in recruiting to posts. Agency staff have been employed where necessary, to cover priority vacancies while recruitment of permanent employees takes place. £0.11m is a reduction within the Mental Capacity Acts and Best Interest Assessments (BIAs) forecast due to the lack of availability of Assessors. 11.7 The Housing forecast has increased by £0.59m since Q2 mainly due to a provision of £0.35m for additional pressures on emergency bed and breakfast accommodation – largely due to ongoing homelessness pressures relating to extended Covid-19 arrangements and cold weather which were anticipated to have ceased in September. 11.8 £0.13m of this is due to an increased bad debt provision. Work is taking place within the Housing Directorate to review and chase outstanding debt and to improve processes, but this is challenging in the current climate with the measures in place - and being strengthened - to protect the financial circumstances of vulnerable people. 11.9 There has been a £0.11k increase in the Housing Subsidy Shortfall forecast following additional pressures from Covid-19 and the Everyone In initiative. Further costs and demand are anticipated within bed and breakfast-type emergency accommodation likely to result in additional costs of £0.35m by year end. The prolonged cold weather period has triggered the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol raising the cost of emergency accommodation, due to 17 people previously sleeping rough, being taken in. These costs are mitigated in part by the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) funding for the Safe Sleep initiative from 4 January, with The Lantern Trust supporting up to ten people in appropriate temporary accommodation. 11.10 As mentioned in the Q2 report the funding received from MHCLG, alongside that approved by Cabinet to acquire properties for temporary accommodation, will help manage these charges moving into 2021/22.
Page 105 People Services - Children 11.11 The People Services - Children’s budget is forecast to overspend by £8.853m (11.79% of budget). This is a worsening forecast of £1.145m since the Q2 position. 11.12 The majority of the cost pressure is in social care, now forecast to overspend by £6.418m. These can be summarised as follows:
unachieved additional income targets of £0.400m overspends on external placements for children in care £5.937m other social care project overspends including Children With a Disability services £0.750m additional service manager support (Fostering) £0.115m underspends against travel budgets -£0.110m fostering underspends -£0.718m. 11.13 External placements were budgeted at 177, alongside assumptions about costs and settings giving rise to an estimated budget requirement of £17.6m. At end of December there are 187 placements, with a forecast cost of £23.520m. This highlights how relatively small changes in children numbers in external placements can have a dramatic effect on the financial position and illustrates the volatility in planning assumptions. 11.14 Director’s Office is now forecasting to underspend by £0.177k. This includes £229k of Covid-19 related additional unbudgeted expenditure (total unbudgeted expenditure in relation to Covid-19 across all Children’s Services budgets is over £900k) with additional costs falling to appropriate budget headings, or to Directors Office. There are unbudgeted costs of £81k in relation to a proposed new SEND facility. Savings are forecast in relation to the consultancy budget (£103k) and an assumption of savings in relation to staffing restructure work that is subject to clarification (£200k). 11.15 The Education and Learning budgets are forecast to overspend by £2.522m. The main causes are: Lost trading income with schools and academies £1.050m Projected overspends in relation to SEN transport £1m In-house nurseries projected deficit £0.300m 11.16 With the new national lockdown now in place, all of these figures need revisiting as services come under pressure. 11.17 As noted previously, there is also a projected shortfall of £0.052m against income recovery from Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), however this could change as the basis for income recovery is subject to a wide-reaching
Page 106 review, which has recently concluded and which will be discussed with Schools Forum in the final quarter of this financial year. Dedicated Schools Grant 11.18 Members may recall that in previous financial reports, mention has been made of the overspend on the High Needs Block (HNB) of the DSG. Dorset Council closed 2019/20 with a DSG cumulative overspend of £21.8m and the overspend being predicted for 2020/21 is currently £18.2m. 11.19 The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 prescribe accounting treatment for DSG overspends that accrue. The Regulations were brough in because overspends were – and continue – to accrue to an increasing number of Councils nationally. 11.20 The Regulations require that the overspend be shown as a negative reserve in the Council’s balance sheet, and this is not the responsibility of the Council. However, this is only for a time-limited period and after three years, any residual deficit on the DSG overspend will revert to the Council. 11.21 Dorset Council has a deficit reduction strategy and continues to develop this with schools and other partners. In recent weeks, work has also started with representatives from the Department for Education who are supporting the deficit reduction work whilst developing the sufficiency strategy and SEND capital strategy work. Cabinet will be updated on progress. Place Services 11.22 Place Directorate budget is forecast to overspend by £13.3m (20.07%). This is £1.4m better than at Q2. The majority of the overspend (£11.8m) is attributable to Covid-19-related income shortfalls/excess costs. £1.2m is due to savings that are unlikely to materialise and the remaining £0.3m is caused by various continuing pressures. 11.23 The ongoing impact of Covid-19 means the Directorate is continuing to operate in a very challenging financial climate. Many of the services have seen significant losses of income over the spring and early summer but with the easing of lockdown restrictions over the later summer months, income had improved, notably in the car parking area, although other areas have seen a continuation of income reductions. The forecast was based on data before the third lockdown was announced, so the financial position could deteriorate due to the closure and reduction of some services in coming weeks. 11.24 The Directorate has also borne additional Covid-19 staffing costs due to the additional responsibilities incurred during shielding. Under normal circumstances, these teams would have been undertaking capital projects, with full cost recovery from the capital budget into revenue. There have
Page 107 also been other costs, ranging from agency cover for shielding/isolating staff, to cleaning materials and PPE. 11.25 Several services had savings targets built into the base 2020/21 budget. The impact of the pandemic has meant it is unlikely these savings will be realised this year as effort has been required to support residents to manage the response to the pandemic. 11.26 There is also a growing number of significant business as usual (BAU) financial pressures that the Directorate is forecasting, particularly within Dorset Travel and Commercial Waste & Strategy. The forecast includes overspends against the school transport budget, while the volatile Dry Mixed Recyclate (DMR) market is causing increased costs. Corporate Services 11.27 Corporate Services is the collective name for services across Corporate Development and Legal & Democratic Services. This includes Finance and Commercial Services, Human Resources and Organisational Development, ICT Operations, Digital and Change, Business Intelligence, Communications and Engagement, Legal Services, Assurance, Democratic and Electoral Services and Land Charges. 11.28 The projected overspend for these services at the end of Q3 is £3.46m. A very similar position to that reported at Q2. 11.29 The budget pressure on Corporate Services due to the Covid-19 response totals £5.1m. Aside from this, Corporate Services would therefore underspend by £1.72m. This comprises £1.1m from early achievement of savings for 2021/22, and £0.62m from vacancy management and convergence savings. 11.30 The majority of expenditure due to the Covid-19 response relates to the purchase of whole council PPE coded to the emergency planning budget and mortality support facilities (£3.5m). 11.31 Central Government support is available to support councils’ pandemic responses and compensate for lost income and sales. This funding is reported within the Central Finance area and likely to be distributed at year end. For Corporate Services, this is approximately £0.6m. 12. Public Health 12.1 The settlement announced a real-terms increase to the overall public health grant in 2020/21. The grant for Dorset Council grew from £13.172m to £14.072m (£0.9m increase). 12.2 The Covid-19 pandemic has meant substantial changes have had to be made to public health services and additional support has been needed to mitigate both the physical consequences of the virus, and the economic and mental health consequences of lockdown and social distancing measures. This has created additional cost pressures on both Public Health Dorset and the wider system.
Page 108 12.3 Public Health Dorset recognises that Dorset is facing significant financial challenges so agreed that any cost pressures in the service relating to Covid-19 would be funded through the grant uplift or other system partners and no call would be made on the MHCLG funding. 13. Central finance 13.1 Central budgets include the main sources of the Council’s funding; council tax, business rates and general grants (such as new homes bonus and rural services delivery grant). The additional, non-ringfenced Covid-19 funding of £25.1m is also included here (though some of this total was actually spent in 2019/20), as is our expected income of around £7m from the sales, fees and charges support scheme from the Government which partially offsets shortfalls mentioned in individual directorates’ performance, noted earlier. 13.2 Due to slippage on the capital programme in 2019/20 and due to better cash balances than predicted at the budget setting stage, there have been savings in the capital financing budget. Around £4.1m of this is in the minimum revenue provision (MRP) budget and £0.8m on net treasury management performance. These savings expectations have been factored into the 2021/22 budget proposals. 13.3 An underspend of £4.5m is also being released from the contingency budget at this stage. It may be possible to release further underspend from this budget during the closing months of the financial year as not all of it is yet committed. 13.4 The budget also set targets of £3m cost reductions from transformation projects and a further £3m from better procurement and contract management. Whilst transformation work continues, these savings cannot be delivered this year as the organisation’s resources were deployed in support of Covid-19 response and recovery. 13.5 The Joint Public Health Board’s new partnership agreement for the shared service has resulted in Dorset Council being able to invest £0.5m in activities outside the shared service but still within the grant conditions. This is currently forecast in the central finance area. 13.6 Central budgets remain at risk from reductions in income from council tax and business rates. Our estimated collection shortfall for the year, based on 31 December 2020 data is £7.5m for council tax (our forecast provides for estimated loss of £10m). For business rates, the corresponding figures feed through to a potential shortfall of nearly £2m for the Council (with a forecast of £3m). 13.7 The Spending Review for 2020 (SR20) announced Government support for collection funds this year. The scheme, referred to as the council tax and business rates income guarantee scheme, will be paid next year to compensate councils for 75% of irrecoverable losses in collection funds this year. The scheme is still at the consultation stage, so we await
Page 109 confirmation of the final details of its operation, but it will result in support for whatever the eventual irrecoverable losses on the funds will be. This support is not yet factored into the forecast, but our initial estimate is that it might not be worth a material amount in any event. 13.8 This is because the scheme is intended to support irrecoverable losses rather than slow payment. The majority of the issue faced by the Council at present is non-payment or slow payment rather than irrecoverable loss and Government has made it clear that it wishes councils to continue to pursue slow and late payment as usual and it will not compensate for these amounts. Our forecasts therefore provide for £13m of “losses” in total, but it will be a matter of judgement at year-end, as to exactly how much of this late payment the Council wishes to make provision for in its accounts. A lower provision would reduce the size of the financial burden in-year and would mean a more positive view was taken on the Council’s ability to recover these late payments. 14. Reserves 14.1 The Council’s overspend will need to be financed. Bringing six Councils together generated a general fund of £28.2m and allowed other earmarked reserves to be reviewed and repurposed because the risk profile of the new Council is different from its predecessors. This will enable us to fund the current year’s projected overspend but it does affect the council’s resilience and ability to mitigate future risks. 14.2 We continue to review our reserves but at this stage no formal recommendation is coming forward to Cabinet for further repurposing of these funds. It is important that the Council provides adequate reserves for the risks that it faces and anything other than short-term use of reserves is unsustainable without plans to top them up. They can only be spent once and if they are not cash-backed this will also trigger an increase in the Council’s borrowing. 14.3 The impact on reserves has been a key driver in addressing areas of overspend during the year and has also informed the representations made to Government for additional financial support. The Council is pleased that Government continues to listen to the sector and collect data to inform additional funding being brought to councils through SR20 as described in the budget strategy paper. 15. Additional Covid-19 funding 15.1 As well as its own £304m net budget, the Council has also received and/or administered other funds during the course of the year that Government has chosen to distribute to/through local authorities. Some of these are described below. New grants continue to come through – even as this report is written, so it cannot be guaranteed as 100% accurate at the time of reading. Future finance reports will give additional updates.
Page 110 Business grants 15.2 The Council was given an initial allocation of £133.7m for this scheme which Government closed on 30 September. Dorset Council 6,615 payments of £10k to small businesses, 1,280 payments of £10k to smaller retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) businesses and a further 1,124 payments of £25k to larger RHL businesses. Discretionary grants 15.3 In response to feedback about the first tranche of grants, Government announced further business support through a round of discretionary grants, funded at 5% of our estimated total potential payments through the tranche 1 funding - amounting to just over £6m. Again, this scheme closed on 30 September by which time Dorset Council had made 1,619 payments to distribute this funding. 15.4 After the schemes were closed, Government called for the return of the £20.7m unspent funding. MHCLG have agreed our reconciliation which confirms the effective control and reporting that this Council put in place to administer this funding. Additional round of business grants 15.5 On 5 January, the Chancellor announced a further £4.6bn national fund for business top-up grants. Details of this are not clear at the time of writing but the affected business in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £9,000, depending on the rateable value of premises. There will also be a further £594m nationally to support businesses not eligible for these grants but which are affected. Business rates relief 15.6 As well as grants, businesses in Dorset have further benefitted from the Government’s decision to extend business rates reliefs this year. In 2020/21, 3,464 Dorset businesses will benefit by more than £54.5m through all types of discount. Reopening high streets safely 15.7 A national fund of £50m means £335k for Dorset Council to prepare for and support the safe reopening of high streets and other retail spaces. 15.8 This new money will support practical measures so businesses can re- open quickly when they are allowed to, staff get back to work and customers return to shops, confident it is safe. Infection control grant 15.9 Dorset Council’s infection control grant totalled £9.4m. 80% of this is being distributed to care homes within our geographical area on a 'per- bed' basis and to Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated community care providers. The remaining 20% of the funding will be used to support the full range of providers to manage infection control.
Page 111 Test & trace payment scheme 15.10 The test and trace scheme went live from 28 September 2020 with Dorset Council making the claim process available from 12 October 2020 in line with Government requirements. The scheme runs until 31 January 2021 and claimants qualify for a payment if they meet the conditions for either the standard scheme or the discretionary scheme. Dorset has been allocated £134k for the standard scheme and £80k for the discretionary scheme, with a further £40k coming to the Council as funding for administration of the grant under the new burdens doctrine. Test & trace service support grant 15.11 Dorset Council has been allocated £1.3m from this fund to provide support to local authorities in England towards expenditure in relation to the mitigation against and management of local outbreaks of Covid-19 Local restrictions support grants 15.12 Government has devised a number of grant schemes under the umbrella of Local Restrictions Grants. These grants cover the second lockdown and subsequent tier systems since 2 December 2020. The grants are paid to business ratepayers and are fully funded by Government. Government has provided councils with 80% of estimated funding in advance. A new tranche of grants will apply from 5 January 2021 (lockdown 3) but details and funding are yet to be received.
Page 112 Award Award Grant Description of grant Funding (number) value
Businesses that were required to LRSG Closed close under the national £9,378,252 3,112 £4,766,254 (addendum) restrictions between 5 November 2020 and 2 December 2020 Businesses affected by Tier 2 restrictions during the period Payments from 2 December 2020 to 19 will LRSG open December 2020 where £2,367,946 TBC commence businesses are open Jan 2021 Further funding will be received post 19 December Businesses affected by Tier 2 restrictions during the period 2 Payments December 2020 to 19 December will LRSG closed 2020 where businesses are £79,993 TBC commence closed Jan 2021 Further funding will be received post 19 December Businesses which have been required to close since 23 March 2020 Funding included with Two LRSG sector LRSG Closed TBC identified (Nightclubs, dancehalls and (addendum) adult entertainment establishments) LRSG – Support for “wet led” pubs £249,600 72 £72,000 Christmas Grant during the Christmas period Additional Restrictions Support Grant (ARG) 15.13 This is a single allocation based on £20 per head of population (ONS 2019 Mid-Year Population Estimates) for each local authority to use to run a discretionary grant scheme, for example to closed businesses that do not have a rateable value or have costs that are significantly higher. 15.14 For Dorset with a population of around 378,000, this amounts to some £7.57m. Discretionary grants can also be paid to businesses that are severely impacted rather than closed. The allocation can also be used for other direct business support at the discretion of the local authority, for example support for businesses from Growth Hubs. The grant is a one-off payment for Local Authorities in financial year 20/21 and is to be used in 20/21 and 21/22 and will not be renewed. 15.15 The ARG forms part of the local restrictions support grants package. It is for businesses that are required to close under the imposed coronavirus restrictions that do not qualify for the Local Restrictions Grants. The ARG also provides for support for the wider business community. The full allocation of £7,570,160 has been received and payments can be made up to 31 March 2022. To the end of Q3 745 payments amounting to £707,014 have been made.
Page 113 Local authority compliance and enforcement grant 15.16 Dorset Council has been allocated £161k of the £60m national funding (£30m to councils) from this source to spend on COVID-19 compliance and enforcement. School transport grants 15.17 Dorset Council has received two tranches of funding totalling £744k to support the additional costs of school transport/SEN transport for the autumn term. Beyond that, the situation will be kept under review. Active travel fund 15.18 This funding has come to Dorset in two tranches totalling £567k. The grant supports local transport authorities with producing cycling and walking facilities. The funding is in 2 tranches: tranche 1 supports the installation of temporary projects for the Covid- 19 pandemic tranche 2 supports the creation of longer-term projects. 15.19 The funding was announced by the Secretary of State on 23 May 2020 as part of the work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales, fees and charges support scheme 15.20 The Council has submitted two claims to MHCLG to recoup lost sales, fees and charges for the council. Not all income streams are covered and the first 5% of all losses are borne by the Council. Thereafter 75p in the £1 of lost income is receivable. Dorset Council has claimed a total of £5.4m through the scheme with another return to be completed to cover the period to the end of March. The scheme has also been extended into Q1 of 2021/22. Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (CEV) 15.21 £220k of a national funding total of £32m has been allocated to Dorset Council. This is calculated at £14.60 per CEV from a national total of 15,150 people. Council tax hardship fund 15.22 A grant of £2.6m was allocated to Dorset to support working-age Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) claimants. Not all of this has yet been distributed but will be allocated by the end of the financial year. Outbreak management fund 15.23 Given that all of the country was effectively been locked down and put into the highest tier “very high” all areas are now to receive funding. Those authorities who were already in receipt of it will not get any more but for Dorset Council this amounts to around £3m.
Page 114 Covid winter grant scheme 15.24 A national fund of £170m translates into a £922k allocation for Dorset to provide support for vulnerable families with children who are particularly affected by the pandemic. The grant is being administered by Children’s Services. LA emergency assistance grant for food and essential supplies 15.25 An allocation of £341k is coming to Dorset Council and being administered in Children’s Services for support to those who are struggling to afford food and other essentials due to Covid-19. 16. Capital expenditure and financing 16.1 Appendix 1 sets out the summary position on the capital programme. The 2019/20 capital programme was underspent and that slippage therefore rolled into 2020/21. The underspend on capital in previous years is a contributing factor to the underspend on the capital financing budget mentioned earlier. 16.2 The budget approved by Cabinet in February 2020 included £15m of unallocated capital funding which was fully financed, but work had at that stage not been completed to identify the priority areas for spend. Appendix 2 therefore sets out the bids to that capital fund which Cabinet has already approved. 16.3 The Capital Strategy and Asset Management Group (CSAMG) continues as the officer group responsible for review of capital bids and recommending them to Cabinet. The review work for the 2021/22 budget is in progress and further details are set out in the budget strategy report. 17. Next steps 17.1 The Council has continued to refine its forecasting as the year has progressed and updates its financial models as estimates become actual results. Our projections for the remainder of the year are still just that and risk around them remains. Monthly updates to the forecast are still carried out and shared with relevant portfolio holders. We also continue to feed latest forecast predictions for this year into the MTFP and budget strategy as part of our continuous financial management process. 17.2 Despite the risks, our forecast position has improved, though it is also clear that the cost of the pandemic cannot be contained within our current budget envelope - even with Government’s current support. The budget strategy has therefore been established against a backdrop of the risk of loss of council tax, business rates and other income in future. The tapering and eventual end of the furlough scheme and other support for individuals and businesses will affect their ability to pay and a number of income streams on which the Council relies will be impacted – beyond the support being offered by Government - so we continue to address our cost base and commercial aspirations accordingly.
Page 115 18. Development of medium-term financial plan (MTFP) and budget strategy 2021/22 18.1 A separate report on the budget strategy and MTFP is coming to the January Cabinet meeting, so this paper does not repeat that work in any real detail. 18.2 The budget strategy has been developed as part of a continuous process of financial management, ensuring events in the current year are fed-into the MTFP model and evaluated as well as paying attention to new pressures, opportunities affecting 2021/22 and beyond, and the substance of the Spending Review and local government finance settlement. 19. Conclusions 19.1 The Council has made considerable savings since reorganisation and further convergence savings are being made as the Authority’s operations stabilise - even during the pandemic. Whilst many of these savings have been realised already, the budget report still includes further efficiency from bringing the predecessor councils together. 19.2 Although the situation has improved during the year, Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on the Council’s finances with a loss of income and increased expenditure. Whilst the announcement of some further funding from Government is very welcome, we will not see this translate into a baseline funding increase and we must therefore look to continue to close the budget gap in future years, ourselves. The Spending Review was also for a single year only, 2021/22, with further funding programmes still uncertain. 19.3 The Council therefore continues to focus on reducing further, the current year’s operational and financial pressures, refining its financial modelling and transforming itself to deliver better outcomes for Dorset residents within the budget available.
Aidan Dunn Executive Director of Corporate Development Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 116 Appendix 1 Summary of capital programme 2020/21 Slippage Approved Changes Total from Budget 19/20 £000 £000 £000 £000 Fully externally funded Spend 14,434 18,032 21,509 53,975 Grant (14,434) (18,032) (21,509) (53,975) Net 0 0 0 0
Partially externally funded Spend 13,610 13,660 5,710 32,980 Grant (1,017) (11,900) (3,935) (16,852) Net 12,593 1,760 1,775 16,128
Council funded Spend 18,262 34,360 (6,254) 46,368 Grant 0 0 0 0 Net 18,262 34,360 (6,254) 46,368
Total Spend 46,306 66,052 20,965 133,323 Grant (15,451) (29,932) (25,444) (70,827) Net 30,855 36,120 (4,479) 62,496
Page 117 Appendix 2 Summary of approved projects from £15m capital fund 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 Approval date £000 £000 £000 Balance of unallocated bid from approved budget paper 15,000 6,410 3,124
Residential sufficiency in Weymouth 03/03/2020 (3,065) (1,072) Compulsory Purchase of Long Term Empty Property 28/07/2020 (255) (489) IT programme 28/07/2020 (1,450) ITS Asset Replacement Programme 28/07/2020 (200) Slipway extension and storage solutions 28/07/2020 (135) Healthy Homes Dorset 28/07/2020 (75) (75) (75) Acquisition of temporary accommodation 08/09/2020 (3,130) (1,650) Dinah's Hollow 06/10/2020 (130) Acquisition of AV1 robots for schools SLT (150) Balance of unused funds 6,410 3,124 3,049
Page 118 Agenda Item 9
Cabinet 19 January 2021 Children’s Provision
For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr A Parry, Children, Education, Skills and Early Help
Local Councillor(s):
Executive Director: T Leavy, Executive Director of People - Children
Report Author: Stuart Riddle Title: Head of Commissioning Tel: 01035225539 Email: [email protected]
Report Status: Public
Recommendation:
1. That Cabinet approve the Placement Sufficiency Strategy – Appendix 1
2. That Cabinet give approval for the procurements and awards of contracts set out in Appendix 2. In giving this approval, Members are approving known / likely procurement set for implementation during 2021/22 on terms to be agreed by the Executive Director, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder Education, Skills and Early Help for each arrangement. Procurements exceeding the key decision threshold which are not yet identified will be subject to a separate report presented at a later date.
Reason for Recommendation:
The council is required through a ‘sufficiency duty’ to secure sufficient accommodation for children and young people under their care who cannot live at home. The procurement of supported accommodation is required as the existing contract comes to an end this financial year. The procurement will deliver a modernised service that is better value for money. The procurement of residential children’s homes will replace existing spot purchasing spend and offer better value for money.
Page 119 1. Executive Summary
The Children Act 1989 (Section 22G) requires local authorities to take steps that are reasonably practicable to secure sufficient accommodation for children and young people under their care who cannot live at home and whose circumstances indicate that it would be in their best interests to be accommodated within the local authority’s area, so that they can see their family and stay at the same school. This is commonly known as the ‘sufficiency duty’.
The strategy outlines the targets for reducing the number of children in care in Dorset and increasing the number of homes available for children in care in Dorset.
The Council defines key decisions as those with a financial consequence of £500k or more. This report provides notice of the planned / known procurement activities that Cabinet will need to make key decisions on during 2021/22.The procurement timetable details forthcoming procurements related to meeting the council’s sufficiency duty which require Cabinet approval due to their value. These cover a range of services which are described briefly in the timetable.
2. Financial Implications
The aim of the placement sufficiency strategy is to contribute to a reduction in spend on children’s social care, and to ensure that spending in this area delivers value for money and makes a positive impact on outcomes for children in care. Service budgets have identified the funding required for the procurements set out in this report which are from existing placement spend.
3. Well-being and Health Implications
The aim of the Placement Sufficiency Strategy is to contribute to improvement of health and well-being outcomes for children in care.
4. Climate implications
The strategy sets out a number of measures which will ensure that more children in care live in Dorset. This will reduce the need for these children, their families, and any professionals involved in their lives to travel outside of Dorset.
5. Other Implications
The strategy forms part of the corporate parenting duties of the council.
Page 120 6. Risk Assessment
To be carried out by the appropriate project team as part of the business case and rationale for each procurement and as part of ongoing contract management.
7. Equalities Impact Assessment
To be carried out by the appropriate project team as part of the business case and rationale for each procurement and as part of ongoing contract management.
8. Appendices
Appendix 1 – Placement Sufficiency Strategy Appendix 2 – Procurement Timetable Appendix 3 – Corporate Parenting Data Set November 2020 Appendix 4 - DORSET CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES PLAN 2020-23 PRIORITY DELIVERY PLAN PRIORITY: Good Care Provision
9. Background Papers Children, Young People and Families Plan 2020 to 2023 Available at : https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/children-families/childrens- plan/childrens-plan.aspx
Corporate Parenting Strategy 2020 – 2023 Available at : Corporate Parenting Strategy.pdf (dorsetcouncil.gov.uk)
Looked After Children Reduction Case for Change (2019): Available at: https://moderngov.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s13558/Cabinet%20LAC%20 reduction.pdf
Children’s Residential Care 2019: http://moderngov.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s14812/Childrens%20residenti al%20Provision.pdf
10. Introduction and Background 10.1 The Children Act 1989 (Section 22g) requires local authorities to take steps that are reasonably practicable to secure sufficient accommodation for children and young people under their care who cannot live at home and whose circumstances indicate that it would be in their best interests to be accommodated within the local authority’s area, so that they can see their family and stay at the same school. This is commonly known as the ‘sufficiency duty’. From April 2010, local authorities had to include in relevant commissioning strategies their plans for meeting the sufficiency duty. From April 2011, working
Page 121 with their Children's partners, local authorities must be in a position to carry out the sufficiency duty.
10.2 The procurement timetable details forthcoming procurements which require Cabinet approval due to their value. These cover a range of services, described briefly in the timetable, which are relevant to the meeting of our statutory sufficiency duty.
11. The Sufficiency Strategy 11.1 Dorset Council’s Placement Sufficiency Strategy for children and young people is based on the rights-based approach to reducing the number of children in care which was adopted by the Council in 2019. The strategy outlines the targets for reducing the number of children in care in Dorset and increasing the number of homes available for children in care in Dorset.
11.2 The strategy seeks to deliver two key targets:
i. Reducing the number of children in care per 10,000 to a level comparable with our statistical neighbours – 60 per 10,000 ii. Reducing the percentage of children in care placed out of area to a level comparable with our statistical neighbours – 30%
11.3 To ensure there are sufficient local placements, reducing the need for sending children outside of Dorset, away from family, friends and school we have forecasted the need for an additional 51 places for children and young people in Dorset. The strategy seeks to achieve this through increasing the number of residential places in Dorset alongside increasing the number of foster carers.
11.5 We recognise that children and young people in Dorset have a wide range of needs. When it comes to finding a home, we want to support children and young people to have a safe place to live and thrive. To do this we need a range of different homes and settings, including respite and effective short breaks for children and young people with disabilities.
11.6 The Harbour: We will implement a different way of supporting and providing care to our teenagers through a new model of delivery at The Harbour in Weymouth and Portland. Building on the evidence based No Wrong Door model, this replaces traditional young people's homes with hubs which combine residential care with fostering, outreach support, and supported lodgings. A range of premises were identified by the council as potential children’s homes following the report to cabinet in 2019. The council is in the process of seeking registration with Ofsted for these.
11.8 Foster care: Sufficiency will be increased through continuing to focus on targeted recruitment for a diverse range of children and young people, increasing the number and proportion of active carers, modernising work of the fostering
Page 122 panel, and the implementation of an evidence based model of support for foster carers. Known as the Mockingbird model, this has proved successful nationally and has been shown to increase the number of young people who are able to stay with foster carers after their 18th birthday, in what are known as Staying Put arrangements. We will deepen relationships with independent fostering agencies with carers in Dorset to ensure that we are able to place more Dorset children with these carers through prioritising matching and improved brokerage arrangements. In addition, we will seek to commission a short break fostering service and specialist schemes such as parent/carer and baby placements.
11.8 Residential Care: Sufficiency will be increased through a new build children’s home in Weymouth. We will all pursue the registration of a number of premises identified by the Council as children’s homes. These will be operated by Dorset Council or by partner organisations and eliminate the use of unregistered provision. We will continue to work with partners to encourage the development of new residential provision in the county by independent sector providers through the use of block contracts. We will review the statement of purpose for our home for children who are disabled and consider how the service can be delivered differently - linking with foster carers and short breaks provision - and join up this strategy with the SEND capital strategy to identify opportunities for children to stay in Dorset.
11.9 Supported accommodation and independent living: We will increase sufficiency and value for money through reducing the use of spot purchasing; retendering the contract for young people’s supported accommodation with a new model to better meet needs; deliver additional accommodation for care leavers in Weymouth; work with colleagues in Adult and Housing to embed the joint protocol for young people at risk of homelessness; seek opportunities to develop affordable housing options for care leavers, and increase the number of shared lives carers.
11.10 We will seek to improve outcomes for children in care through support from the virtual school; review our arrangements for ‘Family Time’ so children in care are able to keep in touch with people that are important to them; focus on supporting the health and wellbeing of our children in care by working differently with health partners, and will review our regional adoption agency arrangements. Our new brokerage service has increased our capacity for contract monitoring and quality assurance arrangements with providers. This will provide more assurance about quality standards; ensure value for money and improve placement stability.
12 Procurement Pipeline 12.1 The implementation of this strategy and meeting our statutory sufficiency duties requires a number of procurement exercises to be implemented throughout 2021/22, details of which are provided in Appendix 2. These
Page 123 procurement exercises are to replace existing spend and seek to deliver better value for money. This includes:
i. Block contracts for Supported Housing: these block contracts would replace the existing contracts for young people’s supported accommodation due to come to end in this financial year. This will enable us to address the issues arising as part of the government review of unregulated provision and to modernise the support model. They will be sourced through competitive tender for a maximum of 7 years.
iii. Block Contracts for various residential placements in county: these block contracting arrangements would seek to replace existing spot purchasing arrangements and encourage new providers to set up residential homes in Dorset - either using premises identified by the council or premises identified by providers. Current regional frameworks arrangements have not yielded development in county and are contributing to the number of children placed out of county. They will be sourced through competitive tender for a maximum term of six years. The outcome of this procurement seeks to reprofile existing spend and offer better value for money.
13 Recommendations 13.1 It is recommended that the Cabinet:
i. approve the Placement Sufficiency Strategy – Appendix 1
ii. give approval for the procurements and awards of contracts set out in Appendix 2 on terms to be agreed by the Executive Director, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder Education, Skills and Early Help for each arrangement. Procurements exceeding the key decision threshold which are not yet identified will be subject to a separate report presented at a later date.
Footnote:
Page 124 Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 125 This page is intentionally left blank Appendix 1
Placement Sufficiency Strategy 2020 - 2023
Page 127 1. Overview Background 1.1. Dorset Council’s Placement Sufficiency Strategy for children and young people is based on the rights-based approach to reducing the number of children in care which was adopted by the Council in 2019. This policy emphasises the need to provide services which prevent the need for children to enter the care system, and the obligation to ensure that wherever possible children are able to live in a family setting while in care. 1.2. There are two key targets which underpin this work: Reducing the number of children in care per 10,000 to a level comparable with our statistical neighbours – 60 per 10,000 Reducing the percentage of children in care placed out of area to a level comparable with our statistical neighbours – 30%
Numbers of children in care 1.3. As of the end of November 2020, there were 476 children in care; a rate per 10,000 for Dorset of 70 exceeding that of statistical neighbour average of 55, and the neighbouring authority average of 65. To reduce the number of children to a rate per 10,000 comparable with neighbouring authorities would mean a care population of 390. It is estimated that this would take three years to achieve. 1.4. The target for the end of financial year 2021-22 is to reduce the number of children in care to 440. 82 young people will transition to care leaver services by the end of March 2022. Alongside other exit routes from care estimated to be between 40 and 50 children the net underlying increase in the number of children entering care would need to be no more than 90 to achieve this target. 1.5. During the first two quarters of 2020-21, 75 children left the care system and 74 entered. 27 of the leavers were transitioning 18-year olds. To reduce the overall figure, we require both fewer children entering the system, and the number of children leaving to return to their birth family or other permanence options such as SGO or adoption to increase. The percentage of children leaving care for adoption has been greater than statistical neighbour or national rates, and the rate of special guardianship has been greater than statistical neighbours in the last six months, but these figures can fluctuate from quarter to quarter as numbers are low. Overall, numbers of adoptions are rising in Dorset counter to the national trend, and Special Guardianship Order numbers are declining. Year 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target no. of 476 (Nov 20) 440 410 380 CiC at year end
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Numbers of additional places required within Dorset 1.6. As of the end of November 2020, 41% of all children in care were placed outside of the Dorset area – some 194 children and young people. To reduce this percentage to the target figure of 30% would require the creation of, or assured access to, 51 additional places for children and young people in Dorset. This growth in capacity in Dorset would reduce the need to send children outside of Dorset and away from their family, friends and school 1.7. There are currently 35 children’s homes places for children available or in development in Dorset – some of these are being developed by Dorset Council, while others will be brought into block contract arrangements over the course of the year. It is reasonable to assume that 25 of these will be in use at any time. There is also a reasonable expectation that additional registered children’s home capacity will become available in Dorset, as a result of our tendering activity and the current national review of the use of unregulated provision for children. 1.8. It is also reasonable to set a target for the Council’s own fostering service to increase the number of available carers by 20 and to seek to secure an additional 20 places with independent fostering agencies in Dorset.
Total additional Additional places Additional Dorset Additional places required in residential Council fostering independent by March 2022 homes by March places by March fostering places 2022 2022 secured by March 2022 51 20 20 20
1.9. Current costs, as of November 20, are £102.286.93 per week for the 106 children and young people placed with external fostering providers. 66 of these are placed outside of the border of Dorset. 1.10. Current costs, as of November 20, are £279,405.10 per week for the 57 young people in external residential provision.49 of these are placed outside the border of Dorset. 1.11. An increase in our local placement availability as detailed above would result in an additional £100,000 per week being spent within the Dorset economy at a very conservative estimate. This would mean that our expenditure was benefiting the local economy, rather than the economy in other local authority areas.
Unregulated provision
Page 129 1.12. The government is currently considering feedback to a consultation on the use of unregulated provision for children. This is usually supported accommodation which provides independence or semi-independence. Neither Ofsted nor the CQC currently inspect or regulate such provision. Dorset currently has 43 children in this type of provision. 1.13. The government has consulted around four groups of proposals: banning the use of independent and semi-independent placements for children and young people under the age of 16; driving up the quality of support offered in independent and semi-independent provision, through the introduction of new national standards, and ensuring that young people’s interests are appropriately represented by their Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO); introducing new measures so that local authorities and local police forces liaise before a placement in this provision is made; and giving Ofsted new legal powers to act against illegal providers. 1.14. The proposals if adopted as set out would mean that providers would have to comply with a set of national minimum standards and would be subject to inspection by Ofsted, and there would be clarity about the difference between this type of accommodation and registered care provision. 1.15. There would be a transition period before the introduction of any new legislation and regulation, but the reality is that providers will have to choose between registering their provision, complying with the national standards, or exiting the market for housing 16- and 17-year olds. 1.16. Of the current cohort, 20 will transition to adulthood before the end of March 2021. It will be important going forward to reduce the number of young people entering this type of provision. An action plan will be developed to address risk issues in the remaining cohort: An over-representation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Spot purchase arrangements where further quality assurance is required. High support placements which risk being illegal unregistered care settings. 1.17. Current costs, as of November 202, are £43,560.72 per week for the 43 young people. 9 of them are currently living outside the Dorset area. 1.18. Young people’s supported housing will be retendered during 2021. The tender will open in February and the contract will commence in August. The tender will have a lot for supported housing services for 18 to 25 years old, and a lot for vulnerable young people aged 16-25. The expectation will be that providers who bid for the vulnerable young people’s lot will work towards compliance with any system of regulation brought forward by the government.
2. Background 2.1. What is placement sufficiency?
Page 130 We believe in supporting all of our children and young people to have a safe place to live and thrive. We recognise that most children and young people are best brought up within their own families. Where this is not possible, we look to find a family or a home that best meets their needs and offers access to the support and opportunities needed for success and happiness in later life. To meet this vision, we need to have the right home, with the right people, in the right place, at the right time. This strategy sets out our aims and priorities to deliver this. 2.2. Guiding legislation The Children Act 1989 (Section 22g) requires local authorities to take steps that are reasonably practicable to secure sufficient accommodation for children and young people under their care who cannot live at home and whose circumstances indicate that it would be in their best interests to be accommodated within the local authority’s area, so that they can see their family and stay at the same school. This is commonly known as the ‘sufficiency duty’. From April 2010, local authorities had to include in relevant commissioning strategies their plans for meeting the sufficiency duty. From April 2011, working with their Children's partners, local authorities must be in a position to carry out the sufficiency duty. 2.3. Dorset Council Policy In 2019, Dorset Council adopted a policy of committing to reduce the number of children in care, taking a rights- based approach, which develops services which support children to be able to grow up in a family setting. We have a combined strategy to establish placement sufficiency: Change commissioning approach - block contracting, or a similar vehicle, to identify providers who will guarantee access to a number of placements Hybrid provision - where DC owns or leases properties which providers use to run children’s homes, or which are directly provided by DC. Use existing, or new, sources of capital investment, such as a Social Impact Bond, to buy or build additional capacity in the residential estate for Dorset
3. Our Aims 3.1. Our Strengthening Services Plan and Children and Young Peoples Plan set out our short to medium service improvement agenda, and our long term transformation plans. Both plans are multi agency plans which are overseen by the Strategic Alliance. Our Placement Sufficiency Strategy, together with the Corporate Parenting Strategy, sits within the context established by these plans. 3.2. Our Strengthening Services plan states: Children in Care and Care Leavers receive good quality help and support and thrive in a setting that is right for them achieving good outcomes that set the foundation for a stable and happy future: • Strengthen the Corporate Parenting offer in Dorset
Page 131 • Improve the quality and timeliness of care and permanence planning so that children live in their forever home as soon as possible • Strengthen arrangements to improve education, employment and training outcomes for children in care and care leavers • Ensure robust arrangements are in place so that all children in care and care leavers are receiving health services that are improving their health outcomes • Ensure children in care and care leavers with emotional health and wellbeing needs get the right help and support at the right time • Strengthen contact / family time arrangements so that children in care are supported to have meaningful contact with family members • Strengthen fostering arrangements in Dorset so that more children and young people are cared for close to their communities, friends and networks • Ensure sufficiency and quality of local residential placements for children in care and suitable accommodation for care leavers
3.3. The Children and Young People’s Plan states: Our aim is to keep our children close to home and to be the best corporate parents we can be. Where we can we want to support families to stay together. Where children and young people do need care, we want to make sure this is in family-based care wherever possible. We want to make sure that:
we have the right educational and housing options for our children in care and care leavers
we improve the health and wellbeing of our children in care and care leavers
there is a range of short breaks available to support families with children with SEND so that they're able to continue to care for their children 3.4. The Corporate Parenting Strategy has identified the following priorities for children on the edge of care, children in care, and care leavers:
Increase opportunities to hear the voice of our children and young people and to take their views, wishes and feelings into account. Promote better physical and mental health and well-being through improved access to health information and services. Have high aspirations for children in care and care leavers in their education, training and employment. Ensure safe and stable accommodation within the family home or close relatives and friends. If not possible, children are moved to a permanent placement without delay. For our children to have a good and enriching experience of care provision and to prepare for adulthood and an independent and successful life.
Page 132 Effective governance and planning arrangements are in place to mean the Corporate Parent can be the best they can be.
4. COVID Specific Context 4.1. The experience of the pandemic in Dorset has been congruent with the themes identified by Ofsted in a briefing note COVID-19 series: briefing on children’s social care providers, October 2020. Better multi-agency working has often been a positive consequence of the pandemic, especially between education and LAs. Concerns about sufficiency, placement disruption and children entering care in an unplanned way have increased during COVID-19 (coronavirus) restrictions. Care leavers’ personal advisers have shown strong commitment to them throughout the pandemic. Pressures on the family courts significantly impacted LAs’ ability to issue care proceedings and to protect children. The backlog of public law cases has also made it harder to return children home or move them out of care. Contact between children and their families has largely been managed sensitively, in line with COVID-19 restrictions on a local and national level. Leaders did not always have a clear strategy to know which children known to social care should be attending school in person or to monitor attendance. There were differences in children’s and young people’s access to technology and therefore in their ability to engage in remote learning, access the job market or keep in touch with friends and family. Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) often already did not have enough capacity to meet children’s needs, and this worsened during the pandemic. LAs appear to have made little use of the temporary flexibilities in the regulations.
4.2. Dorset Council has taken the following steps to support young people and providers during the pandemic: Despite the challenges in maintaining face to face contact, we have been making sure that we continue, wherever possible to keep in touch with and visit our children in care. Our social workers have used technology to stay in touch, and we are working closely with foster carers and placement providers to safely visit in a Covid secure way and reducing unnecessary footfall where possible by coordinating visits by professionals. Almost 85% of our children in care have been seen in the last six weeks and 14% in the last 6 to 12 weeks. Throughout Covid 19 we have also tracked social work contact with children within 4 weeks and on 13/7/2020 87% children had been contacted in the last 4 weeks.
Page 133 4.3. One of the major challenges due to COVID19 has been a delay in ‘move on’ within both the private rented and home choice housing sectors. Limited private rented properties were advertised during this time and there were also COVID19 restrictions in place which prevented moving. The home choice bidding system was closed temporarily due to COVID19, preventing any bids on local housing association properties until this re-opened mid-July 2020. The impact of these delays and other emergency measures taken during COVID19 includes a current processing time of up to 16 weeks for housing register applications meaning that new applicants are unable to access the home choice system until their applications are completed. The impact of COVID19 delay will begin to reduce as colleagues in our Housing Departments are able to catch up with volume of work and demands, and the private housing sector become more confident to advertise properties once again.
4.4. Overall, Ofsted has noted that social care providers seem to express little concern about their future viability – in contrast to other sectors of the economy. This confirms the pre pandemic view that the children’s social care market was currently provider led. This also supports the shift in our strategy to investment in our own provision, and a more active approach to market engagement and market shaping.
5. Dorset Children and Young People 5.1. What we know from current data:
Children in need – the level of need for social work intervention Our Child in Need (CIN) numbers are gradually decreasing and are in line with our statistical neighbours (292 per 10,000). Our CIN assessments are also reducing as a result of work taking place in the Childrens Advice and Duty team and ongoing work to embed Early Help. There has been significant improvement in recent months in timeliness of our social work assessments and our social workers direct work and contact with children and families is a high priority for us. Children in Care The number of Children in Care in Dorset has increased over the past 5 years. From 390 children in 2015 to 476 November 2020. The number of children in care aged 0-12 is consistently greater than the number of children aged 13 – 17 in the care system 43% are girls and 55% boys
Page 134 Fourteen per cent of our children in care are from Black, Asian or other minority ethnic groups At the end of November 2020, there were 14 unaccompanied asylum- seeking children. These children are over-represented in unregulated provision Nine per cent of our children in care are disabled but around two thirds will have Special Educational Needs, One third of our children in care are from Weymouth and Portland Too many of our children in care are placed at a distance from home making it more difficult for them to keep in touch with family and friends and leading to changes of school - 46% of children and young people are looked after over 20 miles from their home address and 40% live outside Dorset Too many of our children have placement moves before they find the right home for them – a third of all children in care have had more than one placement. Long- and short-term placement stability is worse than national or statistical neighbour averages
Care Leavers Dorset has responsibility for 260 care leavers – 45% are male, and 54% are female. We are working to ensure they have suitable places to live close to education and job opportunities Eleven per cent of care leavers are from Black, Asian or other minority ethnic groups Eleven per cent are disabled. As we have a large number of teenagers in our care we know that this number will increase over the next 2 years but we can expect it to decrease after that as the age profile of children coming into care changes, The number of care leavers receiving support after the age of 21 falls off sharply. We need to be better able to support children and young people who have multiple and complex needs, are at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation, have mental health issues and additional communication needs
6. Supporting the right to family life 6.1. The sufficiency duty applies to all children who are Looked After, but it also applies to Children in Need who are at risk of care or custody, known as children 'on the edge of care', and needs to incorporate permanency. 6.2. Children in care are supported by social workers across locality teams and with the children who are disabled service. Within the locality teams we have
Page 135 created 3 locality-based permanence teams to support our children in care from 0-18 years of age. 6.3. The creation of permanence teams embedded within our new place-based structure ensures that our children in care have a managed transfer between social workers at the right time for them, whilst maintaining a focus on their needs when permanence has been achieved. 6.4. The trend is Dorset is towards better performance around permanency. The percentage of children who have a permanence plan after 4 months has increased from a low baseline. Long term placement stability is better than our comparators. 6.5. We have improved our systems for tracking and monitoring children who are pre and in proceedings in the family courts. As of November 202, there were 40 children from 23 families. All cases in proceedings are review at 13 weeks and action taken if there are signs that the timescale for resolution may be at risk. 6.6. We recognise that children and young people in Dorset have a wide range of needs. When it comes to finding a home, we want to support children and young people to have a safe place to live and thrive. To do this we need a range of different homes and settings, including respite and effective short breaks for children and young people with disabilities.
7. The Harbour 7.1. We will implement a different way of supporting and providing care to our teenagers through a new model of delivery at The Harbour in Weymouth and Portland. 7.2. The Harbour approach is a multi-agency partnership that pools resources to achieve improved outcomes for children, families and communities, and reduce spending across the public sector. 7.3. The Harbour programme is based on the successful No Wrong Door model and replaces traditional young people's homes with hubs which combine residential care with fostering, outreach support, and supported lodgings. Each hub has a dedicated multi-disciplinary team which works with young people on the edge of care, around placement stability and reunification – working with families on a strength based, relationship based, restorative model in a shared approach with partner agencies. 7.4. The approach involves working with children on the edge of care, at risk of placement breakdown, or in insecure housing in order to ensure that they can continue to live at home, or can live in a stable family setting. In this approach, residential care is a time limited intervention for young people – not a destination. 7.5. Every young person in the Harbour programme is given one key worker supported by a single team of trusted and skilled workers. These workers stick with the young person through thick and thin to access the right services at the right time and in the right place to meet their needs.
Page 136 7.6. So far there has been successful engagement of partners including Police, the CCG, healthcare providers and housing providers to shape and deliver The Harbour. The project will deliver a reduction in service delivery costs for all partners which will support securing long-term financial investment. 7.7. For Dorset Council, the most tangible benefit to be realised will be a reduction in the number of children placed in residential care and in out of county placements 7.8. The delivery of the Harbour approach will require effective and robust staffing arrangements, including the successful recruitment of specialist foster carers. This will require new ways of working and a consistent set of behaviours and values across the residential homes, family placements and community settings, including staff from partner agencies. 7.9. A task group is working on process design and new guidelines for staff. The group will produce a workforce development plan and document supporting procedures and guidance for all staff and agencies who will deliver services in The Harbour. 7.10. 45 Dorchester Road, Weymouth will see the development of a 3 bedroomed home which can be used as a short-term intervention in emergencies, and a 5 bedroomed home will be suitable for children who need a residential intervention the medium term. Both are expected to be available in the winter of 2021/22. 7.11. Hayeswood Bungalow, Wimborne is being registered as a children’s home and has a single young person living there. At the point when she moves on to her own accommodation, the home will be available to be used in the same way at the 3 bed home in Dorchester Road and will mean that the approach can be offered in the east and north of the county with a base that is closer to home. 7.12. Clarence Road, Portland can be refurbished and registered by the end of February 2021. This will either enable a young person to exit unregistered provision and move closer to their family, and/or will be available as part of the Harbour offer. 7.13. Sunnyside, Weymouth is currently occupied by a young man who has transitioned to Adult and Community Services. He will move to his permanent adult care setting in 2021. At this point, this property will be able to be registered as a children’s home. 7.14. Avon Heath is two cottages in the country park which are currently being used as unregistered provision. Early in 2021, an existing local provider will take on a lease for the properties and will register them as children’s homes in a block contract arrangement. 7.15. We will: Reconfigure and expand our existing edge of care and complex placements services to deliver this model Use residential bases in Weymouth for the core hub and have a live service by winter 2021/22
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8. Foster care 8.1. Our vision is for all children in foster care to have stable lives, build trusting relationships, to feel cared for and benefit from high quality foster are for as long as they need it. 67% of children in care are placed with foster carers which is below national and regional average 16% of children in care who are placed with foster carers do so under established permanent arrangements 15% of children in care are placed with foster carers who are relatives or friends 4% of children in care at any one time are placed with foster carers and awaiting adoption Dorset Council supports 205 foster carer households, many of whom look after more than one child or young person in care. Just over a quarter of these are connected person arrangements. 212 children are placed with Dorset Council foster carers, and 103 with external fostering providers. For young people moving into adulthood, the Staying Put scheme offers the opportunity to remain with their foster carer after they have turned 18. We need to develop this further, as we do our Fostering to Adopt offer so that more children can be placed with foster carers who can then adopt them. 8.2. Increasing sufficiency of foster care: We will work to increase the supply and improve the quality of our fostering offer. The following steps will be taken to increase sufficiency of foster placements: Fostering recruitment will be tendered to replace the current arrangements with a complete through service that delivers foster households to our Fostering panel ready to approve. Recruitment will focus on carers for teenagers who are able to care for young people with complex needs and offer a home to the diverse population of children in care. The management of the fostering service will increase the proportion of registered foster carers who are active and available to receive children. Currently, around 60% of fostering households are active – we need to increase this to 85%. The proportion will be increased both by supporting more carers to provide placements, and by deregistering those carers who have reached the end of their fostering career. We will review the terms of reference and structure of our current fostering panel with a view to identifying changes which support our direction of travel – both in terms of the work required to increase the
Page 138 number of new carers, and to strengthen the quality assurance and review mechanisms around our existing carers. The fostering service will move to implement the Mockingbird model of support for foster carers. A transformation bid is being prepared to support this work. The fostering service will establish a specific Mockingbird network for teenagers as part of the Harbour which will establish a step-down pathway for children in residential care. Increase the number of children who stay put with their carers after their 18th birthday. The fostering service will increase the percentage of children who are able to benefit from Staying Put arrangements that it is in line with our statistical neighbours. This will reduce the number who live in unregulated provision. 8.3. Deepen relationships with independent foster care providers, particularly those with carers in Dorset. We know that over 150 children from other local authorities are looked after by independent fostering agencies in Dorset. We wish to work with these providers to ensure that this provision is secured and available for Dorset children in the first instance. Although this sector of the market is reluctant to enter into block arrangements, we believe that we can improve confidence by prioritising matching in the brokerage process and reducing delay. We also believe that there is scope to commission specialist schemes from the sector including parent/carer and baby placements. Tendering will take place for a short break fostering service for children with additional needs. This is a gap in our current short break offer. Activity including retainer schemes and matching panels will take place with independent fostering providers within Dorset to increase our access to the fostering households in the county.
9. Children’s homes and residential care
9.1. Our vision is that children and young people who live in children’s homes and residential care do so within Dorset and to have great quality care in homely environments where support is flexible and planned to suit their needs. We want them to be supported to be able to live with families, whether this is with foster carers, their biological family, or for young people to move towards independent living: Currently 97 children and young people, 20% of those in care, live in children’s homes and residential care. There are 5 children’s homes in Dorset registered with Ofsted offering up to 19 places. One of these is a Dorset Council home for children who are disabled – The Cherries, Weymouth. This originally designed as a short break provision for children and is a large institutional building. It is registered for 9 young people,
Page 139 but is currently home to 5. Work will take place early in 2021 to review whether these young people could live in more domestic accommodation or whether they could live with foster parents. Of the 4 other private children’s homes’ 13 beds, four are occupied by Dorset children and young people. Most Dorset children and young people who are looked after in children’s homes and residential care live outside of Dorset, sometimes in neighbouring counties but too often far away from their families and friends. Sometimes this is because their needs are particularly complex and they need specialist therapeutic provision or residential schools, but they need to have every opportunity to live within Dorset Some children and young people are living in residential children’s homes because we have been unable to find a foster family to care for them 9.2 We will increase the availability of local residential care and children’s homes by: Building a new children’s home in Weymouth by September 2021 for up to 5 young people, who need longer term residential care. Not using residential care which is not registered with Ofsted. We will do this using the Harbour and by registering residential provision with Ofsted as children’s homes, operated either by Dorset Council or by partner organisations. Working with partner organisations to expand the range of residential care in Dorset. We will encourage existing partners to develop this provision and block contract the homes. We will also tender to offer Dorset Council properties to be developed as new independent sector children’s homes for Dorset Council’s exclusive use under ‘block contracts’, along with a lot to enable new providers to contract with us. Review the statement of purpose of our children’s home for children and young people who are disabled and look at how the service can be provided differently – exploring the potential to deliver the service in less institutional homes, and linking the service with dedicated foster carers and short breaks providers to deliver a graduated response. Joining up our placement sufficiency strategy with our SEND Capital Strategy to identify opportunities for young people with additional needs to go to school and live in Dorset, if they cannot live at home.
10. Supported accommodation and Independent living 10.1. Our vision is for all young people in living in supported accommodation to have a safe place to live, whilst developing their life skills to successfully transition into adulthood and independence. We want Dorset young people to reach their potential during their transition into adulthood and beyond. We want young people leaving care to be supported to get the right accommodation and get practical and financial support.
Page 140 10.2. Dorset Council commissions supported accommodation for young people, but due to increases in demand and emerging complex needs, additional accommodation and housing related support for young people is sought through spot purchasing. 10.3. Only 86% of care leavers remain in care until their 18th birthday, and we know we need to work to increase this number, and reduce the number of 17 year olds in unregulated accommodation, while working to improve the quality of the support offered in these settings. 10.4. We have a total of 63 young people aged 17-21 living in supported accommodation, 16 in Staying Put placements, and 7 in bed and breakfast or emergency accommodation. 10.5. Dorset care leavers are more likely at age 18 to be in unsuitable accommodation than the national or statistical neighbour average, and more likely to be living independently at age 19 to 21. We know that supported lodgings and staying put schemes are underused for care leavers in Dorset compared to national or statistical neighbour averages. 10.6. We have a duty to support care leavers up to the age of 25, but we know the number of care leavers receiving a service declines drastically after age 21. Our development of 1 and 2 bedroom flats at Kirtleton Avenue will provide additional accommodation for up to 12 young adults, and their children if they are parents, and enable them to access support but also to have a settled tenancy which will provide a stepping stone to adult life. The accommodation will be available from winter 21/22. 10.7. Work will continue with colleagues in Adult Services and Housing to: Embed our joint protocol between children’s services and housing to ensure that young people who are at risk of homelessness receive a robust response Seeking opportunities to develop affordable housing options for care leavers through the council’s Building Better Lives programme Increase the number of shared lives carers
11. Working with partners 11.1. Outcomes for children in care are determined not just by the quality of placement, but also by the quality of their care plan and the wrap around support to them and their carers. 11.2. Virtual school and early years: Dorset Virtual School undertake three Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings a year for our children in care, one each term, in partnership with young people and their carers, social workers and the designated teachers in schools/settings. The current PEP return rate is over 99% which although not nationally reported on, compares favourably with regional informally reported return rates amongst South West Virtual School Heads’ termly meetings. The Virtual School Governing Body also has a Governor Champion for the quality of Personal Education Plans. A BI dashboard has been developed by commissioning staff to enable the school
Page 141 population of children in care to be tracked. Options appraisal is taking place on dedicated software to enable the virtual school and partners to develop PEPs in a digital space and track attendance and attainment in year in real time.
Family Time - Keeping in touch 11.3. Our current arrangements for helping children in care stay in touch with their families and other people who are important to them are in need of an overhaul – starting with the cessation of the use of the work “contact” to describe it – which young people have told us they dislike. Some of this will involve changes in awareness about the role of the corporate practice and ensuing practice. There is also a need to review the service which enables children to meet family under supervision when there is an identified risk. Most of this work is done by employees in the Community Resource Worker service. These are employed on zero hours contracts with a view to providing a flexible and responsive service. The service is currently under review with a view to creating a more established service with dedicated meeting venues, which will reduce travel costs and over avoidable overheads. Our aim is to have new arrangements in place by April 2021.
Keeping healthy 11.4. Overall, our practice is improving in ensuring we understand the health needs of children entering our care, with improvements in timeliness of gaining consent for Initial Health Assessments as a result of increased management oversight and weekly monitoring. However, we lag behind comparators on the percentage of children who receive an Annual health Assessment on time, and on the percentage of children who access dental services. Our average Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores are also higher (negative) than comparators. 11.5. We have a Child in Care Psychologist based in the council who works with our children in care and their carers to ensure that we have a good understanding of the therapeutic needs of our children and that the placement can meet the identified needs. In addition, there are psychologists based in the NHS. There has been a rise in the numbers of requests for support, advice and guidance to foster carers from the Children in Care Psychologists which has had an impact on their offer. One off consultations have more often been provided rather than a series. 11.6. The Youth Offending Service obtained NHS England funding for a Speech and Language Therapist and to support the introduction of trauma informed practice. A 4-month pilot saw all new young people being assessed by the Speech and Language Therapist. About 80% of these assessments identified some level of speech, language or communication needs, with
Page 142 recommendations for the young person, for YOS workers, other professionals and for family members about how best to respond to the child’s needs. 11.7. This learning will be incorporated into the Harbour and discussions are taking place with the CCG and health providers about establishing dedicated psychology and speech and language therapist support as part of the Hub team.
Adoption and Special Guardianship 11.8. Adoption Services are provided since July 2017through the Regional Adoption Agency (Aspire), which serves the Dorset Council and BCP Council areas. Dorset Council retains the Agency Decision Maker responsibility. A review is being undertaken with Aspire to fully consider impact and outcomes for children within the existing RAA to support future plans for service delivery. This will be completed by January 2021.
12. Improve our contract monitoring with partner organisations who provide placements 12.1. We have created new posts within the Commissioning service to improve our contract monitoring and quality assurance arrangements with providers. We believe that this will: Give more assurance about quality and standards Ensure value for money Improve placement stability by enabling us to work closely with providers to address issues early 12.2. All current external placements are RAG rated by the Quality Assurance Manager and a program of checks and visits is underway. The team is able to respond to notifications from Ofsted where inspections or investigations have raised concerns, or where judgements about individual settings have changed. 12.3. A programme of monthly case file audits is also carried out which provides oversight of the quality of care planning for individual children. 12.4. We have also taken steps to establish a procurement business partner role with the corporate procurement hub. This will enable us to make best use of the resources and expertise of the corporate hub, and focus our contract officers on contract monitoring.
13. Commissioning Activity 13.1. Our current Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) placements have been made from the tendered sub-regional frameworks (South West until 31.3.17) and South Central since 1.4.17 that can provide for special and needs, where these cannot be met within local provision. There were 36 independent fostering service providers pre-qualified to provide placements on the South West framework the individual placement agreements persist for as long as
Page 143 the placement is required even after the framework period has ended. The South-Central Independent Fostering Framework provides the consortium of local authorities with 49 foster agencies able to provide standard foster placements, 43 children with a disability placement and 43 parent and child placements. This Framework has 9 providers who can provide a new service of Alternatives to Residential placements. The successor to the South-Central Framework will be tendered in 2021. 13.2. Dorset does not have enough children’s homes to accommodate children who require residential care. To date we have not attracted external providers to invest in or set up provision in Dorset. Therefore, the vast majority of our residential placements are made out of area, sometimes in adjoining local authority areas, but also at a considerable distance from Dorset in other LA areas. A number of steps have been taken to address this shortage of provision. We began by hosting a local market engagement event in September 2019. This was attended by thirteen children’s home providers. We outlined our placement needs and discussed with providers possible ways to address our lack of children’s home capacity. Block contracts were felt to be a useful way to secure capacity in Dorset. Initially this would be through using the flexibility of the Local Authorities of the Southern Region (LASR) framework to ‘call-off’ block contracts for Dorset children’s homes. We have established a block contracts with the Beaufort Care Group for two of their homes in the East of Dorset. We are in discussion with other Dorset-based providers to see if similar block contracts could be established. For all Dorset- based providers we are aiming to get notified ahead of other local authorities of vacancies and planned vacancies. 13.3. A more medium- term solution would be to encourage providers to set up new provision in Dorset, perhaps utilising Dorset Council land or re-purposing Dorset Council buildings. We will tender for this in 2021 with a view to attracting providers who are not part of the current frameworks. 13.4. The LASR flexible framework is now in its third year and the reopening of the tender resulted in an increase in the number of homes available for calling-off placements as and when required in the following categories i. Planned and Same Day Residential Care ii. Crisis Care iii. Residential Care with DFE Regulated Education iv. Residential Parenting Assessments v. Therapeutic Residential Care vi. Children with Disabilities
13.5. However, the difficulties of sourcing beds cannot be underestimated, and spot purchasing is still required on occasion. 13.6. Since February 2019 a Post 16 Accommodation and Support South-Central Framework contract has been in place following a joint tender. This is a framework of 18 providers covering 4 lots (Looked after Children including
Page 144 UASC -16 providers; Care Leavers -16 providers; Young People with Complex Needs – 14 providers and parent and child – 7 providers) and also provides us with the ability to block contract for specific numbers and types of placements. The Consortium of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Bracknell Forest Council, Dorset Council, Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and Wokingham Borough Council are currently considering a reopening of this framework to new bidders or bids for further provision from current providers. This remains a difficult market where conditions mean that we still need to make occasional spot purchases. 13.7. Dorset Council’s joint Adult Services and Children’s Services Supported Housing contract (also known as the Vulnerable Young People’s Service) was due to expire in July 2020, but was extended for a year due to the pandemic. Services are to be reconfigured to secure sufficient higher needs accommodation and support and with lower level needs met by enhanced housing management and floating support. The tender will be led by Children’s Services with active involvement from colleagues in Adult services and Housing. The remainder of our post 16 accommodation and support or supported housing is currently subject to a block contract with a Dorset provider. This will be rolled into the new tender to drive efficiency, effectiveness and choice.
Page 145 This page is intentionally left blank Appendix 2 - Contracts 2021/2022 where the contract value is expected to exceed £500,000
Contract Description Directorate / Portfolio Executive Contract DC Total Annual Sourcing Public Risk Reason for Lead Director Term Spend over Contract Strategy Services Category procurement (max) Contract Value (Social Term Value) Act 2012
Block contracts for People - Childrens / Cllr Theresa 7 years £5.6M £800K Tender Yes Medium End of existing Supported Housing in Andrew Parry Leavy contract Dorset period.
Block contracts for People - Childrens / Cllr Theresa 6 years £2.1M £350k Tender Yes Medium To replace children's home Andrew Parry Leavy existing spot placements purchase arrangements with improved Page 147 Page value for money This page is intentionally left blank Corporate Parenting Data Set
People - Childrens Page 149 Page
November 2020 Data
Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People) Corporate Parenting Data Set (last 6 months)
Benchmarking Baseline Dorset Direction of Current Target Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Trend Eng AV SN AV 19/20 Performance Profile Measure Rate of Children in Care per 10000 65 44 - 57 71 71.2 70.9 70.9 70 70.1 Number of Children who have come in to care in the month 163 - 350 11 11 11 11 6 13 Number of Children who have left care in the month 149 - 343 15 9 11 8 10 11 Health Measure
Page 150 Page % Initial Health Assessments completed within 20 working days (CCG Data) 82% 60% 18% 9% % CIC Annual Health Assessment completed on time 90% 74% - 84% 76% 77% 77% 70% 76% 75% % CIC who have had a dental check within 12 months 85% 78% - 94% 70% 69% 65% 58% 55% 42% % CIC at end of month with up to date immunisations 87% 91% - 95% 81% 82% 78% 84% 82% 79% Emotional Wellbeing Measure % of children for CIC for at least 12 months age 4-16yrs with completed SDQ assessment 78% 61% - 80% 49% 46% 45% 42% 38% 31% Average SDQ Score for Assessments within last 12 months for CIC for at least 12 months aged 4-16yrs 14.2 14.4 - 15.8 18.9 18.7 18.7 18.9 19.2 20.2
Safety Measure % Children in Care who have had an episode of Missing 11% 9% - 11% 14% 14% 14% 13% 13% 14% % Children in Care who have had more that 1 episode of Missing 7% 4.1% - 7.6% 10% 9% 7% 9% 9% 8% Number of allegations made against foster carers 5 - 20 27 1 5 2 1 1 1 Corporate Parenting Data Set (last 6 months)
Benchmarking Baseline Dorset Direction of Current Target Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Trend Eng AV SN AV 19/20 Performance Placement Measure % Children in Care n living in foster placement 72% 72.3% - 78.8% 69% 70% 69% 68% 67% 67% % Children in Care with 3 or more placement 10% 9% - 12% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% % Children in Care 2.5 yrs in same placement for 2+ yrs 69% 70% - 76% 64% 67% 70% 69% 69% 70% % Children in Care living in a commissioned placement 50% 38% 54% 54% 54% 54% 56% 44% % Children in Care living more than 20 miles from home address 20% 19% - 39% 48% 48% 47% 45% 46% 46% % Children in Care living outside Dorset Council Area
Page 151 Page 41% 16% - 38% 43% 43% 43% 42% 41% 41%
Education Measure % Children in Care with an Education Health and Care Plan 27% 27.0% - 43.3% NA NA 32% 33% 39% 39% % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 1 (number)? Data not available Data not available NA NA NA NA NA NA % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Maths 51% 35% - 46% NA NA NA NA NA NA % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Writing 50% 32% - 42% NA NA NA NA NA NA % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Reading 49% 25% - 37% NA NA NA NA NA NA Average Attainment 8 score for Children in Care 19.2 14.9 - 17.8 NA NA NA NA NA NA Average progress 8 score for Children in Care -1.23 - 0.93 - -1.33 NA NA NA NA NA NA % Children in Care with a Personal Education Plan Data not available Data not available NA NA 98% 95% NA 98% % all Children in Care Unauthorised absence 1% 0.4% - 1.8% NA NA NA NA 2% 2% Corporate Parenting Data Set (last 6 months)
Benchmarking Baseline Dorset Direction of Current Target Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Trend Eng AV SN AV 19/20 Performance Education Measure Average Attendance % for Children in Care of school age NA NA NA 85% 86% 92% % Children in Care who have been looked after for 12 months who have had at least one Fixed Term Exclusion 12% 10.1% - 15.6% NA NA NA 7% NA 6% % all Children in Care on reduced timetable Data not available Data not available NA NA NA NA 4% 4%
Permanence Permanence Page 152 Page % Children with a Permanence Plan Data not available Data not available 83% 85% 87% 90% 88% 88% % Children who have achieved Permanence Data not available Data not available 21% 22% 22% 22% 21% 21% % Children Achieved Permanence SGO 13% 8.7% - 12.5% 16% 13% 17% 15% 16% 18% % Children Achieved Permanence Adoption 12% 16% - 23% 4% 11% 11% 16% 18% 18%
Sufficiency Measure Number of approved foster carers (All) - - 202 208 210 206 205 206 205 Number of new households recruited – separate connected persons out Mainstream: 0 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 3 Mainstream: 22 Mainstream: 2 Mainstream: 1 CP: 1 CP: 0 Temporary CP: 0 Temporary CP: 1 CP: 18 CP: 2 CP: 0 Temporary CP: 1 CP: 3 CP:0 Temporary CP: 2 Number of households de-registered – exclude connected carers 22 3 0 1 2 0 1 Number of households resigned 64 3 0 5 4 0 1 Number of allegations made against foster carers that were substantiated Data not available Data not available 14 0 1 1 0 0 0 Corporate Parenting Data Set (last 6 months)
Benchmarking Baseline Dorset Direction of Current Target Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Trend Eng AV SN AV 19/20 Performance Adoption Measure Number of adoptions finalised in month 16 0 6 2 2 3 0 Number of children living in adoptive placements pending adoption orders 25 18 19 20 18 19 Number of children with a match identified 1 0 0 2 0 0 Number of children where family finding is ongoing 29 20 19 28 29 32 Number of revocations of Placements Orders 2 7 8 8 7 6 5 Average number of days between entering care and having an adoptive placement
Page 153 Page 486 412 566 456 353 357 387 385 Average number of days between a child receiving a placement order and being matched to an adoptive family 201 203 253 257 210 199 172 172 Number of adoptive families recruited 60 4 6 3 5 5 3 Number of adoptive Families in assessment 42 42 42 45 44 42
Care Leavers Measure % Care Leavers with an up to date pathway plan at end of month 65% 65% 60% 61% 63% 59% % Care Leavers who are living in suitable accommodation (19-21 yrs) 85% 80% - 91% 96% 95% 96% 95% 97% 97% % Care Leavers who are in Employment Education or Training (19-21yrs) 52% 50% - 54% 50% 44% 46% 46% 47% 48% % Care Leavers who are in touch with Dorset Local Authority (19-21yrs) 93% 87% - 96% 8% 94% 93% 95% 95% 94% 95% Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens PROFILE Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
Children In Care by Age & Gender at 30th November 2020 Number of Number of Care 18 28 37 Children In Care: Leavers: 16 23 31 17 20 14 15 22 260 21 15 476 12 10 24 15 16 10 11 20 6 13 Age 8 6 8 10 3 6 8 4 Comments: Page 154 Page 2 11 Our number of children in care remains higher than our 4 6 4 statistical neighbours. We now have robust processes in place 6 8 2 9 8 to ensure a clear line of sight and scrutiny of all children coming 9 11 into care and their care plans. We also have robust processes in 0 6 11 place to ensure scrutiny of progressing permanence. Female Male
Duration in Care at 30th November 2020 Legal Status at 30th November 2020 C1 Interim Care Order 5 39 69 C2 Full Care Order 71 0-3 months 33 D1:Free For Adoption:- Freeing order 4-6 months granted 183 E1 Placement Order Granted 38 7-12 months 64 V2 Single Period of Accom Under Section 20 13-24 months L1 Under Police Protection
25-36 months L2 Emergency Protection Order
37+ months J1 on remand or committed for trial or 93 sentence 64 J3 sentenced to Youth Rehabilitation Order 293 Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens PROFILE Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
Comments: Rate of Children In Care per 10,000 National 18/19: 65 Whilst our rate of children in care remains higher than our 70.7 71.8 71 71.2 70.9 70.9 70 70.1 statistical neighbours and the national average, it is an improving Dorset 18/19: 54 picture for Dorset Council. Our permanence panel is ensuring permanence is achieved in a timely manner for our children. Our Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 55 new Quality Assurance Officer role also ensures further scrutiny Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 44 - 57 of not only quailty but timeliness of permanence planning which Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 will promote children ceasing to be in our care where appropriate to do so. There is also improved management oversight of our children on the edge of care and children entering the care system which will continue to positively impact Number of Children who have come into Care this. Dorset 18/19: 157 14 13 Comments: 10 11 11 11 11 We experienced a slightly higher number of children coming into 6 Page 155 Page Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 234 care than ceasing to be in our care in the month of November. This has been a busy month for Children Services with five Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 163 - 350 unaccompanied children coming to live with us. This has increased Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20
Mar-21 the number of children coming into our care considerably. It is May-20 positive that we continue to progress children through to permanence despite the additional pressure of the pandemic and time of year. Number of Children who have ceased to be in Care Attention continues to be given to ensuring that plans for 15 Dorset 18/19: 198 permanence include all permanence options which are being 11 10 11 8 9 8 explored and progressed in a timely manner. This is promoting 5 Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 213 achieving permanence for our children in a timely way. Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 149 - 343 Strengthened locality working and the development of the Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Adolescent Service and Harbour will continue to support this.
Benchmarking Note: Good and Outstanding Statistical neighbours include Wiltshire, East Sussex and Suffolk. The latest available benchmarking data has been included. Childrens Parenting Board People - Childrens HEALTH Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
% Initial Health Assessments completed within 20 Comments: Octobers data will be included for the next meeting. % Initial Health Assessment (IHA) monthly data is reported 2 months working days after the month is due, this is to allow for the data to fall into the month due, i.e. a child accommodated on the 31 June would not be 92% 82% calculated until 31 July. Data is supplied directly from the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Benchmarking data is currently not 60% 50% available. 18% 9% We have seen a significant reduction in performance in completing IHA’s. We have now implemented better measures to ensure improved management oversight of this process in real time, reducing and preventing delay in completing and sharing relevant 20
May- documents with health. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 Processes have now been put in place to ensure more timely completion. Improvement in these figures should be seen as the data
% CIC Annual Health Assessment completed on time National 18/19 (90%) Comments: Figures shown on the graph are for children in care for 12 months or 79% 77% 76% 77% 77% 76% 75% 70% Dorset 18/19 (93%) more, the percentage having their Annual Review Health Assessment Page 156 Page (RHA) completed on time. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (84%) CCG data shows that the % of RHA’s completed within the month Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 74% - 84% they were due in the month, July 85.2%, August 93.8% and September 85.7%. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 In the second wave of COVID-19, health staff have agreement not to be redeployed and ensure that RHA and IHA remain a priority task to be completed. Performance remains consistent for RHA.
Comments: % CIC who have had a dental check within 12 months National 18/19 (85%) Figures shown on the graph are for children in care for 12 months or 75% 72% 70% 69% 65% 58% 55% more and whether they have had a dental check within the last 12 42% Dorset 18/19 (87%) months. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (82%) CCG data shows Dental CIC up to date with dental screening for the month of those due an RHA in the month, target of 80%, July 96.3% Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 78% - 94%
Jul-20 August 93.8% and September 92.9%.. We continue to work on Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 impvoing our data and being consistent with health colleagues.
% CIC at end of month with up to date immunisations National 18/19 (87%) Comments: 82% 81% 81% 82% 78% 84% 82% 79% Figures shown on the graph are for the percentage of children in care Dorset 18/19 (85%) at end of month with up to date immunisations. CCG data shows Immunisations for CIC are up to date with the UK Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (87%) Immunisation schedule for the month of those due an RHA in the Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 91% - 95% month, July 93%, August 78% and September 81%. We continue to Jul-20 Jan-21
Jun-20 work on impvoing our data and being consistent with health Oct-20 Apr-20 Feb-21 Sep-20 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 collegues Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens EMOTIONAL WELLBEING Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
% of children for CIC for at least 12 months age 4- Children age 4-16 with Completed SDQ Assessment Comments: 16yrs with completed SDQ assessment Number of children in care continuously for at least 12 months 54% 52% National 18/19 (78%) 49% 46% 45% and aged 4 to 16 for whom an SDQ score was received via the 42% 38% 31% Children in Care return (SSDA903). An SDQ score is required of Dorset 18/19 (74%) all children aged 4-16 on the date of the last assessment. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (69%) Figures are taken from Mosaic.
Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 61% - 80%
Jul-20 Completion of SDQs is lower than our Statistical Neighbours and Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Nationally, and is falling. Currently they are sent out by CiC health care team to foster carers for the annual health check and 12 month CiC review. There is inconsistent understanding of the purpose of completing an SDQ by the CC SW and Supervising SW as well as the CiC healthcare team. A plan is in
Page 157 Page place for educational psychologists to deliver workshops on the SDQ and how to interpret it from the end of January alongside trialling the new system of completing SDQs as a CYP comes into care as part of the care planning process. Average SDQ Score for Assessments within last 12 Average SDQ Score months for CIC for at least 12 months aged 4-16yrs 19.2 20.2 18.5 18.6 18.9 18.7 18.7 18.9 National 18/19 (14.2) Comments: A score below 14 is best. Dorset's average score of 20.2 places Dorset 18/19 (18.4) the emotional and social presentation of our children in care as of very high concern. For the small percentage where an SDQ is Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (15.3) completed this suggests thay are at high risk of having mental
Jul-20 health difficulties. Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 14.4 - 15.8 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 As the percentage of completion is low this could indicate that an SDQ is only completed when there is a concern hence the high average score. We need to use this information to access services based on the interpretation of an SDQ. The new practice will be to use the score proactively as a child/young person comes into care, intervening early and to use it alongside other measures and information. Any score over 14 will result in a consultation as part of the PEP process and triangulation of the carers SDQ alongside the education setting and young perosn's SDQ score. A training programme will support the implementation of this process. Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens SAFETY Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
CIC who have had a Missing Episode National 18/19 (11%) Comments: 15% 14% of our children in care have had a missing episode which is a 14% 14% 14% 14% 13% 13% 14% Dorset 18/19 (13%) consistent picture, leaving Dorset as an outlier when compared to our National and Statistical Neighbours. The Philomena Protocol Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (11%) is being implemented by Dorset Police and is also being rolled out nationally across police forces. It will replace the missing persons Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 9% - 11% passport. This will improve our data quality. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21
May-20 .
CIC with >1 Missing Episode National 18/19 (7.2%) Comments: There remains ongoing work to improve practice including work Page 158 Page 10% 10% with partner agencies such as police of when to report a child 10% 9% 9% 9% 8% Dorset 18/19 (7.4%) 7% missing who is in care. This will lead to better data. We remain a Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (7.0%) statistical outlier with our current data set to our statistical neighbours and the national average. Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 4.1% - 7.6% Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
Number of allegations made against foster carers Dorset 18/19: 15 Comments: Of those allegations made, the number substantiated are as Dorset 19/20: 27 follows: April 2020 - 0, May 2020 - 0, June 2020 - 0, July 2020 - 1, August 2020 - 1, September 2020 - 0, October 2020 - 0 and 5 3 3 1 2 1 1 1 Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 10 November 2020 - 0.
Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 5 - 20 Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens PLACEMENT Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
Children in Care with 3 or more Placements National 18/19 (10%) Comments: Dorset is performing better than our statistical neighbours. We Dorset 18/19 (8%) continue to use stability meetings as a way of offering support 11% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% early to reduce crisis escalating and placement break down. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (11%) Harbour Outreach team are also now working with our children Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 9% - 12% where placement break down has been identified. This will Jul-20 Jan-21
Jun-20 support placement stability for our children. Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Figures are taken from Mosaic.
CIC 2.5 Years in same placement for 2+ Years National 18/19 (69%) Comments: 64% 65% 64% 67% 70% 69% 69% 70% This continues to be an improving picture as we develop practice Dorset 18/19 (42%) to ensure that where possible children receive permanence and
Page 159 Page stability earlier. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (68%)
Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 70% - 76% Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
CIC Living 20+ Miles from Home Address National 18/19 (20%) Comments: We continue to have too many children who are placed away 47% 47% 48% 48% 47% 45% 46% 46% Dorset 18/19 (40%) from their local community and are not yet settled in their permanent placement. Recruiting local carers for local children is Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (29%) central to our sufficiency strategy. There is an ongoing Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 19% - 39% recruitment drive underway. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens PLACEMENT Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
CIC Living Outside Dorset Council Area Comments: National 18/19 (41%) We continue to have too many children placed out of their local area and not yet settled in their permanent placement. We Dorset 18/19 (37%) continue to review permanence plans for our children. 41% 43% 43% 43% 43% 42% 41% 41% Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (28%) This is hoped to be an improving picture as we devlope aspects of our services. Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 16% - 38% Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
Children in Care Living in Foster Placement
Page 160 Page National 18/19 (71.8%) Comments: The majority of our children continue to live in a family home. 70% 70% 69% 70% 69% 68% 67% 67% Dorset 18/19 (69.5%) There remains some level of hesitance from our carers in having children placed with them due to the current pandemic. We Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (73.3%) continue to be in regular contact with our carers and are mindful Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 72.3% - 78.8% not to add any pressure to do anything that they do not feel comfortable with. Jul-20 Jan-21
Jun-20 Figures are taken from ChAT. Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
CIC Living in a Commissioned Placement National 18/19 (50%) Comments: Figures are taken from ChAT and include children in care as at the Dorset 18/19 (26%) end of each month. Includes all placements that are not in Dorset 50% 53% 54% 54% 54% 54% 56% 44% provision. Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (45%) There is postive traction seen in November's data as we continue Outstanding SN 18/19: 38% to look to place our children in our own provison when coming
Jul-20 into our care. Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens EDUCATION Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
% Children in Care with an Education Health and Care Plan % Children in Care with an Education Health and Care Plan Average Attendance % for Children in Care of school age 92% 39% 39% 85% 86% 32% 33% National 18/19 ( 27.2% )
Dorset 18/19 ( 27.4% )
Statistical Neighbours 18/19 ( 34.0% ) Jan-21 Oct-20 Jan-21 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Oct-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Nov-20 Dec-20 Mar-21 Nov-20 Mar-21
Outstanding National 18/19 Dorset 18/19 SNs 18/19 SN 18/19 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 INDICATOR Range % Looked After Children with a Personal Education Plan 98% 95% NA 98%
Page 161 Page % all Children in Care Unauthorised absence 1.4% 1.7% 1.0% 0.4% - 1.8% NA NA 2% 2% % Children in Care who have been in care for 12 months who have 11.7% 12.1% 13.6% 10.1% - 15.6% NA 7% NA 6% had at least one Fixed Term Exclusion % all Looked After Children on reduced timetable NA NA 4% 4%
County and National data is not available for 2020 year due to Covid-19 pandemic. The use of these ndicators , for accountability, is suspended. Dorset Council continues to support our schools to provide the best education for all. Outstanding INDICATOR National 18/19 Dorset 18/19 SNs 18/19 SN 18/19 Range % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Maths 51% 57% 49% 35% - 46% % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Writing 50% 43% 46% 32% - 42% % Children in Care achieving expected standards in Key Stage 2 Reading 49% 43% 47% 25% - 37% Average Attainment 8 score for Children in Care 19.2 14.4 15.4 14.9 - 17.8 Average progress 8 score for Children in Care -1.23 -0.96 -1.42 - 0.93 - -1.33
Comments: Work is on going to capture this data accurately and there will be further updates at the end of this school term. 80% of children on roll in the autumn term have had a PEP review this term (with 2 staff absent for the last month). Work to improve this figure includes: introduction of the EPEP, Designated Teacher training, Virtual School staff training and reference to PEPs in pupil progress meetings, PEP QA and Pupil Premium Plus Panel, raising the importance of the PEP. Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens PERMANENCE Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
Children with a Permanence Plan Comments: 79% 81% 83% 85% 87% 90% 88% 88% We continue to hold fortnightly permanence panels, complete themed audits and dip samples. Monthly updates are also being shared through the performance panel and monthly Service Manager meetings to promote improvement. There is also scrutiny from our Quality Assurance and Reviewing Officers to ensure further oversight of timeliness and quality of plans.
Figures taken from Mosaic for children in care for 4 months or more at the end of each month. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
% Children who have achieved Permanence Comments: We have refined our permanence pathway for long term fostering which is with the senior leadership team for approval. We are developing permanence training for our workforce to improve our performance in this regard. Training is to be delivered Page 162 Page 21% 21% 21% 22% 22% 22% 21% 21% in January 2021
Figures taken from Mosaic. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
% Children Achieved Permanence SGO National 18/19 (13%) Comments: Figures are taken from ChAT and include children who left care Dorset 18/19 (7.6%) in the last 6 months. 18% 12% 14% 16% 13% 17% 15% 16% We continue to look at all options for securing permanence for Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (10.7%) our Children whilst in our care we continue to see a slight Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 8.7% - 12.5% increase in securing permanence though Special Guadianship Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21
May-20 Orders.
% Children Achieved Permanence Adoption National 18/19 (12%) Comments: Figures are taken from ChAT and include children who left care 16% 18% 18% 11% 11% Dorset 18/19 (17%) in the last 6 months. 4% 5% 4% Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (15.6%) Despite the additional pressure of the current pandemic, it is Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 16% - 23% positive that this is the second months where 18% of our chidren Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Feb-21 Sep-20 Dec-20 Aug-20
Nov-20 have achieved permanence through adoption. Mar-21 May-20 Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens SUFFICIENCY Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
INDICATOR Dorset 18/19 Dorset 19/20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20
Number of approved foster carers (All) 186 202 203 207 208 210 206 205 206 205
Mainstream: 21 Mainstream: 22 Mainstream: 2 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 2 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 0 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 1 Mainstream: 3 Number of new households recruited – CP: 14 CP: 18 CP: 1 CP: 3 CP: 2 CP: 0 CP: 0 CP: 0 Temporary CP: 0 Temporary CP: 1 Temporary separate connected persons out Temporary CP: 3 CP:0 CP:2 CP: 1 Number of households de-registered – 16 22 1 0 3 0 1 2 0 1 exclude connected carers
Number of households resigned 44 64 1 0 3 0 5 4 0 1 Page 163 Page Number of allegations made against foster Data not available 14 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 carers that were substantiated
Comments: For the 'number of new households recruited' a figures has been given for each mainstream and connected persons. The 'number of households de-registered' just includes mainstream de-registrations. A clear action plan is in place to look at improving the level of foster carer availability. Theres is an ongoing recrutiment drive to develop our in house provision. Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens ADOPTION Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
INDICATOR Dorset 19/20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Number of adoptions finalised in year 16 0 0 0 6 2 2 3 0 Number of children living in adoptive placements pending - - 23 25 18 19 20 18 19 adoption orders Number of children with a match identified - 5 3 1 0 0 2 0 0
Number of children where family finding is ongoing - - 15 29 20 19 28 29 32
Number of revocations of Placements Orders 2 6 7 8 8 7 6 5
Number of adoptive families recruited 60 2 7 4 6 3 5 5 3 Page 164 Page
Number of adoptive Families in assessment - - 38 42 42 42 45 44 42
Average number of days between entering care and National 18/19: 486 Comments: having an adoptive placement Progress in this area remains positive. During Covid-19 restrictions, children 566 continued to move to their adoptive placements and we have not needed to use 503 456 Dorset 18/19: 433 353 357 387 385 any of the Adoption Act amendments agreed for the period of Covid-19. We
0 Dorset 19/20: 412 continue to work closely with Aspire Adoption Agency to understand and take action on any practice issues that may create delay. Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 453 Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
Average No. of days between a child receiving a PO National 18/19: 201 Comments: & being matched to an adoptive family Progress in this area remains a focus. 253 257 237 210 Dorset 18/19: 137 199 172 172
0 Dorset 19/20: 203
Statistical Neighbours 18/19: 176 Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
Comments: Dorset have continued to perform well among statistical neighbours for the time a child starts in care and moves to their adoptive family. New permanence planning oversight for senior leaders through permanence panel is providing scrutiny and challenge. All data is taken from Aspire Adoption Agency. Corporate Parenting Data Set People - Childrens CARE LEAVERS Produced by Business Intelligence & Performance (People)
With an up to date Pathway Plan Comments: Benchmarking data currently not available. 63% 61% 65% 65% 60% 61% 63% 59% The completion rates for updating of Pathway Plans remains a challenge but does not reflect the conversations that Personal Advisors have with Care Leavers, or the day to day planning that goes on. There is now a second Team Manager in the Care Leaver Service which will help us to focus on ensuring Pathway Plans are updated in a timely way. Figures taken from Mosaic for all Care Leavers at the end of each month. Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20
Living in Suitable Accommodation (19-21) National 18/19 (85%) Comments: 96% 97% 96% 95% 96% 95% 97% 97% Although a high number of our Care Leavers are in suitable Dorset 18/19 (85%) accommodation, we have a small number that are in B&B, living with friends or in emergency accommodation. We also have two Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (86%) Care Leavers in custody. Those in unsuitable accommodation are
Page 165 Page Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 80% - 91% monitored through a monthly highlight report to CSLT and Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20
Nov-20 followed up through Case Supervision with Personal Advisors. Mar-21 May-20 Figures are taken from ChAT based on current care leavers at the end of each month.
In Employment Education or Training (19-21) National 18/19 (52%) Comments: Our NEET statistics are slightly better than those of our statistical neighbours and have been improving by a small 50% 49% 50% 44% 46% 46% 47% 48% Dorset 18/19 (47%) amount each month since August, coinciding with the new academic term.Nonetheless, we are focused in reducing the Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (53%) number of Care Leavers that are NEET and have created a ‘team Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 50% - 54% within the team’ to focus on supporting Care Leavers around their Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Sep-20 Feb-21 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21
May-20 employment, education and training. The team will be focusing on the Care Leavers who are NEET but available for education, employment and training.
Comments: Our ‘In Touch’ rates are higher than our statistical Who are in touch with Dorset LA (19-21) National 18/19 (93%) 96% 94% 94% 93% 95% 95% 94% 95% neighbours, we do have a small number of Care Leavers we are Dorset 18/19 (76%) not in touch with, including one who has formally refused our Care Leaver Service and two who are former UASC’s with no leave Statistical Neighbours 18/19 (93%) to remain in the UK. Where we are not in touch, Care Leaver will still have an allocated PA who will continue to try to make contact Outstanding SN 18/19 Range: 87% - 96% by whatever means they can. Figures are taken from ChAT based Jul-20 Jan-21 Jun-20 Oct-20 Apr-20 Feb-21 Sep-20 Dec-20 Aug-20 Nov-20 Mar-21 May-20 on current care leavers at the end of each month. This page is intentionally left blank DORSET CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES PLAN 2020-23 PRIORITY DELIVERY PLAN
PRIORITY: GOOD CARE PROVISION PRIORITY LEAD: STUART RIDDLE PROJECT OFFICER: CAROL HOSKING
Introduction This Delivery Plan sets out the arrangements and underpinning actions for the Good Care Provision priority within the Children, Young People and Families Plan. Progress against this Delivery Plan will be reported to the Strategic Alliance Board Children, Young People and Families Plan quarterly monitoring arrangements and Annual Report.
Communication 167 Page on achievements will be through agreed Dorset Strategic Partnership for Children communication channels.
Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) 1 Undertake better Increased Sarah-Jane As defined in No. children planning for children management Smedmoor Strengthening entering care in need to ensure that focus on Services plan? No. children in they do not enter care frequency & need in in an unplanned way quality of proportion to supervision case load Line of Sight Frequency & & leadership quality of meetings supervision give % referrals to increased Children’s management Social Care focus on YP at risk Improved decision 1 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) making in CHAD is leading to more children getting the right service first time 2 Establish the use of CSLT decision Ed Kopecky, Family Group required on scope – Jack Corrigan, Conferences as a recommendation Karen Elliott restorative and required from preventive service so working group
Page 168 Page that they take place early in the family journey 3 Strengthen fostering Social Care Still in discovery John Heron Increase foster Increased services ensuring we Placement phase carer recruitment number of in- meet sufficiency Sufficiency & retention house foster needs and provide a programme – Foster Increase foster carers robust service for Care workstream carers skills & Increased teenagers and experience to number of children with more support CYP with children in care complex needs that more complex living with avoids breakdown and needs foster carers escalation Reduction in number of foster care breakdowns Increased number of young people staying with their foster families as they 2 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) become care leavers Fostering campaign Recruitment of foster Increased no. (regional) December 2020 John Heron Fostering carers enquiries Team, No. foster WREC Dorset Fostering carers recruited campaign Recruitment of foster January 2021 John Heron carers No. foster carers Fostering recruited Team, 2 DC Fostering WREC employees Assessments picked up No. assessments seconded to WREC October 2020 John Heron achieved in 18 Fostering week timescale Team, Campaign to recruit WREC Page 169 Page foster carers to the Recruitment of foster Harbour No. foster carers carers December 2020 John Heron recruited Harbour project team, WREC
4 Establish a service Social Care Service Ed Kopecky Use refurbished site Increased Harbour based on the No Placement operational by at 45 Dorchester placement operational Wrong Door model to Sufficiency October 2021, Road to: stability sub-group support young people programme – building Provide outreach More young (multi-agency in the care system to Harbour outreach operational by service for CYP people stay including DC, have more stable workstream October 2021 on the edge of with their foster Police, CCG, placements and to care families CAMHS, YOS) remain or return to Provide contact Reduction in foster care where it is service number of appropriate to do so Provide 2/3 bed emergency emergency placements accommodation
3 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) 5 Establish a new Social Care December 2021 Paula Bates New 5 bed Increased Children’s children's home as Placement (operational residential home availability of Homes capital part of our overall Sufficiency lead), Sam built in Weymouth specialist & operational residential strategy programme – 45 Evers (capital Provide continuity residential sub-groups Dorchester Road lead) of care, education provision new build and health workstream provision for CYP
6 Review our residential Social Care Review CIC Stuart CYP in care live Reduction in Social Care provision and identify Placement sufficiency Riddle/Ed closer to their external out-of- Placement a model of practice Sufficiency strategy & Kopecky home and county Sufficiency and delivery which programme identify targets community placements programme better meets the for delivery Jan Increased Reduction of board (multi- Page 170 Page needs of young 2021 availability of CYP in care agency) people with complex specialist living more than needs residential 20 miles from provision in home Dorset Reduction in More efficient use number of of practitioners’ unregistered time due to placements reduced travel Reduction in requirements practitioners’ Improved quality travel time assurance & Reduction in monitoring of local number of provision issues with providers 7 Review our young Social Care Ed Kopecky Provide new Reduction in Kirtleton people’s supported Placement (operational residential use of private Avenue capital housing and ensure Sufficiency lead), Sam accommodation & rented & operational there is sufficient and programme – Evers (capital integrated support accommodation sub-groups good quality Kirtleton Avenue lead) for young care Increase in Project group supported workstream & leavers local links to (including ACS accommodation in the retendering of YP (Weymouth) Commissioning 4 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) right location to supported Provide supported further & Housing) support the most accommodation bedsit education Project group vulnerable young contracts accommodation settings and to develop people in their for young people employment revised spec transition to adulthood who are disabled for YP opportunities and independent living (Weymouth) supported housing 8 Embed our joint Task & Finish Louise Drury, 16/17 year olds Reduction of Locality protocol between Simon Fraiz- who are homeless young people Teams, children’s services Brown are housed in a in B&B Housing, and housing to ensure timely way accommodation Commissioning that young people who are at risk of homelessness receive a robust response that Page 171 Page is focussed on the best outcomes for young people 9 Establish a new Social Care December 2020 Ed Kopecky Use refurbished Increased service that enables Placement site at 45 opportunities for children in care Sufficiency Dorchester Road for observed proceedings or programme – to provide contact assessment subject to a child Harbour outreach service and contact protection plan to workstream Re-engineer CRW visits have quality family resource & time and contact identify venues for a ‘keep in touch’ service 10 Develop the Work to review Tina Ironside, therapeutic offer in joint Miriam Leigh, Dorset so that children commissioning Louise Drury and young people arrangements who have experienced between CCG & trauma get the help DC planned they need, when they December 2020 5 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) need it 11 Develop market Development group Current Ed Enabling Increased short Jude Allen capacity and both Framework Kopecky/Claire agreement - breaks DPCC commission and running until Archibald support can be availability Simon Fraiz- facilitate a March 2023 called-off, (ACCORD Brown comprehensive short purchased in a reports) Claire Eveleigh break offer which Draft update of block, spot basis supports families and the Short Breaks or by mini- prevents escalation to Service competition care, Education, Statement by Health and Care 15/12 Plans, or inpatient status Page 172 Page 12 Ensure that all people Training offer Available now Matt Chislett, Children’s Attendance on Children’s that work with and are Colline Murphy Services L&D training courses Services social involved in the lives of offer available to Access care teams children in care and those working analytics on Care Leaving care leavers can play with children in online team a proactive part in care or care resources Foster carers Corporate Parenting leavers (including Supported and doing everything Foster carers & Lodgings team they can to help supported Supported children and young lodgings Lodgings people to have great providers) providers outcomes E-learning & resources held on The Learning Hub Pan-Dorset Safeguarding training offer Research in Practice & CCinform January/February resources & 6 Action Action Delivery through Target Lead No (e.g. Group already progressing, Date/Milestones Task and Finish Group required, Deliverables Measures Stakeholders individual taking forward) 2021 training Development of a blended learning programme for Permanence Page 173 Page
7 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 10
Cabinet 19 January 2021 Schools Admission Arrangements and Coordinated Scheme 2022-2023 For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr A Parry, Children, Education and Early Help
Executive Director: Theresa Leavy, Executive Director People - Children
Report Author: Ed Denham Title: Manager Tel: 01305221939 Email: [email protected]
Report Status: Public
Recommendation:
A) That the following policies that make up Dorset Council’s School Admissions Arrangements and Coordinated Scheme for school place allocations from September 2021 be adopted:
1. Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme Timetable 2022-2023 2. Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 3. Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 4. In Year Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 5. Admissions Arrangements for Community & Voluntary Controlled Schools 2022-2023. 6. Admissions to Maintained Nursery Units Policy 2022-2023 7. Sixth Form Admissions Policy 2022-2023 8. Guidance on Placement Outside of Normal/Chronological Age Group 2022-2023 9. Armed Forces Policy 2022-2023
Reason for Recommendation:
• To determine admissions arrangements in accordance with statutory requirements including the Schools Admissions Code December 2014.
Page 175 • To ensure compliance with the latest legislation and subsequent regulation/statutory guidance.
1. Executive Summary
As a result of successive Acts and associated Regulations, admission authorities are required to consult on proposed admissions arrangements prior to determination. A consultation has to be carried out by the 31st January 2021, with the outcomes to be determined by the 1 March 2021, published by the Local Authority by the 15 March 2021 for admissions into schools in September 2022.
The Department for Education December 2014 Admissions Code requires admission authorities to consult for a minimum period of 6 weeks between 1 October and 31January in any given year and to include relevant parents and other groups in that consultation.
The consultation on Dorset’s Admissions Arrangements for September 2022 was completed on 23 December 2020 after a 6-week period. This report summarises the consultations that have taken place and invites members to approve the policies as a result of those consultations in order to meet the Local Authority’s statutory duties.
All Admissions Authorities, of which Dorset Council is one, are required to ‘determine’ their admissions arrangements on an annual basis.
All policies have been updated with regard to the latest guidance as a result of the UK leaving the European Union as of the 31 December 2020.
2. Financial Implications
None
3. Health & Wellbeing implications
The admissions arrangements and pupil place planning strategy for Dorset is focused on ensuring sufficiency and easy access to local school places, generating close local attachments and promoting the walking to school agenda.
4. Climate Implications
The underlying premise of the School Admissions Arrangements and the criteria for the allocation of places focuses on local schools for local children, minimising
Page 176 where possible families having to undertake driven journeys to access a school place
5. Other Implications
None
6. Risk Assessment
Having considered the risks associated with this decision, the level of risk has been identified as: Current Risk: LOW Residual Risk: LOW
7. Equalities Impact Assessment
A full EQIA has been undertaken and is attached.
8. Appendices
1. Admissions Arrangements for Community & Voluntary Controlled Schools 2022-2023. 2. Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme Timetable 2022-2023 3. Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 4. Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 5. In Year Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 6. Admissions to Maintained Nursery Units Policy 2022-2023 7. Sixth Form Admissions Policy 2022-2023 8. Guidance on Placement Outside of Normal/Chronological Age Group 2022-2023 9. Armed Forces Policy 2022-2023 10. Full EQIA for the Admissions Arrangements and Coordinated Scheme
9. Background Papers
DFE Schools Admissions Code - December 2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-code--2
DFE Guidance on Summer Born Children - September 2020
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school- admission
DFE Guidance on Admissions and The Armed Forces Covenant – April 2013
Page 177 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/admissions-to-schools-in-england- and-the-armed-forces-covenant
Co-Ordinated Schemes – Primary, Secondary and In Year.
1.1 The new timetable for the Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme meets with the requirements of the Schools Admissions Code of Practice and is attached in Appendix 1.
1.2 The scheme co-ordinates with neighbouring local authorities and the national offer dates as set out in the Code of Practice. There have been no responses to this consultation.
Elected members are asked to support the adoption of the co-ordinated scheme in order to meet statutory requirements.
2. Admissions Arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in Dorset 2022-2023 including The Sixth Form Admissions Policy 2022-2023 and the Nursery Admissions Policy 2022-2023
2.1 Admissions arrangements for all maintained schools are bound by the DFE Schools Admissions Code, which was revised and updated in December 2014.
2.2 Dorset Council (DC) has made no changes to the oversubscription criteria for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools.
2.3 DC has made no changes to the Sixth Form Admissions Policy nor The Nursery Admissions Policy.
2.5 There were no responses to the consultation.
Elected Members are asked to adopt the Admissions Arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in Dorset 2022-2023 and note that Local Authority Sixth Form Admissions Policy, Local Authority Nursery Admissions Policy are unchanged.
3. Dorset Admissions of Armed Forces Community Children Policy
3.1 This policy applies to all schools where DC is the admissions authority (community and voluntary controlled schools) – it is also promoted for adoption with Dorset Schools which are their own admissions authorities
Page 178 (academies, foundation, voluntary aided, studio and free schools). A copy of the policy is found in Appendix 1.
3.2 This policy recognises the Armed Forces Covenant and reflects the spirit of DFE Guidance issued in April 2013 that has been withdrawn but Dorset continues to maintain the principles.
3.3 The Guidance from the DFE and DC’s policy is designed to ensure that admissions arrangements do not disadvantage service families, and the policy provides the admissions authority flexibility in how they may process applications from service families.
3.4 The policy ensures that an admission authority has flexibility in determining main residence when managing place allocations using base and future addresses where a family is subject to a new posting/rotation.
3.5 There is flexibility in the application of the Infant Class Size (ICS) legislation, which allows admissions authorities to place over number as an ‘exception’, though it is still incumbent on the admissions authority to respect the philosophy of ICS and not to necessarily make an ‘exception’ of every service family.
3.6 The policy also allows and requires an admission authority to act flexibly when an allocated school place through a future service or base address is then not appropriate to the residential address that the service family has, once they are finally settled.
3.7 There have been no responses to the consultation including the Ministry of Defence who were consulted.
Elected members are asked to adopt the attached policy in order to support military families and to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces Covenant.
4. Guidance on the Placement of a Pupil Outside His or Her Normal Age Group
4.1 This policy applies to all schools where DC is the admissions authority (community and voluntary controlled schools) – it is also promoted for adoption with Dorset Schools which are their own admissions authorities (academies, foundation, voluntary aided, studio and fee schools). A copy of the policy is found in Appendix 1. There have been no changes to this policy other than wording to reflect changes in September 2020 DFE guidance.
4.2 There have been no responses to the consultation
Page 179 Elected Members are asked to adopt the policy that relates to the placement of children outside of their normal age group, thus ensuring that DC is adhering to DFE statutory guidance.
Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 180
Admission Arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools in Dorset Council 2022-2023
This is Dorset Council Local Authority’s (LA’s) admissions policy which applies to statutory school aged children in mainstream schools. This policy commences for children applying to schools to start in September 2022 and should be read in conjunction with the Parent’s Guide. The guide along with admissions policies for other types of schools and further information and clarification are available on Dorset’s school admissions website.
1. Admission of Pupils – General Principles
• The School Admissions Code, legislative guidance including co-ordination, equal preference scheme and infant class size legislation are adhered to, • The majority of schools serve traditional areas (catchments/communities) to ensure fair access. The school’s catchment area is a geographical area defined by the authority following consultation with the governors and neighbouring schools and is available for parents to view on the Dorset for You website, • Where possible, within the current constraints and legislation, children attend schools preferred by their parents, • Every (Dorset Council) child will be allocated a place in an educational setting once an application is submitted, • Admission arrangements are consistently and equally applied to all, • Resources are used efficiently, • Allocation of school places are made up to the planned admission number, in accordance with the oversubscription criteria. • The Dorset Council Admissions Arrangements adhere to the principles of the Equalities Act 2010.
2. Published Admission Numbers (PANs)
All admission authorities must set an admission number for each ‘relevant age group’ and places will be allocated according to the published oversubscription criteria.
A school will be asked to exceed the admission number only where:-
• The last place within PAN is allocated to one of multiple birth siblings, then the other birth siblings will be admitted, • Where an error occurs and the child should have been offered a place, • A large group of families with children arrive in the area where it has not been possible to accommodate them within the normal allocation of places because of the short notice. If this is the case, the Local Authority will identify an appropriate setting to accommodate the children as quickly as possible,
Page 181
• An unexpected event/incident occurs necessitating urgent/temporary placement, • There is a need to comply with other agreed protocols, e.g. Children in Care, Fair Access, SEN Code of Practice and the Military Covenant
In Year Admissions only
• Where no other school would provide suitable education within a reasonable distance of the home. In this instance the distance will be considered based on the transport offered to the alternative setting, following national guidance on transport times i.e. the alternative placement will not exceed a journey of 45 minutes for primary aged children and 75 minutes for secondary aged children. The length of journey does not include walking to the ‘stop’. Transport is also based on consideration of efficient use of resources and prejudice to the school or neighbouring schools.
3. Admission of Pupils to School for the First Time at Age 4+/5
3.1 Statutory school age
Children reach compulsory school age the school term following their fifth birthday. The start of term is defined as 1 September/January/April (this may not be the first day of term for the school being considered).
3.2 Admission at 4+
An application must be submitted for every child to the LA. Children are able to attend full-time in September of the year they are due to start school. Some schools offer a phased integration. Parents can request part-time attendance until compulsory school age is reached. This needs to be agreed with the headteacher of the school where a place is offered. Parents can also request deferred entry within the first academic year or until compulsory school age. A record of the deferment should be kept by the school and parent. The place is held and is not available to be offered to another child unless it is not taken up by the agreed date when it will be considered vacant. If this request for deferred entry goes beyond the start of the academic year, the parent will need to reapply for a school place in the next academic year for entry to year 1.
4. Transfer to the next school by age – Normal Year of Entry
Different age ranges of schools in the Dorset Council area means children may transfer to the next school, depending on where they live, at ages 7+ (Year 3), 9+ (Year 5), 11+ (Year 7) or 13+ (Year 9). In all cases an application should be submitted by the published closing date and through the Home Local Authority. This is the local authority in whose area the child resides. Applications should be submitted by the person who has parental responsibility for the child.
5. In Year Admissions
In year or casual admissions will be processed either through the LA where schools have opted in to the LA co-ordinated scheme (subject to availability) or directly to the
Page 182 school, where the school has opted out. If uncertain of whether the preferred school takes in year applications direct, parents can contact the school itself or contact Dorset’s school admissions department. A formal application must be made in all instances with relevant information attached to the application. Should a place not be allocated at a preference school the parents have a right of appeal. Any alternative placement offered will take account of the distance to travel consistent with the national guidance on journey times i.e. the alternative placement will not exceed a journey of 45 minutes for primary aged children and 75 minutes for secondary age children.
6. Admission of children outside their normal age group
This section of the policy should be read in conjunction with the guidance on the placement of a pupil outside his or her normal age group. Normal age group refers to the year group in which the child would normally be according to their chronological age. The guidance is available on Dorset’s school admissions website.
Applications for a child to be placed outside of their normal chronological year group will only be considered under the most exceptional circumstances. The placement of a child outside his or her normal age group is not an appropriate strategy for meeting special educational needs. This is in recognition of the significant and long term impact on children who are placed outside of their normal year group.
6.1 Decision Making Process
Parents and carers wishing to request that their child be placed outside of their normal age group must do so through the Head Teacher of the pupil’s actual or proposed school. Where the school is their own admissions authority the decision to place a child outside of their normal age group rests with the Head Teacher and governing body of the school that would be affected. Where Dorset Local Authority is the admissions authority for the affected school, the case will be considered by the local authority’s In Year Fair Access Panel. This panel meets regularly during term time.
6.2 Admission above Normal Age
Only in exceptional circumstances, where a child is outstanding in every respect, will a child be considered for admission early or above their normal year group. It will also only be considered through the agreement of the Head Teacher, in conjunction with other professionals, where they have identified exceptional medical, physical, social or/and educational reasons for this. If advanced in a Dorset Council school it is expected that the arrangement will continue in a Dorset Council school.
6.3 Back Yearing and Delayed Transfer
There are instances when a child’s overall best interests are served by delaying admission or remaining in the existing year. The social and educational implications of this must be considered. Such arrangements will be considered only if agreed or recommended by the child’s Head Teacher and/or any other professional involved. Any decision will also be in line with the LA’s ‘Guidance on the Placement of a Pupil outside of his or her normal age group’ and with the parent’s agreement.
Page 183
6.4 Out of Dorset Requests
Some families seek places in Dorset schools (e.g. where they have moved in from elsewhere outside the Dorset Council area) for their children to be placed in a year group other than their chronological year group. Requests are dealt with and recommendations made by the admitting school, regardless of the child’s home address, in line with the decision making process indicated above.
Such requests are refused unless there are very exceptional circumstances.
6.5 Admission/Transfer of Children Outside Normal Year Groups – PAN
Where it is agreed that children can be admitted/transferred to a year group which is not the chronological year group, the application will be considered against the relevant school’s PAN (not in addition) and the school’s oversubscription criteria, along with all other applications received.
6.6 Delaying entry into Reception Year Group – Summer Born Children
Where a child is summer born and parents wish to consider the delay of their child starting school in the Reception Class until after their 5th birthday will have to discuss this directly with the Head Teacher and/or the Admission Authority of the proposed school. These requests will be considered on a case by case basis and with reference to the ‘Guidance on the Placement of a Pupil Outside his or her Normal Age Group’.
If a parent applies for a reception place to be taken up after the child’s 4th birthday and is allocated a place in the normal transfer round and then subsequently wishes for their child to enter the school in reception after their 5th birthday – they will have to make a new application in the next application year and surrender their current place. Their application will be considered afresh and no guarantee will be given that they will get a place at the same school in the subsequent allocation as it will be subject to the relevant admissions code and the overall number of applications.
A parent may decide to start school in September after a child’s 5th birthday but remain in their chronological year group by going straight into Year 1. The family will have to make an in-year application during the May hlf-term prior to the September that the child is to start school.
7. Placements in Alternative Settings and Managed Moves
Policies are available on In Year Fair Access and Managed Move protocols on Dorset’s school admissions webpage.
Pupils from outside of Dorset Council area who have been placed in alternative provision (PRU) and move into Dorset will initially be placed in a Learning Centre where consideration will be given to the most suitable placement to support the child’s educational achievement. Should integration to mainstream be considered appropriate, and on receipt of an application from the parent, this will be considered by the In Year Fair Access Panel. Page 184
8. Children in Care
There is an additional policy and guidance available for Children in Care and children who have previously been in care applications. Children in Care applications are given the highest priority on the oversubscription criteria.
9. School Transport
Details about school transport are provided in the Home to School Transport Policy. Advice is also provided in the Policy and Parents’ Guide to ensure parents, guardians and carers are aware that their preference of school and the admissions criteria will affect their entitlement to ‘free’ school transport. This includes later changes (e.g. change of address) which could have a bearing on continued eligibility for school transport.
10. Withdrawal of School Places
Places will only be withdrawn where:
• A place has been offered in error by the admission authority and the affected child/ren have not yet started at the preferred school, • A place has been offered on the basis of a false, fraudulent or deliberately misleading application. The place will be withdrawn if the case has been identified by the first October half-term following admission, • The place has not been taken up by the specified date – the parent will be contacted in advance of the withdrawal of a place, • The place has been declined by the parent.
11. Waiting Lists
The LA operates a limited waiting list policy. Parents can apply to have their child’s name placed on a waiting list for a period of one term following refusal. If parents wish to keep a child on a waiting list beyond this term they will need to write in for an extension. There is no guarantee of a school place by remaining on the waiting list.
12. Appeals
If the LA is unable to offer a place at a school that has been applied for, the parent has the right to appeal to an independent Appeals Panel. The decision of the Panel is binding on all parties and where parents succeed with their appeal, the place at the school originally offered by the LA will be automatically withdrawn.
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13. OVERSUBSCRIPTION CRITERIA
The admission of children with Education Health & Care Plans and Statements of Special Educational Needs is covered by Sections 324 to 328 of, and Schedule 27 to, the Education Act 1996. Guidance on the Admission of EHCP and Statemented pupils is given in the Special Education Needs Code of Practice.
1. Where all parental preferences for places at the school can be satisfied, all children seeking a place will be admitted.
2. Where there are too few places available to satisfy all preferences, places will be allocated according to the following priority order:-
i) A “Child in Care” or who was “previously a Child in Care” (see footnote 1) ii) Children who the authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need and where there is a need for a place at one specific school (see footnotes 2,3). iii) Children living within the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission. (see footnote 4) iv) Children living within the school’s catchment area who are attending the preferred school’s recognised maintained feeder school during the previous year and are on that school’s roll at the time of application. (see footnote 5). v) Children living within the school’s catchment area. vi) Children living outside the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission. (see footnote 4,6) vii) Children of staff with at least two years continuous service at the school or who have been recruited to a vacancy to meet a demonstrable skills shortage as at the date of application (in year) or relevant closing date under the LA co-ordinated scheme (normal year of entry) and who still intend to be employed at the school at the time of the child's admission. (see footnote 8,9) viii) All other children living outside the school’s catchment area.
3. If oversubscribed within any of the priority order categories above, places will be allocated on the basis of the shortest straight-line measurement using a geographical information-based system which identifies an Easting and Northing for the home address and the school and calculates the distance between the two locations. NB. School transport is based on walking and driven distances.
4. In the event that the LA is unable to distinguish between applications despite applying the priority categories above, lots will be drawn by an independent (of the LA) person to determine the final place(s).
5. Where applications are received from families with multiple birth siblings and by adhering to PAN these siblings could not be offered the same school, the admission number will be exceeded to accommodate the multiple birth siblings. This is not an indication that schools can exceed the admission number other than under these exceptional circumstances.
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Footnotes
1. A “Child in Care” means any child who is in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989. A child who was “previously a Child in Care” means a child who after being Looked After became subject to an Adoption Order under Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, a Child Arrangement Order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 or Special Guardianship Order under Section 14A of the Children Act 1989. 2. Applications will only be considered under this category if there is evidence provided such as a Child Protection Order, Children in Need document or a written statement from a doctor, social worker or other relevant independent professional. The information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how the specified school is the only school that can meet the defined needs of the child. The local authority is all inclusive and will meet all legislative requirements to accommodate children within their educational setting as appropriate to their need. 3. Applications will also be considered under this category for a child who has or will have a sibling with an Education Health & Care Plan and where that sibling attending their nearest Complex Communication Needs Base, Physical Disability Base or a Social, Emotional Mental Health Base at the time of the admission. 4. The term ‘sibling’ means full brother or sister, half or step brother or sister, adoptive brother or sister and other non-blood related children who live with married or cohabiting parents in the same household and relates to all year groups provided by the school. In the case of an infant school the sibling link will apply to the related junior school and vice versa. 5. The feeder school criteria only applies to children attending the recognised feeder Infant School and are applying to the recognised receiver Junior School. This applies to Upton Infant & Junior School and Wyke Regis Infant &Junior School. 6. This does not include independent schools, pre-schools or nurseries. 7. In order to qualify for consideration under this category, parents/guardians will need to show that at least one adult family member and the child to whom the application relates to have been attending their local church at least once a month for a minimum of a year prior to the closing date for applications. The application must also be supported by a written statement from the vicar/priest/minister or leader of the church confirming this. 8. The term ‘children’ includes full, half, step, adopted and those non-blood related but resident through marriage, civil partnerships or single family co-habitation arrangements at the time of application or deadline. 9. Staff are defined as all Dorset Council employed teaching and support staff at the preferred school. ‘Children of staff’ refers to situations where the staff member is the natural parent, the legal guardian or a resident step parent. If applicants wish to be considered under this criterion then a letter from the Headteacher confirming the above applies to the applicant must be provided at the time of application.
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Failure to provide sufficient evidence will result in the application being processed against the next highest criteria.
All policies and the Parents’ Guide which provides further information and clarification are all available at www.dorsetforyou.com/schooladmissions.
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Dorset Co-ordinated Admission Scheme 2022 to 2023
Closing date for applications
Closing dates for applications are: • secondary schools: 31 October 2021 • primary schools: 15 January 2022
Applicants applying on aptitude or ability will be advised of the outcome of the testing in good time to complete a preference application by the closing date. Passing the test does not guarantee a place at a school.
Closing dates for applications for children in care and children with education, health and care (EHC) plans are: • secondary schools: 1 February 2022 • primary schools: 16 March 2022
Application exchange dates
The dates for Dorset local authority exchanges applications with other local authorities are: • secondary schools: 12 November 2021 • primary schools: 1 February 2022
Verifying criteria and ranking deadline
The deadlines for admission authorities to complete the process of verifying and confirming the criteria for their applications, ranking those applications and returning them to the local authority are: • secondary schools: 10 January 2022 • primary schools: 1 March 2022
First offer exchange dates
First exchange of offers between local authorities dates are: • secondary schools: 24 January 2022 • primary schools: 15 March 2022
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Final offer exchange dates
Final exchange of offers between local authorities dates are: • secondary schools: 7 February 2022 • primary schools: 28 March 2022
Final allocation notification dates
Final allocation notification dates where the Dorset local authority informs all schools of final allocations are: • secondary schools: 14 February 2022 • primary schools: 5 April 2022
Notification day
Dates when Dorset local authority sends notification to home applicants (National Offer Day or the next working day if it falls on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday) are: • secondary schools: 1 March 2022 • primary schools: 19 April 2022
Dates for parents to respond to the offer
Dates when parents respond to their offer are: • secondary schools: 15 March 2022 • primary schools: 3 May 2022
How we deal with late applications
Dorset Council will have a single late round in-line with all neighbouring authorities.
The single late round for each cycle will close the day before the National Offer Day of that cycle. All applications received after National Offer Day will no longer be coordinated and will be dealt with as in-year transfers and will be dealt with as they are received.
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Late applications for secondary school places
The late closing date for secondary school places is 28 February 2022. The late offer date for secondary school places is 31 March 2022. The late response date for secondary school places is 15 April 2022.
Late applications for primary school places
The late closing date for primary school places is 18 April 2022. The late offer date for primary school places is 13 May 2022. The late response date for primary school places is 27 May 2022.
We will process late applications as quickly as possible as we receive them and will process them as in-year transfers: • secondary school place applications received after 28 February • primary school place applications received after 15 April
We may not process applications we receive within the last few weeks of term and during the summer holidays until schools return from their summer break.
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Primary Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme Normal Point of Entry 2022 to 2023
1.0 Background
1.1 In accordance with the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co- ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012, all Local Authorities (LAs) are required to formulate schemes for coordinating arrangements for the admission of children to maintained primary and secondary schools and academies. Details of the Dorset Council scheme for 2022 to 23 for the reception, junior and middle school entry are set out in this document. All maintained schools and academies are required to take part.
2.0 Interpretation
2.1 Admissions arrangements The arrangements for a particular school or schools which govern the procedures and decision-making for the purposes of admitting pupils to the school.
2.2 Admissions authority In relation to a community or voluntary controlled school means the local authority and, in relation to an academy, foundation, free, trust or VA school, means the board of governors of that school or the multi-academy trust where this applies
2.3 Equal Preference Scheme The model where whereby all preferences listed by parents on the CAF are considered under the over-subscription criteria for each school without reference to parental rankings. Where a pupil is eligible to be offered a place at more than one school within an LA, or across more than one participating LA, the rankings are used to determine the single offer by selecting the school ranked highest of those which can offer a place.
2.4 CAF The common application form.
2.5 The home local authority (LA) The LA in which the applicant/parent/carer is resident.
2.6 The maintaining LA The LA which maintains a school, or within whose area an academy is situated, for which a preference has been expressed.
Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 to 1932023 accessible 2.7 National Offer Day The day on which outcome letters are posted to parents/carers. For primary school places it is 16 April in the year following the relevant determination year except that, in any year in which that day is not a working day, the prescribed day shall be the next working day.
2.8 Pupil Admissions Number (PAN) The published admissions number for the year of entry at a school.
2.9 In-Year Fair Access protocol (IYFA) The purpose of Fair Access Protocols is to ensure that - outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are found and offered a place quickly, so that the amount of time any child is out of school is kept to the minimum.
2.10 Supplementary Information Form (SIF) Some schools have a SIF that allows parents to provide evidence to allow the schools to place children based on that schools over subscription criteria where a denominational criteria exists.
This scheme will apply to all applications for admission to the reception year for infant, first and primary schools, year 3 for junior schools and year 5 for middle schools in the academic year 2022 to 2023 for schools within the following admission authorities:
▪ Dorset Council (DC), as Admission Authority for Community and Voluntary Controlled infant, first, primary, junior and middle schools in Dorset. ▪ Own Admission Authority Schools (Academies, Foundation schools, Free schools and Voluntary Aided schools). ▪ Admission Authorities for other maintained infant, first, primary, junior and middle schools and Academies in England.
2.11 The scheme shall be determined and processed in accordance with the provisions set out in Part 1 and in accordance with the Co-ordinated Scheme timetable set out in Part 2.
2.12 The scheme shall be based on the equal preferences system.
2.13 Where a child is not resident with his or her parent/carer, parental responsibility must be conferred by the parent/carer directly on the person with whom the child is to reside and not on a third party or a commercial or charitable organisation. Where this involves a person who is not a close relative of the child, it is the responsibility of that person to refer the arrangement to social care as a private fostering arrangement.
2.14 In regard to admissions to schools, the Dorset Council Admissions Team will:
▪ act as champion for children and families ▪ offer advice to parents and schools
2 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 194 ▪ monitor and challenge the admission arrangements of schools within Dorset ▪ operate an admissions scheme (this scheme) for normal point of entry to infant, first, primary, junior and middle schools in Dorset ▪ operate a local in-year admissions scheme to assist in the coordination of admissions to school at points outside the normal point of entry in reception to year 6 and year 7 and 8 at middle schools ▪ operate an In Year Fair Access Protocol to ensure that outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible ▪ liaise with other teams within Dorset Council and other LAs in the planning of school places ▪ report to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator on admissions for all schools in Dorset for which we coordinate admissions ▪ offer a traded service to own admission authority schools to support them in the delivery of their responsibilities for school admissions and appeals, including the verification and ranking of applications, managing waiting lists, preparing and presenting appeals and processing in year applications
The Scheme
3.0 Applications
3.1 All parents must complete a Common Application Form. Dorset Council will make appropriate arrangements to ensure that the common application form is available on the Dorset Council’s website. The website will also display a guide for parents which provides a written explanation of the scheme. Paper copies of the form are available on request or from the website.
3.2 Dorset will only consider one school admissions application for each child. This should be completed by the person with parental responsibility who has care of the child for the majority of school days/weeks (unless a Court Order states differently). If there is joint parental responsibility, the applicant must indicate on the application that all those with parental responsibility are aware of and agree to the application and the preferences being made.
3.2 The CAF may be used to name up to 3 preferences for schools in Dorset or in any other Local Authority. Dorset will inform the Maintaining Local Authority of those applications for schools outside of Dorset. The CAF cannot be used to express a preference for an independent school.
3.3 Applications for places at a Dorset School by parents/carers of children resident outside of Dorset should be made through the Home Local Authority. The Home Local Authority will inform Dorset of the preferences made for Dorset schools.
3 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 195 3.4 All applications must be received by 23:59 on the national primary closing date of 15 January. Applications received after this date and before the late closing date will be treated as ‘late’ (see section 6.1).
3.5 Paper applications may be submitted to a preference school or by post to Dorset School Admissions Team. Parents/carers will have to provide proof of posting or of submission to the school to show it was submitted/posted on or before 15 January.
3.6 Some schools may require applicants to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) in order to apply their oversubscription criteria. The requirement will be stated in the relevant school’s admissions arrangements. The supplementary form should be returned direct to the school as the relevant admissions authority. Applications submitted using the common application form but without completion of a supplementary form will still be considered but the school will be unable to assess the application against the relevant criteria. Parents/carers should be made aware that they must also complete a common application form; the supplementary form is not regarded as an application in itself. Applications will only be considered if a common application form has been completed and sent to the home Local Authority. For an application to be considered as on time, the common application form must be submitted to the home Local Authority before midnight on 15 January 2022.
3.7 The home address is where the child spends the majority of the time and is living with the person who has parental responsibility and is the main ‘carer’ as defined in section 576 of the Education Act 1996.
3.8 Dorset Council will not accept more than one address as the child’s home address. Where a child regularly lives at more than one address the Local Authority will have to reach a conclusion about which should be counted as the main address when allocating places. This will normally be the address where any Child Benefit is paid. If Child Benefit is not received, then where the child is registered with a medical GP will be used as the address. Where parents are living separately and do not agree on the child’s home address they are urged to reach agreement. If this does not happen Dorset Council will determine the address to be used for allocating a school place.
3.9 Dorset Council may undertake checks to ensure that the information provided in the application is true and accurate. Documentary evidence may be requested.
3.10 Parents and carers must inform Dorset Council of any change of address as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in any offer of a place being withdrawn. Documentary evidence will be required before any change is accepted.
3.11 Applications may be based on either a current address or a future address. Applications can only be considered based on a future address if that address is appropriately evidenced as at the closing date.
4 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 196 3.12 Evidence required for a change of address or a future address will be:
▪ a solicitor’s letter confirming an exchange of contract dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a copy of a tenancy agreement (giving property address, date and duration of tenancy) signed by the applicant and the landlord as well as any notice to quit from the previous address. The new tenancy agreements must be signed and dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a letter from the friend/relative confirming arrangements that the applicant and the child are moving into their home address, with a date confirming the move. The friend or relative is required to provide proof of address such as a council tax bill or a utility bill. This address can only be used by the applicant once they are actually resident
▪ written confirmation from parents and or carer/previous carer that the child’s residency is changing on a long-term basis
▪ members of the Armed Services and Crown Servants may submit a posting order as proof of a future address stating the date of the start of the posting
▪ written confirmation from refuge staff that the applicant and their child or young person has been accommodated in the refuge due to domestic abuse or violence
3.13 Where parents share parental responsibility for a child and two applications are received for the one child, Dorset Council will ask the parents to determine which application should be considered. The other application will be withdrawn. This is because DC will offer only one school place to a child at any one time. If parents cannot agree, they should resolve the issue through the court system, for example to obtain a 'Specific Issues Order' which specifies which parent has responsibility to make decisions on school preferences. If no agreement is reached and no Order is made the decision as to which application is accepted will be determined by drawing lots, overseen by a member of staff from Dorset Council Legal Services. The home address will still be the address the child spends the majority of time.
4.0 Processing
4.1 Details of applications will be available to all schools through the School Admissions Module (SAM) as they are submitted though preference order is not provided based on the equal preference protocol.
4.2 Schools are not permitted to make any contact with parents based on the information they are privy to as a result of being able to view these applications.
5 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 197 4.2 Dorset Council will undertake the Application Exchange with other Local Authorities for applications for schools outside of Dorset on the 1 February 2021.
4.3 Own Admissions Authority Schools for whom the Admissions Team has not been delegated to undertake the checking function through a Service Level Agreement will verify, check, apply a criterion and rank the applications and return this information to Dorset Council in a format prescribed by the Council and by the Deadline date of 1 March 2022.
4.4 Dorset Council will undertake the verifying, checking, application of a criterion and rank the applications for all Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools and those Own Admission Authorities that, through an SLA, have delegated these functions to the Dorset County Admissions Team.
4.5 All schools may be required to verify any sibling links and staff links in accordance with that schools over subscription criteria.
4.6 All schools that require a SIF to verify a denominational link, where the denominational criteria is likely to be the highest ranking criteria for an application, will be responsible for receiving the SIF, verifying the link claim and informing Dorset Admissions of the criteria under which the application is to be considered.
5.0 Determining offers
5.1 Dorset Council will make an initial allocation of places based on:
▪ the criteria allocated to each application for a Dorset School and
▪ when a school is oversubscribed (applications exceed the Pupil Admissions Number), based on the oversubscription criteria of that school
5.2 The Local Authority, having regard to the ranked lists received from schools in Dorset and the information received from other Local Authorities, will:
▪ where the child is eligible for a place at only one of their preference schools, allocate a place at that school to the child
▪ where the child is eligible for a place at two or more of the preference schools, allocate a place at whichever school is the highest ranked preference
5.3 Where a child or young person resident in Dorset and looking for a Dorset school has not been offered a place at any of their preference schools, Dorset Admissions will place at their catchment school.
5.4 If a child has not been allocated their catchment school having not been allocated any of their preference schools, the Local Authority will then allocate 6 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 198 a place at their next nearest appropriate school with the relevant point of entry.
5.5 Where a child or young person is leaving a school based on the age range of that school, but is unable to secure a place at the next school in the education system (this mean. unable to secure a place at year 5 in a middle school, or year 3 in a junior school) and the only available places within a reasonable distance are at schools for which there is not a formal point of entry, the application will be suspended. Applicants will be advised that they may make an in-year application to a local primary school or allow Dorset Council to allocate a place. These allocations will not take place until after the summer half-term as in year applications do not get processed more than 6 school weeks before the place is required.
5.6 Dorset Council will make the first exchange of offers with other Local Authorities on 15 March 2022. A series of exchanges will take place with the final exchange with other Local Authorities taking place on 28 March 2022.
5.7 Dorset Council will notify all schools of the final allocations on 5 April 2022. Schools are not permitted to divulge any information to parents with regards to the allocations until that family is informed of the allocations on the National Offer Day by the Local Authority.
5.8 Dorset Council will inform all Dorset resident applicants of the outcome of their application on National Offer Day, 16 April 2022 including those who have been offered a school in another Local Authority. Those who have submitted their application electronically, will receive an outcome email confirming the school offer on or soon after 9am on National Offer Day. A second email will also be despatched later that day that will provide the applicant with a link to a letter that can be downloaded. This letter not only confirms the allocation, it will also detail any eligibility to transport. Those who made an application by paper form and supplied an email address will only receive this second email with a copy of the outcome letter, but will not receive the outcome email despatched around 9am.
5.9 Those applicants who have only supplied a postal address through a paper application will receive their notification by second class post with the letters being dispatched from County Hall on National Offer Day – or the first working day thereafter if the National Offer Day falls on a non-working day.
6.0 Late Applications
6.1 Dorset Council manages a single late co-ordinated late round. Any application received after the national closing date through to the day before national offer day will be processed as part of the ‘Late Round’
6.2 All applications received in this period/round, along with all appellants and those on waiting lists from the previous allocation round, will be checked verified and ranked against the oversubscription criteria of the relevant schools. 7 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 199 6.3 All address evidence as detailed 3.12 in must be dated prior to the closing date of 15 April 2022 for it to be considered as part of the ‘Late Round’.
6.4 Dorset Council will liaise with other Local Authorities where there are applications for schools outside of Dorset.
6.5 All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by second class mail, the letters being despatched from County Hall on 13 May 2022.
6.6 Any application received after 15 April 2021 will be processed in the order that they are received but will be managed and co-ordinated by the Local Authority until 31 August 2022.
7.0 Waiting Lists
7.1 Where an applicant has not received their highest preference school, they may ask to be placed on a waiting list for that school.
7.2 Dorset Council will co-ordinate waiting lists for all schools until the end of co- ordination, 31 August 2022.
7.3 When an applicant submits an appeal, they will automatically be placed on the waiting list for that school.
7.4 When a place(s) becomes available at an oversubscribed school, all outstanding applications, pending appeals and waiting list applicants will be ordered against the oversubscription criteria and the highest ranked applicant will receive the place(s).
7.5 All schools are required to hold a waiting lists for the year of entry cohort until 31 December. Applicants will have to contact the Local Authority or the School to confirm if a waiting list for that school is held beyond the 31 December in any given year and request that they remain on the waiting if desired.
7.6 Where the Local Authority maintain waiting lists for schools beyond 31 December, then the family will have to renew their waiting list place each and every September. It is the responsibility of the family to make the renewal.
8.0 Right of Appeal
8.1 All letters making an offer of a school place will detail the right of appeal if the school offered is not the first preference.
8.2 The Local Authority, as the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools, and publish their appeals timetable on 28 February of the year in question. This appeal timetable will also cover schools who have entered into a Service Level agreement for the Local Authority to manage their appeals.
8 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 200 8.2 If an applicant who has not received a place at one of their higher preference schools, they have the right to lodge an appeal within 20 days of notification of the refusal of a place
8.3 The Admissions Authority must hear the appeal within 40 days of the deadline of lodging an appeal. For late application appeals, these should be heard within 40 days of the lodging of an appeal where possible, or at least within 30 days of the appeal.
8.4 Appellants will be given 10 days’ notice of the appeal hearing date and the arrangements for the hearing.
8.5 The Appeals process will be conducted in accordance with the statutory guidance contained in School Admissions Appeals Code – February 2012.
9.0 Children with education, health and care (EHC) plans
9.1 As part of the annual review prior to transition, those children that are due to start a new school will identify a new school as part of that process. The family do not have to submit a new school application.
9.2 Once the annual review is complete and the consultation is complete, the SEND team will advise the School Admissions Team of the identified school. All children with existing EHC plans and their destination school will be identified to the Admissions Team by 16 March 2022.
9.3 Where a child has yet to be issued an EHC plan, but has been put forward to be assessed, then the family must ensure they submit a normal mainstream point of entry application regardless of which age group. Dorset will progress the application as normal. If the EHC plan is completed by 19 March 2021, and a mainstream school is named on the plan, then the original application will be withdrawn and the placement will be confirmed as that from the EHC plan. If the EHC plan names base or specialist provision, then the application will also be withdrawn. The SEND team will advise the Admissions Team of the outcome of any completed EHC plans by 16 March 2022.
9.4 Where an EHC plan is yet to be finalised and is still not completed by 19 March, then the original mainstream application will be processed and a place offered on National Offer Day. If the EHC plan, once completed, differs from the mainstream allocation, then the provision stated in the EHC plan will remain and the admissions team allocation will be withdrawn and the place rescinded and re-allocated.
9.5 If a mainstream place is offered to a child with an EHC plan, after National Offer Day and the school has reached its PAN because this differs from the family’s normal mainstream application, then the SEND team will liaise with the school around the allocation and issues of having to breech Infant Class Size legislation or having to ask a school to go over PAN if in KS2 or 3.
9 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 201 10.0 Children Resident Abroad
10.1 Applications to attend UK state funded schools may be made from outside of the UK for children who are moving to the UK.
10.2 If the parent is a UK citizen, the application needs to have the following supporting documentation:
• copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • proof of the intended address • date of probable arrival in the UK.
10.3 A place may be offered at a preference school if there is a place available Parents may add preferences while they are resident outside of the UK.
10.4 Irish citizens’ right to live in the UK will not change after 31 December 2020. Irish citizens do not need to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, but their family members, who are not Irish or UK citizens, will need to apply. They are entitled to make an application for a school place.
10.5 Overseas nationals (including such EEA nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020) wishing to apply for a state-funded school place, need to check that they have a right of abode or that the conditions of their immigration status otherwise permits them to access a state-funded school.
10.6 All European Economic Area and Swiss national children entering the country before 31 December 2020 will continue to have the right under immigration law, to access a school place.
10.7 Children aged under 18 are classed as dependant children if they are the children of foreign nationals who have settled status in the UK, or who are entering the UK on a work visa or Student visa, or who are part of a family entering or residing in the UK under the immigration route for British National (Overseas) citizens and their dependants. These children are entitled to enter the country with their family, or to join their family and study at a state-funded or independent school once in the UK.
10.8 Foreign nationals cannot use the 6-month Standard Visitor visa, or 11-month Short-term Study (English language) visa, to enter the UK to enrol as a pupil at a state funded school.
10.9 If the parent or child is an overseas national (including such EEA and swiss nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020), then applications need to have the following supporting documentation:
• Copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • Appropriately endorsed visas for both parent/carer and child • Proof of the intended address • Date of probable arrival in the UK.
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11.0 Children and Young People who are LGBT
11.1 Children and young people who are LGBT should feel able to apply to a school without any restrictions. Where a school or college is co-educational, the gender a person associates with has no bearing on an admissions application. Dorset’s application forms ask for the child’s gender. At this point, the gender appropriate to the birth certificate should be entered. Further information relating to gender identity and the reasoning for selection of a particular school can be given on the application form.
11.2 Dorset Council does not host single sex schools, though neighbouring authorities do have single sex schools within their boundaries. In the case of transgender applicants, where a parent selects a placement in a single sex school opposite to the birth gender, the application will be accepted by Dorset Council as the home local authority and the relevant admissions authority will be asked to consider the application and advise Dorset Council on any allocations. This is a complex decision and not all children will be competent
10 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 203 to take it at the time of transfer. A single sex school may seek evidence from the family that they have thought through the issues carefully and in most cases would expect the family to be able to provide the school with some independent evidence from a medical professional or other worker who has been involved in the situation.
12.0 Applications from UK Service Personnel
12.1 Dorset Council is committed to supporting service families through the Armed Forces Covenant. Further detail is available in the Armed Forces Policy 2022 to 2023.
13.0 Withdrawing a School Place Offer & Fraudulent Applications
13.1 An offer will only be withdrawn if: • it was based on an application that was fraudulent or deliberately misleading • it was made in error • it was made by someone who did not have the authority to offer a school place • a parent (having been issued with reminders from the school or admissions team and made aware of the consequences) failed to accept their school place within one week of the final reminder. This includes failure to respond to contact from the school regarding transition arrangements/”taster” sessions • we receive written confirmation from a parent that they wish to decline the school place offered
14.0 Delaying a School Start, Deferring a School Place and Mode of Attendance
14.1 A child’s school start date can be delayed (known as deferred entry) until he or she reaches compulsory school age or until the start of the final term of the academic year for which the place was offered - whichever comes first. Contact the school directly to discuss this option, as your child’s start date must be agreed with the headteacher.
14.2 The vast majority of children start school full time in September, as it is beneficial for all pupils to undergo the induction process and establish friendships within the group.
14.3 It is a parent’s responsibility to ensure that a child of compulsory school age takes up the place that has been offered by the relevant prescribed date.
14.4 If a child whose fifth birthday falls after the start of the final term of the academic year and the child has not taken up the place by this date, the place will be withdrawn and the family will be responsible for applying for a new school place.
11 Dorset Council - Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022 to 2023 accessible Page 204 14.5 Children are entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday. Where parent/carers wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school agei, or beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made. Arrangements should be made with the school direct.
14.6 Some schools may organise a staggered start for reception aged children over the first weeks of the September term. Schools will have made these arrangements in the best interests of the child to ensure that they settle into a new school setting. Parents have the right to ask that their child in the reception class attends full time from the first day of term. This will need to be discussed directly with the school.
14.7 Once a place has been allocated, parent/carers can defer the date their child is admitted to school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age or, for children born between 1 April and 31 August not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the offer was made. Deferred entry is arranged with the school direct. Deferred admissions will take place at the start of the January or April term as appropriate. If the child does not start at the agreed date, the place may be revoked and may be reallocated to someone else.
15.0 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
15.1 The information that you give on an application form will be used by Dorset Council for the purpose of processing your application for a school place and determining school transport eligibility where appropriate for your child. The information will be shared with schools, the Department for Education, and where relevant and pertinent to your application, diocesan bodies, appeal panels and with other maintaining authorities and school admission authorities in their area. It will not be used for any other purpose unless required to do so by law. A record of the information you provide will be kept whilst your child is of compulsory school age plus a further academic year. Should you have any queries about Data Protection more detailed information is available on our Dorset Council website.
i A child reaches compulsory school age on the 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their 5th birthday, whichever comes first. If a child’s fifth birthday is on one of those dates then they reach compulsory school age on that date.
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Secondary co-ordinated admissions scheme normal point of entry 2022 to 2023
1.0 Background
1.1 In accordance with the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co- ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012, all Local Authorities (LAs) are required to formulate schemes for coordinating arrangements for the admission of children to maintained primary and secondary schools and academies. Details of the Dorset Council scheme for 2022 to 2023 for the secondary and upper school entry are set out in this document. All maintained schools and academies are required to take part.
1. Interpretation
2.1 Admissions arrangements The arrangements for a particular school or schools which govern the procedures and decision-making for the purposes of admitting pupils to the school.
2.2 Admissions authority In relation to a community or voluntary controlled school means the local authority and, in relation to an academy, foundation, free, trust or VA school, means the board of governors of that school or the multi-academy trust where this applies
2.3 Equal Preference Scheme The model where whereby all preferences listed by parents on the CAF are considered under the over-subscription criteria for each school without reference to parental rankings. Where a pupil is eligible to be offered a place at more than one school within an LA, or across more than one participating LA, the rankings are used to determine the single offer by selecting the school ranked highest of those which can offer a place.
2.4 CAF The common application form.
2.5 The home local authority (LA) The LA in which the applicant/parent/carer is resident.
2.6 The maintaining LA The LA which maintains a school, or within whose area an academy is situated, for which a preference has been expressed.
Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible3 Page 207 2.7 National Offer Day The day on which outcome letters are posted to parents/carers. For primary school places it is 16 April in the year following the relevant determination year except that, in any year in which that day is not a working day, the prescribed day shall be the next working day.
2.8 Pupil Admissions Number (PAN) The published admissions number for the year of entry at a school.
2.9 In-Year Fair Access protocol (IYFA) The purpose of Fair Access Protocols is to ensure that - outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are found and offered a place quickly, so that the amount of time any child is out of school is kept to the minimum.
2.10 Supplementary Information Form (SIF) Some schools have a SIF that allows parents to provide evidence to allow the schools to place children based on that schools over subscription criteria where denominational criteria exists.
2.11 This scheme will apply to all applications for admission to year 7 for secondary schools and year 9 for the area’s 3 upper schools in the academic year 2021 to 2022 for schools within the following Admission Authorities:
▪ Dorset Council (DC), as Admission Authority for community and voluntary controlled secondary and upper schools in Dorset ▪ own admission authority schools (academies, foundation schools, free schools and voluntary aided schools). ▪ admission authorities for other maintained secondary schools with year 7 points of entry and upper or studio schools with a year 9 point of entry in England
2.12 The scheme shall be determined and processed in accordance with the provisions set out in Part 1 and in accordance with the co-ordinated scheme timetable set out in Part 2.
2.13 The scheme shall be based on the equal preferences system.
2.14 Where a child is not resident with his or her parent/carer, parental responsibility must be conferred by the parent/carer directly on the person with whom the child is to reside and not on a third party or a commercial or charitable organisation. Where this involves a person who is not a close relative of the child, it is the responsibility of that person to refer the arrangement to social care as a private fostering arrangement.
2.15 In regard to admissions to schools, the Dorset Council Admissions Team will:
▪ act as champion for children and families ▪ offer advice to parents and schools
2 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 208 ▪ monitor and challenge the admission arrangements of schools within Dorset ▪ operate an admissions scheme (this scheme) for normal point of entry to infant, first, primary, junior and middle schools in Dorset ▪ operate a local in-year admissions scheme to assist in the coordination of admissions to school at points outside the normal point of entry in reception to year 6 and year 7 and 8 at middle schools ▪ operate an In Year Fair Access Protocol to ensure that outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible ▪ liaise with other teams within Dorset Council and other LAs in the planning of school places ▪ report to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator on admissions for all schools in Dorset for which we coordinate admissions ▪ offer a traded service to own admission authority schools to support them in the delivery of their responsibilities for school admissions and appeals, including the verification and ranking of applications, managing waiting lists, preparing and presenting appeals and processing in year applications
The Scheme
3.0 Applications
3.1 All parents must complete a Common Application Form. Dorset Council will make appropriate arrangements to ensure that the common application form is available on the Dorset Council’s website. The website will also display a guide for parents which provides a written explanation of the scheme. Paper copies of the form are available on request or from the website.
3.2 Dorset will only consider one school admissions application for each child. This should be completed by the person with parental responsibility who has care of the child for the majority of school days/weeks (unless a Court Order states differently). If there is joint parental responsibility, the applicant must indicate on the application that all those with parental responsibility are aware of and agree to the application and the preferences being made.
3.2 The CAF may be used to name up to 3 preferences for schools in Dorset or in any other Local authority. Dorset will inform the maintaining local authority of those applications for schools outside of Dorset. The CAF cannot be used to express a preference for an independent school.
3.3 Applications for places at a Dorset School by parents/carers of children resident outside of Dorset should be made through the home local authority. The home local authority will inform Dorset of the preferences made for Dorset schools.
3 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 209 3.4 All applications must be received by 23:59 on the national secondary closing date of the 31 October. Applications received after this date and before the late closing date will be treated as ‘late’ (see section 6).
3.5 Paper applications may be submitted to a preference school or by post to Dorset School Admissions Team. Parents/carers will have to provide proof of posting or of submission to the school to show it was submitted/posted on or before the 31 October.
3.6 Some schools may require applicants to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) in order to apply their oversubscription criteria. The requirement will be stated in the relevant school’s admissions arrangements. The supplementary form should be returned direct to the school as the relevant admissions authority. Applications submitted using the common application form but without completion of a supplementary form will still be considered but the school will be unable to assess the application against the relevant criteria. Parents/carers should be made aware that they must also complete a common application form; the supplementary form is not regarded as an application in itself. Applications will only be considered if a common application form has been completed and sent to the home local authority. For an application to be considered as on time, the common application form must be submitted to the home Local authority before midnight on 31 October 2021.
3.7 The home address is where the child spends the majority of the time and is living with the person who has parental responsibility and is the main ‘carer’ as defined in section 576 of the Education Act 1996.
3.8 Dorset Council will not accept more than one address as the child’s home address. Where a child regularly lives at more than one address the Local authority will have to reach a conclusion about which should be counted as the main address when allocating places. This will normally be the address where any Child Benefit is paid. If Child Benefit is not received, then where the child is registered with a medical GP will be used as the address. Where parents are living separately and do not agree on the child’s home address they are urged to reach agreement. If this does not happen Dorset Council will determine the address to be used for allocating a school place.
3.9 Dorset Council may undertake checks to ensure that the information provided in the application is true and accurate. Documentary evidence may be requested.
3.10 Parents/Carers must inform Dorset Council of any change of address as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in any offer of a place being withdrawn. Documentary evidence will be required before any change is accepted.
3.11 Applications may be based on either a current address or a future address. Applications can only be considered based on a future address if that address is appropriately evidenced as at the closing date.
4 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 210 3.12 Evidence required for a change of address or a future address will be:
▪ a solicitor’s letter confirming an exchange of contract dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a copy of a tenancy agreement (giving property address, date and duration of tenancy) signed by the applicant and the landlord as well as any notice to quit from the previous address. The new tenancy agreements must be signed and dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a letter from the friend/relative confirming arrangements that the applicant and the child are moving into their home address, with a date confirming the move. The friend or relative is required to provide proof of address such as a council tax bill or a utility bill. This address can only be used by the applicant once they are actually resident
▪ written confirmation from parents and or carer/previous carer that the child’s residency is changing on a long-term basis
▪ members of the Armed Services and Crown Servants may submit a posting order as proof of a future address stating the date of the start of the posting
▪ written confirmation from refuge staff that the applicant and their child or young person has been accommodated in the refuge due to domestic abuse or violence
3.13 Where parents share parental responsibility for a child and two applications are received for the one child, Dorset Council will ask the parents to determine which application should be considered. The other application will be withdrawn. This is because DC will offer only one school place to a child at any one time. If parents cannot agree, they should resolve the issue through the court system, for example to obtain a 'Specific Issues Order' which specifies which parent has responsibility to make decisions on school preferences. If no agreement is reached and no Order is made the decision as to which application is accepted will be determined by drawing lots, overseen by a member of staff from Dorset Council Legal Services. The home address will still be the address the child spends the majority of time.
4.0 Processing
4.1 Details of applications will be available to all schools through the School Admissions Module (SAM) as they are submitted though preference order is not provided based on the equal preference protocol.
4.2 Schools are not permitted to make any contact with parents based on the information they are privy to as a result of being able to view these applications.
5 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 211 4.2 Dorset Council will undertake the Application Exchange with other Local Authorities for applications for schools outside of Dorset on 12 November 2021.
4.3 Own Admissions Authority Schools for whom the Admissions Team has not been delegated to undertake the checking function through a Service Level Agreement will verify, check, apply a criterion and rank the applications and return this information to Dorset Council in a format prescribed by the Council and by the Deadline date of 8 January 2022.
4.4 Dorset Council will undertake the verifying, checking, application of a criterion and rank the applications for all community and voluntary controlled schools and those own admission authorities that, through an SLA, have delegated these functions to the Dorset Council Admissions Team.
4.5 All schools may be required to verify any sibling links and staff links in accordance with that schools over subscription criteria.
4.6 All schools that require a SIF to verify a denominational link, where the denominational criteria is likely to be the highest ranking criteria for an application, will be responsible for receiving the SIF, verifying the link claim and informing Dorset Admissions of the criteria under which the application is to be considered.
5.0 Determining Offers
5.1 Dorset Council will make an initial allocation of places based on:
▪ the criteria allocated to each application for a Dorset School and
▪ when a school is oversubscribed (applications exceed the Pupil Admissions Number), based on the oversubscription criteria of that school.
5.2 The local authority, having regard to the ranked lists received from schools in Dorset and the information received from other local authorities, will:
▪ where the child is eligible for a place at only one of their preference schools, allocate a place at that school to the child
▪ where the child is eligible for a place at two or more of the preference schools, allocate a place at whichever school is the highest ranked preference
5.3 Where a child or young person resident in Dorset and looking for a Dorset school has not been offered a place at any of their preference schools, Dorset Admissions will place at their catchment school.
5.4 If a child has not been allocated their catchment school having not been allocated any of their preference schools, the local authority will then allocate 6 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 212 a place at their next nearest appropriate school with the relevant point of entry.
5.5 Where a child or young person is leaving a school based on the age range of that school, but is unable to secure a place at the next school in the education system (for example, unable to secure a place at year 9 in a secondary having left a middle school at the end of year 8) and the only available places within a reasonable distance are at schools for which there is not a formal point of entry, the application will be suspended. Applicants will be advised that they may make an in-year application to a local secondary school or allow Dorset Council to allocate a place. These allocations will not take place until after the summer half-term as in year applications do not get processed more than 6 school weeks before the place is required.
5.6 Dorset Council will make the first exchange of offers with other Local Authorities on 24 January 2022. A series of exchanges will take place with the final exchange with other Local Authorities taking place on 7 February 2022.
5.7 Dorset Council will notify all schools of the final allocations on 14 February 2022. Schools are not permitted to divulge any information to parents with regards to the allocations until that family is informed of the allocations on the National Offer Day by the local authority.
5.8 Dorset Council will inform all Dorset resident applicants of the outcome of their application on National Offer Day, 1 March 2022 including those who have been offered a school in another local authority. Those who have submitted their application electronically, will receive an outcome email confirming the school offer on or soon after 9am on National Offer Day. A second email will also be despatched later that day that will provide the applicant with a link to a letter that can be downloaded. This letter not only confirms the allocation, it will also detail any eligibility to transport. Those who made an application by paper form and supplied an email address will only receive this second email with a copy of the outcome letter but will not receive the outcome email despatched around 9am.
5.9 Those applicants who have only supplied a postal address through a paper application will receive their notification by second class post with the letters being dispatched from County Hall on National Offer Day – or the first working day thereafter if the National Offer Day falls on a non-working day.
6.0 Late applications
6.1 Dorset Council manages a single late co-ordinated late round. Any application received after the national closing date through to the day before national offer day will be processed as part of the ‘late round’
6.2 All applications received in this period or round, along with all appellants and those on waiting lists from the previous allocation round, will be checked verified and ranked against the oversubscription criteria of the relevant schools. 7 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 213 6.3 All address evidence as detailed 3.12 in must be dated prior to the closing date of 28 February 2021 for it to be considered as part of the ‘late round’.
6.4 Dorset Council will liaise with other local authorities where there are applications for schools outside of Dorset.
6.5 All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application by second class mail, the letters being despatched from County Hall on 31 March 2022.
6.6 Any application received after 28 February 2022 will be processed in the order that they are received but will be managed and co-ordinated by the local authority until 31 August 2022.
7.0 Waiting lists
7.1 Where an applicant has not received their highest preference school, they may ask to be placed on a waiting list for that school.
7.2 Dorset Council will co-ordinate waiting lists for all schools until the end of co- ordination, 31 August 2022.
7.3 When an applicant submits an appeal, they will automatically be placed on the waiting list for that school.
7.4 When a place(s) becomes available at an oversubscribed school, all outstanding applications, pending appeals and waiting list applicants will be ordered against the oversubscription criteria and the highest ranked applicant will receive the place(s).
7.5 All schools are required to hold a waiting lists for the year of entry cohort until 31 December. Applicants will have to contact the Local authority or the School to confirm if a waiting list for that school is held beyond 31 December in any given year and request that they remain on the waiting if desired.
7.6 Where the local authority maintain waiting lists for schools beyond 31 December, then the family will have to renew their waiting list place each and every September. It is the responsibility of the family to make the renewal.
8.0 Right of appeal
8.1 All letters making an offer of a school place will detail the right of appeal if the school offered is not the first preference.
8.2 The local authority, as the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools, and publish their appeals timetable on 28 February of the year in question. This appeal timetable will also cover schools who have entered into a service level agreement for the local authority to manage their appeals.
8 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 214 8.2 If an applicant who has not received a place at one of their higher preference schools, they have the right to lodge an appeal within 20 days of notification of the refusal of a place.
8.3 The Admissions Authority must hear the appeal within 40 days of the deadline of lodging an appeal. For late application appeals, these should be heard within 40 days of the lodging of an appeal where possible, or at least within 30 days of the appeal.
8.4 Appellants will be given 10 days’ notice of the appeal hearing date and the arrangements for the hearing.
8.5 The Appeals process will be conducted in accordance with the statutory guidance contained in School Admissions Appeals Code – February 2012.
9.0 Children with education, health and care (EHC) plans
9.1 As part of the annual review prior to transition, those children that are due to start a new school will identify a new school as part of that process. The family do not have to submit a new school application.
9.2 Once the annual review is complete and the consultation is complete, the SEND team will advise the School Admissions Team of the identified school. All children with existing EHC plans and their destination school will be identified to the Admissions Team by 1 February 2022.
9.3 Where a child has yet to be issued an EHC plans, but has been put forward to be assessed, then the family must ensure they submit a normal mainstream point of entry application regardless of which age group. Dorset will progress the application as normal. If the EHC plans is completed by 1 February 2021, and a mainstream school is named on the plan, then the original application will be withdrawn and the placement will be confirmed as that from the EHC plans. If the EHC plan names a base or specialist provision, then the application will also be withdrawn. The SEND team will advise the Admissions Team of the outcome of any completed EHC plans by 1 February 2022.
9.4 Where an EHC plan is yet to be finalised and is still not completed by 1 February, then the original mainstream application will be processed and a place offered on National Offer Day. If the EHC plan, once completed, differs from the mainstream allocation, then the provision stated in the EHC plan will remain and the admissions team allocation will be withdrawn and the place rescinded and re-allocated.
9.5 If a mainstream place is offered to a child with an EHC plan, after National Offer Day and the school has reached its PAN because this differs from the family’s normal mainstream application, then the SEND team will liaise with the school around the allocation and issues of having to ask a school to go over PAN if in Key Stage 3.
9 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 215 10.0 Children Resident Abroad
10.1 Applications to attend UK state funded schools may be made from outside of the UK for children who are moving to the UK.
10.2 If the parent is a UK citizen, the application needs to have the following supporting documentation:
• copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • proof of the intended address • date of probable arrival in the UK.
10.3 A place may be offered at a preference school if there is a place available Parents may add preferences while they are resident outside of the UK.
10.4 Irish citizens’ right to live in the UK will not change after 31 December 2020. Irish citizens do not need to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, but their family members, who are not Irish or UK citizens, will need to apply. They are entitled to make an application for a school place.
10.5 Overseas nationals (including such EEA nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020) wishing to apply for a state-funded school place, need to check that they have a right of abode or that the conditions of their immigration status otherwise permits them to access a state-funded school.
10.6 All European Economic Area and Swiss national children entering the country before 31 December 2020 will continue to have the right under immigration law, to access a school place.
10.7 Children aged under 18 are classed as dependant children if they are the children of foreign nationals who have settled status in the UK, or who are entering the UK on a work visa or Student visa, or who are part of a family entering or residing in the UK under the immigration route for British National (Overseas) citizens and their dependants. These children are entitled to enter the country with their family, or to join their family and study at a state-funded or independent school once in the UK.
10.8 Foreign nationals cannot use the 6-month Standard Visitor visa, or 11-month Short-term Study (English language) visa, to enter the UK to enrol as a pupil at a state funded school.
10.9 If the parent or child is an overseas national (including such EEA and swiss nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020), then applications need to have the following supporting documentation:
• Copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • Appropriately endorsed visas for both parent/carer and child • Proof of the intended address • Date of probable arrival in the UK.
10 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 216
11.0 Children and Young People who are LGBT
11.1 Children and young people who are LGBT should feel able to apply to a school without any restrictions.
11.2 Where a school or college is co-educational, the gender a person associates with has no bearing on an admissions application. Dorset’s application forms ask for the child’s gender. At this point, the gender appropriate to the birth certificate should be entered. Further information relating to gender identity and the reasoning for selection of a particular school can be given on the application form.
11.3 Dorset Council does not host single sex schools, though neighbouring authorities do have single sex schools within their boundaries. In the case of transgender applicants, where a parent selects a placement in a single sex school opposite to the birth gender, the application will be accepted by Dorset Council as the home local authority and the relevant admissions authority will be asked to consider the application and advise Dorset Council on any
10 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 217 allocations. This is a complex decision and not all children will be competent to take it at the time of transfer. A single sex school may seek evidence from the family that they have thought through the issues carefully and in most cases would expect the family to be able to provide the school with some independent evidence from a medical professional or other worker who has been involved in the situation.
12.0 Applications for UK Service Personnel
12.1 Dorset Council is committed to supporting service families through the Armed Forces Covenant. Further detail is available in the Armed Forces Policy 2022 to 2023.
13.0 Withdrawing a School Place Offer & Fraudulent Applications
13.1 An offer will only be withdrawn if: • it was based on an application that was fraudulent or deliberately misleading • it was made in error • it was made by someone who did not have the authority to offer a school place • a parent (having been issued with reminders from the school or admissions team and made aware of the consequences) failed to accept their school place within one week of the final reminder. This includes failure to respond to contact from the school regarding transition arrangements/”taster” sessions • we receive written confirmation from a parent that they wish to decline the school place offered
14.0 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
14.1 The information that you give on an application form will be used by Dorset Council for the purpose of processing your application for a school place and determining school transport eligibility where appropriate for your child. The information will be shared with schools, the Department for Education, and where relevant and pertinent to your application, diocesan bodies, appeal panels and with other maintaining authorities and school admission authorities in their area. It will not be used for any other purpose unless required to do so by law. A record of the information you provide will be kept whilst your child is of compulsory school age plus a further academic year. Should you have any queries about Data Protection more detailed information is available on our Dorset Council website.
11 Dorset Council - Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2022-2023 accessible Page 218
In Year Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme 2022 to 2023
1. Background
1.1 In accordance with the School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co- ordination of Admission Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2012, all local authorities (LAs) are required to formulate schemes for coordinating arrangements for the admission of children to maintained primary and secondary schools and academies. Details of the Dorset Council scheme for 2022 to 2023 for in Year Admissions are set out in this document.
1.2 This scheme lays out the processes for three types of school dependent on their status:
• community and voluntary controlled schools for whom Dorset Council is the home local authority and admissions authority • voluntary aided, foundation and academies (including free schools and studio schools), all of whom are their own admissions authority but who have a service level agreement with the Dorset School Admissions Team to manage their In-Year Admissions • voluntary aided, foundation and academies (including free schools and studio schools), all of whom are their own admission authority, but who directly manage their own in year admission applications
2. Interpretation
2.1 Admissions arrangements The arrangements for a particular school or schools which govern the procedures and decision-making for the purposes of admitting pupils to the school.
2.2 Admissions authority In relation to a community or voluntary controlled school means the local authority and, in relation to an academy, foundation, free, trust or VA school, means the board of governors of that school or the multi-academy trust where this applies
2.3 Equal Preference Scheme The model where whereby all preferences listed by parents on the CAF are considered under the over-subscription criteria for each school without reference to parental rankings. Where a pupil is eligible to be offered a place at more than one school within an LA, or across more than one participating LA, the rankings are used to determine the single offer by selecting the school ranked highest of those which can offer a place.
Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated Scheme Page2022 to 2023219 accessible 2.4 CAF The common application form.
2.5 The home local authority (LA) The LA in which the applicant/parent/carer is resident.
2.6 The maintaining LA The LA which maintains a school, or within whose area an academy is situated, for which a preference has been expressed.
2.7 National Offer Day The day on which outcome letters are posted to parents/carers. For primary school places it is 16 April in the year following the relevant determination year except that, in any year in which that day is not a working day, the prescribed day shall be the next working day.
2.8 Pupil Admissions Number (PAN) The published admissions number for the year of entry at a school.
2.9 In-Year Fair Access protocol (IYFA) The purpose of Fair Access Protocols is to ensure that - outside the normal admissions round - unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are found and offered a place quickly, so that the amount of time any child is out of school is kept to the minimum.
2.10 Supplementary Information Form (SIF) Some schools have a SIF that allows parents to provide evidence to allow the schools to place children based on that schools over subscription criteria where a denominational criteria exists.
2.11 This scheme will apply to the following applications:
• years 1 to 6 applications at any time of year into a primary school • years 1 and 2 applications into an infant school • years 1 to 4 applications into a first school • years 6 to 8 applications into a middle school • years 8 to 11 applications into a secondary school • years 10 and 11 into an upper school • reception year applications into a primary, infant or first school received after the 31 August in any year • year 3 applications into a junior school received after 31 August • year 5 applications into middle schools received after 31 August • year 7 applications into secondary schools received after 31 August • year 9 applications into upper schools received after 31 August
2.12 Applications for schools outside of the Dorset Council area need to be made to the maintaining authority or direct to the school.
2 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 220 to 2023 accessible3 2.13 The scheme shall be determined and processed in accordance with the provisions set out in this document.
2.14 The scheme shall be based on the equal preferences system.
2.15 Where a child is not resident with his or her parent/carer, parental responsibility must be conferred by the parent/carer directly on the person with whom the child is to reside and not on a third party or a commercial or charitable organisation. Where this involves a person who is not a close relative of the child, it is the responsibility of that person to refer the arrangement to social care as a private fostering arrangement.
2.16 In regard to admissions to schools, the Dorset Council Admissions Team will:
▪ act as champion for children and families ▪ offer advice to parents and schools ▪ monitor and challenge the admission arrangements of schools within Dorset ▪ operate a co-ordinated admissions scheme for normal point of entry to infant, first, primary, junior, middle, secondary and upper schools in Dorset ▪ operate a local in-year admissions scheme to assist in the coordination of admissions to school outside the normal point of entry as detailed in 2.11 ▪ operate an In Year Fair Access Protocol to ensure that outside the normal admissions round unplaced children, especially the most vulnerable, are offered a place at a suitable school as quickly as possible ▪ liaise with other teams within Dorset Council and other LAs in the planning of school places ▪ report to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator on admissions for all schools in Dorset for which we coordinate admissions ▪ offer a traded service to own admission authority schools to support them in the delivery of their responsibilities for school admissions and appeals, including the verification and ranking of applications, managing waiting lists, preparing and presenting appeals and processing in year applications.
The Scheme
Any parent/guardian may make a school application for any school in Dorset through either the council website admissions portal or for certain schools direct to the school. This includes those resident outside of Dorset or from overseas. The website will also display a guide for parents which provides a written explanation of the scheme. Paper copies of the form are available on request or from the website.
3 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated Scheme Page2022 to 2023221 accessible3 3. Making applications for schools, for whom the local authority is not the admissions authority is not the admissions authority and who do not have an SLA with Dorset Council for the processing of In Year Admissions
3.1 A parent guardian may submit an application for an in-year school place either through Dorset Admissions Portland or direct to the school.
3.2 If an application is submitted through the Dorset Admissions Portal, the school will access the application through the School Admissions Module. The school will contact the family to provide them with an outcome to their application. This is in the form of a written communication.
3.3 If a place at the school is being refused on the basis that the school is full, then the school will advise the family of the right to lodge an appeal.
3.4 The school will provide the local authority Admissions Team with a copy of the outcome letter whether an offer or a refusal is made.
3.5 If the school is satisfied that the application should be reviewed through the In Year Fair Access protocol, the application and the referral paperwork needs to be sent to the local authority. The school will inform the family that the application has been referred.
4.0 For schools, for whom the local authority is either the admissions authority or through a service level agreement, are managing a school’s in year admissions
4.1 Making an application
4.1.1 For schools for whom the local authority is the admissions authority or with whom the LA has a service level agreement, the local authority will process the application and inform families of the outcome of the application.
4.1.2 The application should be completed by the person with parental responsibility who has care of the child for the majority of school days/weeks (unless a Court Order states differently). If there is joint parental responsibility, the applicant must indicate on the application that all those with parental responsibility are aware of and agree to the application and the preferences being made.
4.1.3 The Dorset Application Portal may be used to name up to 3 preferences for 3 Dorset Schools.
4.1.4 Some schools may require applicants to complete a supplementary information form (SIF) in order to apply their oversubscription criteria. The requirement will be stated in the relevant school’s admissions
4 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 222 to 2023 accessible3 arrangements. The supplementary form should be returned direct to the school as the relevant admissions authority.
4.1.5 The home address is where the child spends the majority of the time and is living with the person who has parental responsibility and is the main ‘carer’ as defined in section 576 of the Education Act 1996.
4.1.6 Dorset Council will not accept more than one address as the child’s home address. Where a child regularly lives at more than one address the local authority will have to reach a conclusion about which should be counted as the main address when allocating a place. This will normally be the address where any Child Benefit is paid. If Child Benefit is not received, then where the child is registered with a medical GP will be used as the address. Where parents are living separately and do not agree on the child’s home address they are urged to reach agreement. If this does not happen Dorset Council will determine the address to be used for allocating a school place.
4.1.7 Dorset Council may undertake checks to ensure that the information provided in the application is true and accurate. Documentary evidence may be requested.
4.1.8 Parents/Carers must inform Dorset Council of any change of address as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in any offer of a place being withdrawn. Documentary evidence will be required before any change is accepted.
4.1.9 Applications may be based on either a current address or a future address. Applications can only be considered based on a future address if that address is appropriately evidenced.
4.1.10 Evidence required for a change of address or a future address will be:
▪ a solicitor’s letter confirming an exchange of contract dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a copy of a tenancy agreement (giving property address, date and duration of tenancy) signed by the applicant and the landlord as well as any notice to quit from the previous address. The new tenancy agreements must be signed and dated prior to the national closing date
▪ a letter from the friend/relative confirming arrangements that the applicant and the child are moving into their home address, with a date confirming the move. The friend or relative is required to provide proof of address such as a council tax bill or a utility bill. This address can only be used by the applicant once they are actually resident
5 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated Scheme Page2022 to 2023223 accessible3 ▪ written confirmation from parents and or carer/previous carer that the child’s residency is changing on a long-term basis
▪ members of the Armed Services and Crown Servants may submit a posting order as proof of a future address stating the date of the start of the posting
▪ written confirmation from refuge staff that the applicant and their child/young person has been accommodated in the refuge due to domestic abuse/violence
4.1.11 Where parents share parental responsibility for a child and two applications are received for the one child, Dorset Council will ask the parents to determine which application should be considered. The other application will be withdrawn. This is because DC will offer only one school place to a child at any one time. If parents cannot agree, they should resolve the issue through the court system, for example to obtain a 'Specific Issues Order' which specifies which parent has responsibility to make decisions on school preferences. If no agreement is reached and no Order is made the decision as to which application is accepted will be determined by drawing lots, overseen by a member of staff from Dorset Council Legal Services. The home address will still be the address the child spends the majority of time.
4.2 Processing
4.2.1 Details of applications will be available to all schools through the School Admissions Module (SAM) as they are submitted though preference order is not provided based on the equal preference protocol.
4.2.2 Schools are not permitted to make any contact with parents based on the information they are privy to as a result of being able to view these applications.
4.2.3 Dorset Council will undertake checks to ensure that an application does not satisfy inclusion under the In Year Fair Access protocol.
4.2.4 All schools may be required to verify any sibling links and staff links in accordance with that schools over subscription criteria.
4.2.4 All schools that require a SIF to verify a denominational link, where the denominational criteria is likely to be the highest ranking criteria for an application, will be responsible for receiving the SIF, verifying the link claim and informing Dorset Admissions of the criteria under which the application is to be considered.
4.2.5 If additional information is required, Dorset Admissions will endeavour to contact the parent or guardian within 5 school days of receiving the application.
6 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 224 to 2023 accessible3 4.2.6 Where Dorset Admissions liaise with a school prior to offering a place, that school must respond to Dorset Admissions within 3 days of being made aware of a request for a school place.
4.3 Determining Offers
4.3.1 Dorset Council will offer a place at the highest preference school for which there is a place available in the cohort. Dorset will endeavour to make an offer of a school place within 10 school days of receipt of the application or once in receipt of the required information (see 4.2.5).
4.3.2 If a place can’t be offered any of the preference schools, Dorset Admissions will contact the parent or guardian providing them with the information on places available in their area. The family may at that point submit a change of preference for a school that has places.
4.3.3 If it is not possible to make an offer of a school place within a reasonable distance, the child, if they are a Dorset resident, will be deemed as being a Dorset resident without a school place and will be referred to the In Year Fair Access Protocol.
4.3.4 Where the application is from a family who do not have a confirmed Dorset address (see 4.1.10) and it has not been possible to make an offer of one of the preference schools, no further school place offer will be made.
4.3.5 Where a preference school has been refused, the parent/guardian will receive a written refusal which will also detail why a place has not been offered and who they may appeal against that decision.
4.3.6 Where an application has preferences for schools under section 3.0 and 4.0, Dorset Admissions will look to secure a school place at an appropriate school and will liaise with other preferred schools to ensure that the highest preference school is offered.
4.3.7 A school place will not be offered more than half a term before it is required.
5.0 Waiting Lists
5.1 Where an applicant has not received their highest preference school, they may ask to be placed on a waiting list for that school if that school holds a non-statutory waiting list.
5.2 When an applicant submits an appeal, they will automatically be placed on the waiting list for that school.
5.3 When a place(s) becomes available at an oversubscribed school, all outstanding applications, pending appeals and waiting list applicants will be ordered against the oversubscription criteria and the highest ranked applicant will receive the place(s).
7 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated Scheme Page2022 to 2023225 accessible3 5.4 Where the local authority maintain waiting lists for schools beyond the 31 December, then the family will have to renew their waiting list place each and every September. It is the responsibility of the family to make the renewal.
6.0 Place Availability
6.1 Dorset Council must, on request, provide information to a parent about places available in all schools within its area.
6.2 All schools in the Dorset area, through the School Admissions Module, must provide updated on-roll figures for each statutory year group on a weekly basis, preferably by the close of day each Friday.
6.3 These figures should reflect all children on roll at the school in each year group as at 9 am that day.
7.0 Right of Appeal
7.1 All letters detailing the outcome of a school place application and where the highest preference has not been offered, must detail the right of appeal for any school that has been refused.
7.2 If an applicant who has not received a place at one of their higher preference schools, have the right to lodge an appeal within 20 days of notification of the refusal of a place
7.3 The Admissions Authority must hear the appeal within 30 days of lodging the appeal.
7.4 Appellants will be given 10 days notice of the appeal hearing date and the arrangements for the hearing.
7.5 The Appeals process will be conducted in accordance with the statutory guidance contained in School Admissions Appeals Code – February 2012.
8.0 Children with education, health and care (EHC) plans
8.1 Children with education, health and care (EHC) plans who are moving into Dorset or who wish to move schools within Dorset need to contact the SEND Team at County Hall. These applications will not be processed through the normal in-year admissions process.
9.0 Children Resident Abroad
8 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 226 to 2023 accessible3 9.1 Applications to attend UK state funded schools may be made from outside of the UK for children who are moving to the UK.
9.2 If the parent is a UK citizen, the application needs to have the following supporting documentation:
• copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • proof of the intended address • date of probable arrival in the UK.
9.3 A place may be offered at a preference school if there is a place available and the application is not more than half a term in advance of the place being required. If places at any of the preference schools are not available then the local authority will not provide an alternative until the child has arrived in the country and is resident at the proposed address. Parents may add preferences while they are resident outside of the UK.
9.4 Irish citizens’ right to live in the UK will not change after 31 December 2020. Irish citizens do not need to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme, but their family members, who are not Irish or UK citizens, will need to apply. They are entitled to make an application for a school place.
9.5 Overseas nationals (including such EEA nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020) wishing to apply for a state-funded school place, need to check that they have a right of abode or that the conditions of their immigration status otherwise permits them to access a state- funded school.
9.6 All European Economic Area and Swiss national children entering the country before 31 December 2020 will continue to have the right under immigration law, to access a school place.
9.7 Children aged under 18 are classed as dependant children if they are the children of foreign nationals who have settled status in the UK, or who are entering the UK on a work visa or Student visa, or who are part of a family entering or residing in the UK under the immigration route for British National (Overseas) citizens and their dependants. These children are entitled to enter the country with their family, or to join their family and study at a state-funded or independent school once in the UK.
9.8 Foreign nationals cannot use the 6-month Standard Visitor visa, or 11- month Short-term Study (English language) visa, to enter the UK to enrol as a pupil at a state funded school.
9.9 If the parent or child is an overseas national (including such EEA and swiss nationals entering the UK after 31 December 2020), then applications need to have the following supporting documentation:
• Copies of parent/guardian and the relevant child’s passports • Appropriately endorsed visas for both parent/carer and child 10 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated Scheme Page2022 to 2023227 accessible3 • Proof of the intended address • Date of probable arrival in the UK.
10.0 Children and Young People who are LGBT
10.1 Children and young people who are LGBT should feel able to apply to a school without any restrictions.
10.2 Where a school or college is co-educational, the gender a person associates with has no bearing on an admissions application. Dorset’s application forms ask for the child’s gender. At this point, the gender appropriate to the birth certificate should be entered. Any other information around gender identify may be submitted through the notes section on an application.
11. Applications from UK Service Personnel
11.1 Dorset Council is committed to supporting service families through the Armed Forces Covenant. Further detail is available in the Armed Forces Policy 2022 to 2023.
12.0 Withdrawing a School Place Offer & Fraudulent Applications
12.1 An offer will only be withdrawn if:
• it was based on an application that was fraudulent or deliberately misleading • it was made in error • it was made by someone who did not have the authority to offer a school place • a parent (having been issued with reminders from the school or admissions team and made aware of the consequences) failed to accept their school place within one week of the final reminder. This includes failure to respond to contact from the school regarding transition arrangements/”taster” sessions • we receive written confirmation from a parent that they wish to decline the school place offered
13.0 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
13.1 The information that you give on an application form will be used by Dorset Council for the purpose of processing your application for a school place and determining school transport eligibility where appropriate for your child.
The information will be shared with schools, the Department for Education, and where relevant and pertinent to your application, diocesan bodies, appeal panels and with other maintaining authorities and school admission authorities in their area. It will not be used for any other purpose unless required to do so by law. A record of the information you provide will be kept whilst your child is of compulsory school age plus a further academic year. 10 Dorset Council - In Year Co-ordinated SchemePage 2022 228 to 2023 accessible3
Should you have any queries about Data Protection more detailed information is available on our Dorset Council website.
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Dorset Council Maintained Nursery Units Policy 2022-2023
This Admissions Policy applies to the following schools that have maintained nursery units attached to the schools:
• Weymouth, Bincombe Valley Primary School • Weymouth, Holy Trinity CE VC Primary School • Weymouth, Wyke Regis Infant School
The maximum number of children that can be admitted is determined by the individual nursery with regard to staffing and square footage in accordance with national guidance. Admissions are administered by each individual nursery unit. Applications should be submitted by the adult who has parental responsibility for the child (see footnote 1).
Admission to a Nursery Unit does not guarantee admission to the attached school. A separate application must be made for transfer from the Nursery Unit to the School which will be considered in accordance with the LA’s admissions policy for community and voluntary controlled schools.
(1) Where all parental preference applications for places at the Nursery Unit can be satisfied all children seeking a place will be admitted.
(2) Where there are too few places available to satisfy all parental preference applications (as measured against the maximum limit identified above), places will be allocated according to the following priority order:
i) A “Child in Care” or who was “previously a “Child in Care” (see footnote 2).
ii) Children who the authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need and where there is a need for a nursery place at one specific nursery (see footnote 3).
iii.) Children living within the attached school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the Nursery Unit at the time of application and admission (see footnote 4, 5).
v.) Children living within the attached school’s catchment area (see footnote 4).
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vi.) Children living outside the attached school’s catchment area and who will have a sibling(s) attending the Nursery Unit at the time of admission (see footnote 5).
vii.) Children of staff with at least two years continuous service at the Nursery Unit or who have been recruited to a vacancy to meet a demonstrable skills shortage as at the date of application and who still intend to be employed at the Nursery Unit at the time of the child's admission (see footnote 6).
viii.) All other children living outside the attached school’s catchment area.
(3) Where there are too few places available to satisfy preferences expressed within any of the priority order categories set out above, places will be allocated on the basis of the child’s closeness to the preferred Nursery Unit (defined by straight line measurement using a geographical information based system which identifies the straight line distance between the home address and the school from an easting and northing for the two locations).
(4) In the event that the Governing Body is unable to distinguish between applications despite applying the criteria set out above, lots will be drawn by an independent person (of the Governing Body) to determine the final place(s).
Footnotes
1. Should more than one adult have parental responsibility, only one application will be considered. Unless a court order rules otherwise, the application must be made by the parent who has day to day care of the child for the majority of the school days/weeks. Where this is unclear, disputed, or care is split equally and there is no agreement between the parents, the application considered will be that made by the parent at the address identified on the child’s registered General Practitioner (GP) record. If separated parents reside at the same address, they should reach agreement or, if not possible, obtain a Court Order to clarify the preferences before an application can be considered by the Local Authority.
2. A “Child in Care” means any child who is in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989. A child who was “previously a Child in Care” means a child who after being Looked After became subject to an Adoption Order under Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, a Residence Order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 or Special Guardianship Order under Section 14A of the Children Act 1989.
3. Applications will only be considered under this category if there is evidence provided such as a Child Protection Order, Children in Need document or a written statement
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from a doctor, social worker or other relevant independent professional. The information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how the specified nursery is the only nursery that can meet the defined needs of the child. The local authority is all inclusive and will meet all legislative requirements to accommodate children within their educational setting as appropriate to their need.
4. The school’s catchment area is a geographical area defined by the LA. Details are held by the school.
5. The term “sibling” means full brother or sister, stepbrother or sister, adoptive brother or sister and non-blood related children who live with married, single cohabiting parents in the same household.
6. Staff are all Dorset Council employed staff at the preferred nursery school. ‘Children of staff’ refers to situations where the staff member is the natural parent, the legal guardian or a resident step parent. If applicants wish to be considered under this criterion then a letter from the nursery must be provided at the time of application.
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Dorset Council Sixth Form Admissions Policy 2022 to 2023
Dorset LA is the Admissions Authority for all community and voluntary controlled schools in the Dorset Council area. Arrangements for entry to sixth forms are administered by the respective governing bodies. The policy set out below does not apply to voluntary aided, free schools, academies and foundation schools.
Should more than one parent have parental responsibility, only one application will be considered. Unless a court order rules otherwise, the application must be made by the parent who has day to day care of the child for the majority of the school days or weeks. Where this is unclear, disputed, or care is split equally and there is no agreement between the parents, the application considered will be that made by the parent at the address identified on the child’s registered general practitioner (GP) record. If separated parents reside at the same address, they should reach agreement or, if not possible, obtain a Court Order to clarify the preferences before an application can be considered by the local authority (LA).
1. Where all parental preferences for places at the school can be satisfied, all children seeking a place will be admitted.
2. Where there are too few places available (see footnote 1) to satisfy all preferences, places will be allocated according to the following priority order:-
i) A “Child in Care” or who was “previously a Child in Care” (see footnote 2) ii) Children who the authority accepts have an exceptional medical or social need and where there is a need for a place at one specific school (see footnote 3). iii) Children living within the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission. (see footnote 4) iv) Children living within the school’s catchment area. v) Children living outside the school’s catchment area who will have a sibling(s) attending the school at the time of admission. (see footnote 4) vi) Children living outside the school’s catchment area and whose parents wish them to attend a CE Voluntary Controlled school on denominational grounds. (see footnote 5) vii) Children of staff with at least two years continuous service at the school or who have been recruited to a vacancy to meet a demonstrable skills shortage as at the date of application (in year) or relevant closing date under the LA co-ordinated scheme (normal year of entry) and who still intend to be employed at the school at the time of the child's admission. (see footnote 6 & 7) viii) All other children living outside the school’s catchment area.
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3. If oversubscribed within any of the priority order categories above, places will be allocated on the basis of the shortest straight line measurement using a geographical information based system which identifies an easting and northing for the home address and the school and calculates the distance between the two locations. School transport is based on walking and driven distances.
4. In the event that the LA is unable to distinguish between applications despite applying the priority categories above, lots will be drawn by an independent (of the LA) person to determine the final place(s).
5. Where applications are received from families with multiple birth siblings and by adhering to sixth form PAN these siblings could not be offered the same school, the admission number will be exceeded to accommodate the multiple birth siblings. This is not an indication that schools can exceed the admission number other than under these exceptional circumstances.
Footnotes
1. The places are defined as the published admission number for year group 12.
2. A “Child in Care” means any child who is in the care of a local authority in accordance with Section 22 (1) of the Children Act 1989. A child who was “previously a Child in Care” means a child who after being Looked After became subject to an Adoption Order under Section 46 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, a Residence Order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 or Special Guardianship Order under Section 14A of the Children Act 1989.
3. Applications will only be considered under this category if there is evidence provided such as a Child Protection Order, Children in Need document or a written statement from a doctor, social worker or other relevant independent professional. The information must confirm the exceptional medical or social need and demonstrate how the specified school is the only school that can meet the defined needs of the child. The local authority is all inclusive and will meet all legislative requirements to accommodate children within their educational setting as appropriate to their need.
4. The term ‘sibling’ means full brother or sister, half or step brother or sister, adoptive brother or sister and other non-blood related children who live with married or cohabiting parents in the same household and relates to all year groups provided by the school.
5. In order to qualify for consideration under this category, parents/guardians will need to show that at least one adult family member and the child to whom the
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application relates to have been attending their local church at least once a month for a minimum of a year prior to the closing date for applications. The application must also be supported by a written statement from the vicar/priest/minister or leader of the church confirming this.
6. The term children includes full, half, step, adopted and those non-blood related but resident through marriage, civil partnerships or single family co-habitation arrangements at the time of application or deadline.
7. Staff are all Dorset Council employed teaching and support staff at the preferred school. ‘Children of staff’ refers to situations where the staff member is the natural parent, the legal guardian or a resident step parent. If applicants wish to be considered under this criterion then a letter from the Headteacher confirming the above applies to the applicant must be provided at the time of application.
Failure to provide sufficient evidence will result in the application being processed against the next highest criteria.
Find all policies and our parents’ guide which provides further information and clarification on our website.
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Dorset Council
Guidance on the placement of a pupil outside their normal age group: 2022 to 2023
1. Introduction
1.1 The purpose of this guidance is to provide schools and Admission Authorities (see Section 9) in Dorset with a framework within which to make decisions about whether or not a pupil should be educated in a group outside his or her normal age group.
1.2 While the final decision rests with the Admission Authority. The head teacher of the school or prospective school will be best placed to advise the Admission Authority on the appropriateness of the proposed course of action.
1.3 Parents and carers wishing to request that their child be placed outside his or her normal age group must do so through the head teacher of the pupil’s actual or proposed school.
1.4 Placing a pupil outside his or her normal age group can have significant implications for the pupil as he or she moves through schools. This guidance aims to ensure that full consideration is given of both short and long term impact.
1.5 There is no requirement for schools to move those pupils who are currently outside their normal age group. It is suggested that in these circumstances the school should ensure that parents and carers are aware of the possible implications of the pupil remaining outside his or her normal age group. This relates in particular to phase transfers. Some of the possible implications are outlined in section 3 of this guidance document.
2. Principles
2.1 The principles behind educational inclusion stress the importance of all pupils being educated alongside their peers in their local communities. This national perspective is reflected in Dorset’s Inclusion Vision. The emphasis is on schools meeting individual needs, including those of pupils with special educational needs, through personalised learning.
2.2 Expectations of good practice are based upon a child's entitlement to be educated alongside their age equivalent peers. The responsibility for addressing individual needs lies with the school through an appropriately differentiated curriculum. Personalised learning is at the heart of ensuring that the provision that is made meets the individual pupil’s needs.
2.3 The needs of the child or young person need to be viewed holistically. The individual’s social, emotional and physical development and well-being need to be considered alongside educational needs.
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2.4 Where a child has special, additional or individual educational needs, then their educational programme should be enhanced with appropriate support. For pupils with SEN, this support will be outlined in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) or, where appropriate, in a Statement of Special Educational Needs.
2.5 The placement of a child or young person outside his or her normal age group is not an appropriate strategy for meeting special educational needs. Special educational needs are not a justification for placing a pupil outside his or her normal age group. Special schools will always register pupils in their correct year group, as they will then be placed within the most appropriate teaching group (which are mixed age as they are based on pupils needs rather than solely chronological age).
2.6 There are significant and long term issues for the pupil, the school and the local authority or academy trust that arise from a decision to place a pupil outside his or her normal age group. These are set out in Section 3 of this policy.
2.7 If a head teacher decides to recommend that a pupil be placed outside his or her normal age group, this should only be in truly exceptional circumstances and in full light of the possible implications for the pupil. Recommendations should be made in accordance with procedures published in this guidance, and with the full involvement of parents/carers and all relevant professionals involved with the pupil’s education. Guidance on the decision making framework is set out in Section 4 of this policy.
3. Implications for pupils who are placed outside their normal age group
3.1 All recommendations and decisions should be made with the following factors in mind. It is particularly important that parents/carers are aware of possible implications for the remainder of the pupil’s progress through the school system:
• If a head teacher recommends that a pupil is placed in a group below his or her chronological year, then a reduced set of general expectations is in place, and areas of strength are at risk of not receiving appropriate stimulation. If a pupil is placed above his or her chronological year then the converse can happen, although most requests are for delayed rather than accelerated movement.
• Parents/carers should be made aware that a decision which has been recommended by one Head teacher may be sought to be overturned in another setting.
• The implications are long term as, once the year/group change has been made, it is difficult to reverse as:
a) the pupil may miss out on a national curriculum year programme of work b) the pupil may need to join an unfamiliar class group and will need to form new friendships and support networks c) the consequences of making up a year can be negative for the pupil
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The above is likely to put additional pressure on an already vulnerable pupil.
• If the pupil remains outside his or her normal age group, his or her physical, emotional and social needs may be unmet.
• At phase transfers, which could mean a change of school and new friendship groups, pupils will be older than the rest of their new peer group.
• National Curriculum Tests and GCSEs and other accredited courses are completed a year or more late, as assessment takes place at the same time as the rest of the year group in which the pupil has been placed and not in line with his or her chronological age.
• A pupil who is outside his or her normal age group, and reaches Year 10 may choose to leave school at the official school leaving date for their age group– which is always the last Friday in June at the end of the academic year in which he or she is 16, thereby not completing GCSEs or other accredited courses and thus damaging his or her prospects for future employment or further education placement.
• A pupil who does not remain in his or her cohort will experience fractured peer relationships; this is likely be detrimental to well-being.
• A pupil who is moved to a lower age group may well receive negative messages which will impact adversely on his or her sense of acceptance, achievement and belonging.
4. The decision-making framework
4.1 The following general framework applies to all requests for placing a pupil outside his or her normal age group, regardless of specific circumstances.
• head teachers should set out why this course of action is being considered and his or her recommendation. This recommendation should be based on written advice from members of other professional groups who are involved in supporting the child.
• in no instance should movement be of more than a single National Curriculum year.
• schools should be able to evidence that this is not a response to unmet need and that
o the pupil’s educational, social and emotional well-being would be best met through placement outside his or her normal age group o there is full parental support and agreement o there is pupil support and agreement following explanation and counselling at a level the pupil is able to understand o there are clear objectives and time scales to the change, with plans in place to manage phase transfers and examinations if appropriate
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• In all aspects schools are advised to ensure that parent/carers are fully involved in the decision to recommend this course of action, that they understand the long-term implications and that they have provided written agreement (See template agreement to place outside of the normal age group – BYIY 002 at the end of this document, please attach any other supporting documentation).
• The attached form should be completed and forwarded to the Dorset Admissions Team.
• Where the request has been made by a parent/carer but is not recommended by the head teacher, both parties may set out reasons to support their recommendation/ request and these will be considered by the In Year Fair Access Panel. (See Dorset School Admissions website for an application form).
• Completed recommendations/requests will be considered by the local authority’s In Year Fair Access Panel which meets regularly during term time. It will make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and will inform parents of their statutory right to appeal should they disagree with the panel’s decision.
• Non-Dorset children / non-Dorset schools. Requests are dealt with and recommendations made by the admitting school, regardless of the child’s home address. For a child with a statement of special educational needs, where another local authority is responsible for the statement, the school would need to consult with the SEN team of the local authority having responsibility for the statement.
5. Guidance on special circumstances
5.1 Medical needs
5.1.1 Some pupils may have significant absence from or intermittent attendance at school due to a medical condition or accident. During the absence from school pupils may have accessed differing amounts of education and as a result will be better or less well-prepared to re-engage with full- time education.
5.1.2 The age of the student is important. Absence from school which has affected preparation for GCSE courses of study may have greater significance on a student’s future life chances than prolonged absence at other times.
5.1.3 Recommendations in respect of pupils who have missed extensive periods of time from education due to illness or accident should be made on an individual basis and in a multi professional forum.
5.1.4 Further information relating to pupils with medical needs may be found in Dorset's Access to Education for Children and Young people with Medical Needs.
5.2 Pupils learning English as an additional language, refugees and asylum seekers
5.2.1 If a pupil from overseas arrives with limited or no English into Year 11, it would be difficult for the school to make provision in respect of GCSE courses. Every chance to undertake those GCSEs
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should be explored and consideration might be given to placing the pupil in Year 10 to maximise his or her opportunities (with agreement from the parents and the young person). Advice and support should be requested from specialist staff where appropriate.
5.2.2 A pupil arriving in any other year group from overseas with limited or no English would not normally be considered for placement outside his or her normal age group.
5.3 Twins or other multiple births
5.3.1 Where twins or other multiple birth siblings have birthdays on either side of midnight on 31 August, the siblings will have been born in different academic years. In anticipation that parents will want the children to be admitted to school together, when applying for admission to reception, a parent may specify that both twins (or all triplets, for example) be admitted to the same academic year. This will mean that one or more of the children is admitted out of his or her chronological cohort. The expectation will then be that the children will continue to be taught within that cohort as their school career progresses.
6. Pupils already out of their normal age group
6.1 Where pupils have been placed outside their normal age group and that decision is now not considered to be appropriate, the school should meet with the parents/carers and other professionals involved and determine the future course of action.
6.2 The school and the parents or carers should have a clear plan as to the future educational arrangements for the pupil. This should take into account how any potentially negative implications will be managed.
6.3 A move of school may provide a suitable opportunity for the pupils to be returned to their normal age group. (This will always happen if the placement is at a special school.)
7. Deferred entry to reception class
7.1 Every child must legally start their full-time education the term after their fifth birthday. However a September admission date is expected to be maintained for the majority of four year old children in Dorset. A parent having applied for a place in September, may wish to defer the entry until later in that academic year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which the application was made. This action will not result in the pupil being placed outside his or her normal age group and is therefore outside the remit of this policy. With deferred entry the pupil is placed in the appropriate age group. For more information contact the school admissions team: 01305 221060.
7.2 Where parents/carers consider a deferred entry will be of benefit to the child, the parents/carers must contact their preferred school for further information and agree a date for entry to school for the child. The date of entry must not be beyond the start of the final term of the academic year
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(Foundation year). If the parents/carers do not take up the place at the agreed time, the place will be considered vacant and offered to another applicant. This applies to all schools.
7.3 Parents/carers opting for deferred entry need to be aware of the possible implications. The child will miss part of the Foundation Stage curriculum and also the period of induction that the pupils starting in September will receive.
8. Delayed entry to reception class – summer born children
8.1 A family may decide to delay entry into school until after a child’s fifth birthday, with the intention that the child remain within their chronological year group and then applies to go straight into Year 1 once they do attain compulsory school age. This is a decision for the parent alone.
8.2 Where a child is summer born and parents wish to consider the delay of their child starting school in the reception class until after their fifth birthday they will have to discuss this directly with the head teacher and/or the admission authority of the proposed school. These requests will be considered on a case by case basis and with reference to this guidance.
8.3 If a parent applies for a reception place to be taken up after the child’s fourth birthday and is allocated a place in the normal transfer round and then subsequently wishes for their child to enter the school in reception after their fifth birthday – they will have to make a new application in the next application year and surrender their current place/application. Their application will be considered afresh and no guarantee will be given that they will get a place at the same school in the subsequent allocation as it will be subject to the relevant admissions code and the overall number of available places.
8.4 If a parent has deferred entry into reception and subsequently decides to re-apply for a reception place for the next academic year after the normal 4+ closing date, then a new application will have to be made and will be considered as a late application and a place cannot be guaranteed at the preferred school. The application will be subject to the oversubscription criteria should applications be in excess of the places available.
8.5 A parent is required to make an application for a school place for entry in September after the child’s fourth birthday. If the parent intends to apply for a delayed entry they must then get agreement from the school or schools that they intend to apply to and fill the form at the end of this guidance prior to withdrawing their original application. One form for each school applied for is required. They will then have to make a further new application for the new intended year of entry.
8.6 Once the parent and school agree to the delayed entry into reception, the form BYSB 001 at the back of this guidance should be completed by the parent and signed by them and the head teacher to confirm the delayed entry.
8.7 Once a summer born child has delayed entry in reception in September following their fifth birthday – the ability to engage in a part-time timetable or graduated start will not be available as it would be to a 4 year –old as once a child has reached 5, they are required to attend full time
9. Admissions authorities in Dorset
9.1 The decision-making body is dependentPage on the 244 type of school.
The decision maker for placement outside normal year group for these schools is the head teacher or governing body who make a recommendation to the Dorset Council Admissions Authority. The Admissions Authority may accept the recommendation or refer the request to the In-Year Fair Access Panel: • community schools: their admission authority is the local authority. • voluntary-controlled schools: their admission authority is the local authority
These types of schools act as their ‘own Admissions Authority with their governing body deciding the outcome: • academies: their admission authority is the academy trust • foundation schools: their admission authority is the governing body • voluntary-aided schools: their admission authority is the governing body
10. Request or recommendation for pupil to be placed outside his or her normal age group
10.1 Parents are requested to discuss this option with the school prior to completing the attached form.
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BYSB 001 - Application for delayed entry to a reception class.
This form is to be filled and signed by the parent when they have decided to delay their child’s entry into a reception class under the Admission of Summer Born Children Protocols. The head teacher’s signature is confirmation that a discussion with the parent has taken place about the implications of the decision to delay entry though is not a statement that the school has made a professional decision on the educational or developmental needs of the child.
Parents are advised to refer to the following documents: 1. Department for Education – Advice on the admissions of summer born children - December 2014 2. Dorset Council - Guidance on the Placement of a Pupil Outside His or Her Normal Age Group – April 2014
Name of child Date of birth
Name of school
Having read both the Department for Education and Dorset Council Guidance on summer born children I wish to delay entry into reception until September (enter appropriate year).
I acknowledge I will have to make a new school application which will be subject to the Dorset Admissions Code and oversubscription criteria for that year and any offer of a school place I currently hold will be withdrawn.
I confirm that I understand the following:
• when my child moves to another school, that a new application for the continuation of the placement outside of their normal year group will have to be made to the new school • another school or local authority is not required to continue the placement of a child outside their normal year group • that there is no option of my child starting reception at age 5 on a part-time timetable • once a child is admitted to a school it is for the head teacher to decide how best to educate them. In some cases it may be appropriate for a child who has been admitted out of their normal age group to be moved to their normal age group, but in others it will not • any subsequent decision to move a child to a different age group or back into their chronological age group should be based on sound educational reasons and made by the head teacher in consultation with the parents
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Parent’s name
Signature Date
Head teachers name
Signature Date
A copy of this to be retained by the school, a copy to be retained by the parent and a copy to be sent to Dorset Council School Admissions
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BYIY 002 - Agreement for the placement of a child outside of their normal age group.
This form is to filled and signed by the parent and the relevant school when agreement has been reached for an existing enrolled pupil to be placed outside of their normal year group.
Parents are advised to refer to the following Documents: 1. Department for Education – School Admissions Code - December 2014 2. Dorset Council - Guidance on the Placement of a Pupil Outside His or Her Normal Age Group
Name of child Date of birth
Name of school
National Curriculum year group – current Proposed
Having read both the Department for Education and Dorset Council Guidance on placement of children outside of their normal age group I wish to confirm that I have agreed for my child to be placed in the proposed National Curriculum Year Group.
I confirm that I understand the following: • when my child moves to another school, that a new application for the continuation of the placement outside of their normal year group will have to be made to the new school • another school or local authority is not required to continue the placement of a child outside their normal year group • once a child is admitted to a school it is for the head teacher to decide how best to educate them. In some cases it may be appropriate for a child who has been admitted out of their normal age group to be moved to their normal age group, but in others it will not • any subsequent decision to move a child to a different age group or back into their chronological age group should be based on sound educational reasons and made by the head teacher in consultation with the parents
Parent’s name:
Signature: Date:
Head teacher’s name:
Signature: Date:
A copy of this to be retained by the school, a copy to be retained by the parent and a copy to be sent to Dorset Council School Admissions
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Dorset Council Admission of Armed Forces Community Children Policy 2022-2023
This policy applies to all schools where Dorset Council (DC) is the admissions authority (community and voluntary controlled schools) – it will also be promoted for adoption with Dorset schools which are their own admissions authorities (academies, foundation, voluntary aided and free schools).
Dorset Council wishes to recognise the Armed Forces Covenant which is a promise between the Government, the Nation and the Armed Forces. It’s there to make sure that people in the Armed Forces Community aren’t disadvantaged because of their Service, and that the people who have given the most receive special consideration for the sacrifices they have made for the country.
DC is committed to look out for any problems these families might face because of their part in the Armed Forces Community, and then to assist in finding solutions to those problems.
A family may be disadvantaged when applying for a school place (during service or upon leaving service). When an application is made from the Armed Forces Community and a place cannot ordinarily be offered, an assessment will be made of the circumstance.
In order to establish (by admissions department or appeal committee) whether a place should be offered, it needs to be identified as to whether being a member of the armed forces has disadvantaged the family in applying for a specific school place and consider the impact of placing the child over number (see Consideration of Prejudice).
The School Admissions Code has been revised to enable schools to admit service children as exceed the 30-pupil limit for infant classes in order to accommodate Service children.
Infant class size – Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher44. Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an ‘excepted pupil’ for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. The excepted children are…. f) children of UK service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round;
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Admissions Authorities when considering admissions placement from Forces Families should take account of the expectation that families will move as a new posting comes through or when discharged at the end of service: the family have little or no choice in the location or the timing of this move and so, in many cases, will be forced to apply to schools outside of the normal admissions round.
In order to ascertain if they should be considered for a place at a school that is full in the year group applied for (especially where this would contravene infant class size legislation) it should be considered whether or not it would have been reasonable for a family living at the stated address and applying ‘on time’ at the normal year of transfer to obtain a place.
1. Did the fact that a parent is serving in the armed forces prevent an ‘on time’ application being made?
Yes – This should be taken into account in the decision-making process No – There has been no disadvantage and therefore no account need be taken.
2. Would it have been reasonable to expect a place at the named school had the application been made ‘on time’ at the normal age of transfer?
Yes – This should be taken into account in the decision making process No – There has been no disadvantage and therefore no account need be taken.
3. Would the alternative offer NOT have been one that other families in the locality were offered?
Yes – This should be taken into account in the decision making process No – There has been no disadvantage and therefore no account need be taken.
4. Would the alternative placement offered have a negative long term impact e.g. not keep them within the same pyramid of schools for next age of transfer?
Yes – This should be taken into account in the decision making process No – There has been no disadvantage and therefore no account need be taken.
If all the answer to all questions is ‘No’, then there has been no disadvantage and normal procedures should be followed.
If the answer to one or more questions is ‘Yes’, then the case will need to be considered more carefully in line with this undertaking but this does not mean
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that a child will automatically be admitted, as there still remains a need to balance the case of the child and the specific situation of school.
Consideration of prejudice
The admissions officer/appeal panel must balance the prejudice to the school against the appellant’s case for the child to be admitted to the school.
It must take into account the appellant’s reasons for expressing a preference for the school, including what that school can offer the child that the allocated or other schools cannot. In reaching a decision as to whether or not there would be prejudice the panel may consider the following factors: a) what effect an additional admission would have on the school in the current and following academic years as the year group moves through the school; b) the impact on the organisation and size of classes, the availability of teaching staff, and the effect on children already at the school.
If the admissions authority/appeals panel considers that the appellant’s case outweighs the prejudice to the school it must admit the child/uphold the appeal.
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Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) Before completing this EqIA please ensure you have read the EqIA Guidance Notes
Title School Admissions Policies and Co-ordinated Schemes Date assessment Version No: v.4 1.9.19 started: Date of completion: 22.11.19
Type of Strategy, Policy, Project or Service: Is this Equality Impact Assessment (please put a cross in the relevant box)
Existing: X Changing, update or revision: New or proposed: Other (please explain):
Is this Equality Impact Assessment (please put a cross in the relevant box)
Internal: External: X Both:
Report Created By: Name: Ed Denham Job Title: School Place Sufficiency Manager Email address: [email protected] Sian Robinson Karen Northover Members of the assessment team: Emily Bearman Kim Mileham
Step 1: Aims What are the aims of your strategy, policy, project or service? The suite of Admissions Policies for review are as follows: 1. Admissions Arrangements for Community & Voluntary Controlled Schools 2021- 2022. 2. Co-ordinated Admissions Scheme Timetable 2021-2022 3. Primary Co-ordinated Scheme 2021-2022 4. Secondary Co-ordinated Scheme 2021-2022 5. In Year Co-ordinated Scheme 2021-2022 6. Admissions to Maintained Nursery Units Policy 2021-2022 7. Sixth Form Admissions Policy 2021-2022 8. Guidance on Placement Outside of Normal/Chronological Age Group 2021-2022 9. Armed Forces Policy 2021-2022 10. Guidance on Consulting on Admissions Arrangements – November 2021
Each Local Authority (LA) must have a suite of policies that deal with: a) The allocation of places to LA maintained schools for whom they are the Admissions Authority.
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b) The process of managing the statutory duty to co-ordinate allocation of places at the 5 different points of entry for all Dorset Schools, maintained, voluntary aided, academy and free schools. c) Ensuring that the Statutory Timelines laid out in the Admissions Code are met. d) The process of managing in year applications for LA maintained schools and ensuring co-ordination with other own admission authorities. e) Ensuring that there are clear processes for the allocation of places into the maintained nurseries as well as places at the maintained Sixth Forms. f) Ensuring that children of Service Personnel are treated fairly and equitably in the context of the dynamics of service life. g) Ensuring that there is suitable co-ordination with the Special Education Needs & Disability (SEND) Team to provide children with Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCP’s) a smooth entry or transition to their new school in compliance with the School Admissions Code and the SEND Code of Practice.
The policies ensure that the allocation of places is fair, clear and objective and that parents can look at the admissions arrangements and understand easily how places for a school will be allocated.
What is the background or context to the proposal? The School Admissions Code, issued by the Department for Education (DFE) in December 2014, pertains to the duties laid out under Section 84 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (SSFA 1998).
Dorset Council (DC) is both an Admissions Authority and a Co-ordinating Authority and the SSFA 1998 details statutory duties for the LA with regards to both of these functions.
As an admissions authority, the LA is required to publish its Admissions Arrangements for all Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools dealing with the Pupil Admissions Number and the criteria for the allocation of places when there are more applications than there are places.
As the co-ordinating authority, the LA is required to publish a timetable and the details of accompanying processes to ensure that all applications by Dorset residents for school places are processed appropriately. All Dorset residents also need to be informed on the relevant National Offer Day of their school place whether for a Dorset school or any other state-funded school in England and Wales.
Also as the co-ordinating authority, DC has the duty to ensure that there are systems in place for parents to submit in year applications into the Local Authority, even where the school is its own admission authority.
Step 2: Intelligence and Communication What data, information, evidence and research was used in this EqIA and how has it been used to inform the decision-making process?
The Admissions Arrangements have been consulted on every year, as per the LA’s statutory duty. These consultations have involved all schools in Dorset, through the schools - all parents of both preschool and statutory school age, all neighbouring local authorities, the Ministry of Defence and the Salisbury Diocese Board of Education.
Each year a review of appeal decisions is undertaken where a family has gained a place at a preference school to ensure that decisions are not based on a) deficiencies in the
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admissions arrangements, b) deficiencies in the co-ordination processes managed by the LA or c) the occurrence of discriminatory practices by the Admissions Team
A key indicator in the robustness of the admissions arrangements and the co-ordinated scheme is evidenced by the fact that 93% of primary applications receive their first preference and 95% of secondary applications receive their first preference.
In the 2018-2019 academic year, neither the Local Government Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) nor the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) found fault with the admissions arrangements for Community or Voluntary Controlled Schools under DC.
What data do you already have about your service users, or the people your proposal will have an impact on?
These policies will impact on all families in the Local Authority area several times as a child passes through the education system.
Each year the LA will manage approximately 5100 applications into the three points of entry across the primary age phase and approximately 4100 applications across the two points of entry in the secondary age phase.
The Local Authority has the following number of mainstream places to allocate:
4544 Reception places into First, Infant and Primary Schools; 186 Year 3 places into Infant Schools; 1361 into Middle Schools; 2516 into Year 7 Secondary Schools; 1125 into Year 9 Upper Schools.
In terms of applications, those aged four at the first of September the year prior to school entry may make an application for a reception place. Those aged six years at the September prior to transfer into a Junior School and are attending an Infant School are required to make an application.
Those aged eight in the September prior to transfer to Middle School and attending a First School in Year 4 will have to make a transfer application into Year 5. Those aged 10 years and attending a primary school in Year 6 will have to make an application for a Year 7 secondary place. Those aged 12 and attending a Middle School in Year 8 will have to make an application for a Year 9 Upper School for the following September.
Those attending Year 6 in Primary and Middle Schools could also apply to enter the Grammar School system in Year 7.
Any child may apply at any time to change school or to transfer to another school at a point of entry as long as they fulfil the age cohort criteria or are applying under the Chronological Age Range Guidance.
What engagement or consultation has taken place as part of this EqIA?
The policies are consulted on each year, regardless of whether there are minor or significant changes. The nature and process of the consultation is detailed in the statutory guidance within the Admissions Code. This includes a six week period of consultation between the 1 October and 31 January. The code then requires that a Local Authority
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‘determines’ their arrangements. For Dorset Council this entails a paper to People Scrutiny Committee (PSC) and their decision is then ratified by Cabinet.
LA admissions team officers engage in a range of forums with other admissions officers in the South West working to interrogate admissions systems and ensure compliance with the Admissions Code.
In the last five years of the annual consultation, the admissions arrangements and the accompanying documentation around the Co-ordinated Scheme have only ever elicited one response. This concerns the prioritising of siblings who don’t live in catchment, over children who do live in catchment. This was reviewed and it was deemed inappropriate to alter the prioritisation to place out of catchment siblings as a higher criteria in the oversubscription list.
Is further information needed to help inform this proposal?
Not at this time.
How will the outcome of consultation be fed back to those who you consulted with?
All consultees will be informed that the arrangements have been determined (which must take place by the 28 February), and they are then published by the statutory deadline of the 15 March.
All consultees will be informed of their right to raise objections with the OSA by the deadline of the 15 May.
Step 3: Assessment
Who does the service, strategy, policy, project or change impact? - If your strategy, policy, project or service contains options you may wish to consider providing an assessment for each option. Please cut and paste the template accordingly. For each protected characteristic please choose from the following options: - Please note in some cases more than one impact may apply – in this case please state all relevant options and explain in the ‘Please provide details’ box.
• Positive impact on a large proportion of protected characteristic Positive Impact groups • Significant positive impact on a small proportion of protect characteristics group • Disproportionate impact on a large proportion of protected Negative Impact characteristic groups • Significant disproportionate impact on a small proportion of protected characteristic groups. Neutral Impact • No change/ no assessed significant impact of protected characteristic groups Unclear • Not enough data/evidence has been collected to make an informed decision.
Age: Neutral The Admissions Arrangements for a statutory school place clearly What age bracket define the relevant age groups who need to apply. does this affect?
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Those who turn four years old in the September are required to make an application for entry into school the following September, if they wish to have a state maintained school place.
All those in Year 2 of an Infant School (of which there are three on Dorset) are required to make an application into a Junior School.
All those in Year 4 at a First school are required to make an application for a Year 5 place usually in a Middle School.
All those in Year 6 in a Primary school are required to make an application for a place in Year 7 usually in a Secondary school.
All those in Year 8 of a Middle school are required to make an application for a Year 9 place usually in an Upper School.
Applications are restricted to these age ranges for point of entry. The policy around the admissions of a child outside of their chronological cohort provides families with information should they wish to vary Please provide these normal entry points for children born after 1 April. These details: families may delay entry into Reception until the child is five years old.
Disability: Positive Any child with an Education, Health & Care Plan regardless of the condition the plan is designed to support, is afforded specific Does this affect a protections within the Admissions Code and the SEND Code of specific disability Practice. group?
Any child with an Education, Health & Care Plan has to be admitted to their school of choice and is the highest criteria in the admissions arrangements. The LA Admission Team work with the SEND team to ensure that all children with EHCP’s are identified in a timely manner and are allocated a place at their preferred school, and that schools are made aware of the allocation.
In addition, the Dorset Admissions Arrangements also allows the identification of children with disabilities or medical conditions (but who do not have an EHCP) to be given a higher criterion and thus a greater priority to secure a place at their preferred school. The Please provide allocation of this criteria will take place when that school is the most details: appropriate setting for that child and where other schools may not have the physical infrastructure to be able to fully support a child’s disabilities.
Dorset Admissions Arrangements also look to give a high criteria to a child whose sibling, through an EHCP plan, is allocated a place at a resourced provision in a mainstream school and where the family would want the next child to attend the same school but they would not have a high enough criteria to secure a place through the normal processes.
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Gender Reassignment & Positive Gender Identity: The Admissions Arrangements and the accompanying co-ordinated scheme do require the applicant to declare their gender as is at birth.
Dorset Admissions welcomes school applications from all Dorset children regardless of gender-identity. The request to submit gender details in an application is put in place as for points of transfer Dorset Admissions can receive an application for any school in England and Wales, some of which are single-sex establishments. Should an Please provide applicant wish to state a preference for one of these schools, the details: maintaining local authority requires this information.
The admission arrangements for non-Dorset single-sex schools are available from that maintaining local authority or from the school itself.
Dorset does not have single-sex schools and welcomes an application to any age appropriate school regardless of gender identity.
Pregnancy and Positive maternity: (Does not apply to the directly affected group i.e. children, however contextual details are given for parents)
Parental Support: -
Dorset Council runs a catchment-based school allocation system that ensures that each address is identified within the catchment of a particular school, more often than not, the closest school.
Advice to parents and the detail within the co-ordinated processes suggest to parents to always name the catchment school as one of Please provide their three preferences. This ensures that families are able to access details: the local community school.
Sibling criteria is also given prominence ensuring that families are able in the majority of cases get children into the same school.
Special protection is afforded to twins, where the stipulation that only 30 children can be placed in a class for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, can be waived. Where a twin is the 30th allocated place, the Admissions Code allows the admission of the other twin as a 31st child with the school not needing to take qualifying measures (e.g. employing an additional teacher).
Race and Ethnicity: Neutral The admissions process does not ask and indeed is not allowed to Please provide ask for race or ethnicity data and thus the allocation of places is details: undertaken without knowledge of a child’s ethnicity or race.
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Applications are accepted from the Roma, Gypsy and Traveller Community as long as the home location at the time of the application is identifiable. The Admissions Team do not require documentation to verify the status of the accommodation.
Religion or belief: Positive Schools are permitted to have a religious character and within their admissions arrangements can legally prioritise those who adhere to that faith for places in their school.
Schools are required to have and publish a supplementary information form that families can submit if they wish to be considered under the religious admissions criteria of the school.
The religious nature of the school does not prohibit applications from Please provide those who do not adhere to the relevant faith, and it is clearly details: articulated in the admissions arrangements the order of criteria for the allocation of places.
Families who do not wish their children to attend a school with a religious character are at liberty to name other local schools that are identified as Community Schools. Should a place at a school with a religious character be the only reasonable option, families are permitted to withdraw their child from any activity that the family feels is of a religious character.
Sexual orientation: Neutral The admissions process does not ask and indeed is not allowed to ask for information on sexual orientation and thus the allocation of Please provide places is undertaken without knowledge of this characteristic. All details: schools will support a child or young person regardless of their sexual orientation.
Sex: Neutral Declaration of sex is required as applicants could be applying for any school in England and Wales, which includes many single-sex Please provide institutions. details: This information is disregarded when allocating places at co- educational institutions. Dorset only has co-educational institutions.
Marriage or civil Neutral partnership: The only stipulation is that the applicant (applying on behalf of the child) has to be able to show that they have ‘Parental Responsibility’ Please provide (PR) for the child or young person regardless of any relationship details: status. Therefore marriage, civil partnership status or otherwise of the applicant is not used as part of the decision-making process.
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Carers: Positive Dorset’s catchment area structure looks to support families to access their local school, usually a significant factor for a Young Carer. Invariably applications to the catchment school will be successful at the point of entry.
Please provide The Admissions Arrangements do support, where other details: professionals deem it appropriate, that Young Carers are given a Category Two criteria (Social or Medical Need) to ensure that the most appropriate school is allocated to a registered carer should a place not be allocated under the normal processes.
Rural isolation: Positive The Dorset catchment area structure ensures that regardless of distance, all families have a higher criterion to their catchment school. This protects families in the rural areas of Dorset and ensures they can gain a place at their local school. Please provide details: This does not prevent a family from expressing a preference for other schools.
Single parent Neutral families: The relationship status of a parents is not documented as part of the admissions process. The catchment area structure again favours local families gaining places at local schools, which would support Please provide single parent families. details: The sibling criteria also lends further support to families and single parents in accessing local school places.
Poverty (social & economic Neutral deprivation): By law no requests for information on the social and economic background of an applicant is permitted with the exception of those who are in receipt of Pupil Premium.
The Admissions Code does permit the use of pupil premium in limited circumstances to determine school place allocation. Please provide details: Dorset School Admissions Arrangements do not yet include this criterion.
Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children are permitted to submit applications beyond the statutory national deadlines and they are deemed to have the highest criteria for a school place after children with EHCP’s.
8 Page 260
Military Positive families/veterans: The Armed Forces Policy ensures that where service families may have posting instructions that are to a military base but the family do not have a home address, the admissions team may use the posting order and base address to allocate a school place.
Please provide The Armed Forces Policy also allows late applications into schools to details: be considered at the National Offer Day or a school is permitted to breech Infant Class Size (ICS) to accommodate a service child who could not submit an on-time application because of changes to a service parent’s posting.
9 Page 261
Step 4: Action Plan Provide actions for positive, negative and unclear impacts. If you have identified any negative or unclear impacts, describe what adjustments will be made to remove or reduce the impacts, or if this is not possible provide justification for continuing with the proposal.
Person(s) Issue Action Deadline How will it be monitored? responsible Annual Review A new review and consultation to take place in Ed Denham or January 31 Any changes and September 2021 for September 2022 admission successor 2021 consultation will be arrangements documented through submissions to PSC and Cabinet
Page 262 Page Review of DFE DC Admissions will review any new guidance or Ed Denham or Determined Any changes and Admissions Code code when received. successor by DFE consultation will be documented through submissions to PSC and Cabinet
Step 5: EqIA Sign Off
Officer completing this EqIA: Ed Denham Date: 29.11.19 Equality Lead: Date: Relevant Focus Groups*: Date: Directorate Board Chair: Date: * To include Diversity Action Groups
Please send this completed EqIA to Equality Leads: Equality Leads:
10
Susan Ward-Rice [email protected] Jane Nicklen [email protected] Kathy Boston-Mammah [email protected] Sharon Attwater [email protected]
Page 263 Page
11
This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 11
Cabinet 19 January 2021 Recommendations for spending Community Infrastructure Levy funding For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr D Walsh, Planning
Local Councillor(s): All
Executive Director: J Sellgren, Executive Director of Place
Report Author: Andrew Galpin Title: Infrastructure & Delivery Planning Manager Tel: 01305 838214 Email: [email protected]
Report Status: Public
Recommendation:
To approve the recommendations for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding as set out section 10 of this report.
Reason for Recommendation:
To ensure the delivery of important community infrastructure to support growth and development.
1. Executive Summary
On the 28th July 2020, members of this Cabinet agreed governance arrangements that would enable the spend of monies collected through Dorset Councils four Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) area charging schedules.
The report identified internal groups Property Management Group (PMG) and Capital Strategy Asset Management Group (CSAMG) as vehicles for overseeing the implementation of the governance arrangements.
Page 265 Property Management Group and Capital Strategy Asset Management Group met during October to consider the arrangements for a first round of CIL spend. It was agreed that the first round would focus on pre 1st September 2019 CIL spending priorities as set out in the Regulation 123 lists with the recommendations reported to this Cabinet to inform budget setting.
Dorset Council is responsible for managing the spend of money collected through CIL. To optimise the funding available, PMG and CSAMG agreed to focus engagement with Dorset Council service areas and those external stakeholders where an existing infrastructure commitment existed, for instance Natural England (nature conservation infrastructure), and the Environment Agency (flood defence infrastructure).
Between 2nd November and 27th November 2020, Expressions of Interest were invited to bid for CIL funding for projects against the infrastructure categories outlined in Appendix A. A total of 42 Expressions of Interest were submitted. The expressions were scored by the CIL Team using the criteria approved by Cabinet in July and the findings were shared with PMG and CSAMG in December for their consideration and recommendation. The value of expressions received and recommended for approval are set out in the financial implications section of this report.
The majority of bids comprise of one infrastructure category. Some bids sought funding from multiple infrastructure categories and have been adjusted for a ‘better fit’ where appropriate. The residual balances cannot, however, be further reallocated or amalgamated between infrastructure types or areas.
The government has introduced measures to allow developers to defer payment of CIL due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. A residual of £194,680.00 for uncategorised monies in Purbeck has been retained to provide contingency to help meet the pre committed cost of CIL in the Purbeck area during the 2020/21 financial year if required in advance of receipt.
2. Financial Implications
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) together with Planning Obligations (s106) represent an additional source of funding to provide additional infrastructure or services necessary to enable or support development.
Such funding normally only represents a proportion of the total cost of the infrastructure therefore additional funding, from other sources, may be required to deliver the infrastructure necessary.
The total value of CIL funding available for round one was approximately £5.16m. The 42 bids sought a total of £4.47m. Those expressions recommended for approval equated to a total value of £3.01m, leaving a residual of £2.15m to
Page 266 spend in subsequent funding rounds with the next round likely to be reported to Cabinet in July 2021.
3. Well-being and Health Implications
Provision of infrastructure, such as those which facilitate cycling or walking, or provide health facilities to support development’s future needs are important for individuals’ and communities’ wellbeing and contribute to healthier environments and support people’s health and wellbeing.
4. Climate implications
The use of CIL and s106 agreements to help provide supporting infrastructure, commensurate with development is a key component in ensuring there are sustainable integrated spatial plans for housing, infrastructure, employment and the environment at the towns, suburbs and rural areas.
This will also contribute to developing plans which bring together different sectors or local government departments to achieve shared objectives. Examples could include strategies which exploit the connections between active travel and public health.
Without the necessary supporting infrastructure development would be less sustainable thereby having a corresponding effect on Climate change.
5. Other Implications
Infrastructure which is necessary to make development acceptable in planning terms will have implications for, inter alia Sustainability; Property and Assets; Public Health, Community Safety and physical activity depending upon the nature of the development.
Stakeholders need to be alert to the availability of CIL, and S106, funding available towards appropriate infrastructure funding. They need also to be engaged, going forward, in the identification of future CIL, and S106, needs commensurate with the Dorset Local Plan evolution.
CIL is ‘top sliced’ and paid to neighbourhoods or parish councils proportionate to qualifying development in their area. This CIL must be spent on infrastructure and reported as such. This places an obligation on both the Council and these organisations in respect of the management of these funds
Page 267 6. Risk Assessment
Having considered the risks associated with this decision, the level of risk has been identified as: Current Risk: Low Residual Risk: Low
7. Equalities Impact Assessment
An Equalities Impact Assessment scoping report was undertaken to inform the governance arrangements agreed by Cabinet in July. The agreed assessment criteria contained equalities questions. It is expected that funded projects will undertake an EqIA in their own right.
8. Appendices
Appendix A - Expression of Interest summary and analysis
9. Background Papers
9.1 Meaningful levels of developer contribution funding have been secured through CIL for a variety of different infrastructure types. Prior to September 2019, these infrastructure types were set out published infrastructure lists (Regulation 123). National reforms to the planning system which came into effect on the 1st September 2019 have given Councils greater freedom to spend CIL money on infrastructure of their choosing. This and the meaningful income prompted the need for Dorset Council to introduce governance arrangements for commencing the spend of CIL money.
9.2 On the 28th July 2020, Cabinet approved a framework for governing the spend of CIL funds. The arrangements included the use of internal officer groups (Property Management Group (PMG) and Capital Strategy and Asset Management Group (CSAMG)) to help implement and oversee the spend of the levy.
9.3 Although there is now greater freedom to spend CIL, Cabinet resolved to honour the legacy infrastructure commitments set out in previously published infrastructure lists up until the point at which the regulations changed. Furthermore, Cabinet resolved to spend CIL money within the charging area from which it originated. That principle will apply to CIL monies collected from the 1st September 2019 onwards which will be subject to a separate periodic spending rounds starting in Summer 2021.
Page 268 9.4 CSAMG agreed and recommend that the ring-fenced CIL money would be the focus for a first round of CIL spend. Future rounds would consider new infrastructure priorities as well as any unspent CIL monies from this first round.
9.5 Table 1 below sets out how the agreed governance framework has been implemented in the intervening period since July Cabinet.
Table 1 Agreed arrangement What had taken place 1. CIL value apportioned to each CIL values set out in Appendix A typology and relevant were shared with Service Areas and stakeholder advised of the external stakeholders via value SharePoint platform. 2. Each stakeholder to provide (in Projects submitted to CIL team a time scale) a case through Expression of Interest identifying specific projects ‘application form’ hosted on to which the service would use SharePoint platform between the 2nd CIL to fund (partially or November and the 27th November. fully). The case would include Expression of Interest includes Proposal details, how the fields matched to agreed scoring project supports development, criteria. Costs / Expenditure / sources of funding, Consents, Delivery Timescale 3. All cases are scored in line Expressions of Interest assessed with the scoring criteria by by CIL Team and findings reported the CIL Team and PMG, to ensure to Property Management Group on compliance with the CIL the 10th December. Regulations, fit to purpose of supporting development and 42 EoIs received, CIL team Corporate priorities. If there recommended 37 for approval, 5 for is more than 1 project in each rejection, with alternative infrastructure type these will developer contribution funding be assessed / scored against streams suggested for 2 of 5. each other optimise the benefit within the typology. (Scoring PMG agreed with recommendations. Matrix – Appendix A) The amount of money apportioned to a single project will be capped for fairness and balanced spend. Scored projects will be
Page 269 considered annually by this gives wider corporate sight and context and opportunity for combining projects. 4. Final selection reported to Recommendations reported to CSAMG CSAMG on the 21st December. CSAMG agreed with recommendations 5. Recommendations to Dorset Recommendations as agreed by PMG Council Cabinet and CSAMG set out in this report. 6. Operational decisions delegated To include sign off and transfer to CIL team / Executive of payment, to be undertaken by Director CIL Team / Executive Director once recommendations approved. 7. Funds transferred to project Expected February 2021 onwards. for delivery. 8. Delivery agency reports back Expected October 2021. October each year for Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) timing to ensure project is delivered on time and budget. This information would be needed as part of the Infrastructure Funding Statement.
9.6 Guiding the spend of CIL are three key principles:
1. The levy must be used to fund the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure needed to support development. 2. Infrastructure is defined as meaning roads and other transport facilities, flood defences, schools and other education facilities, medical facilities, sporting and recreational facilities and open space – it doesn’t include affordable housing. 3. The levy can be used to increase the capacity of existing infrastructure or to repair failing existing infrastructure, if that is necessary to support development.
Page 270 9.7 Service areas were encouraged to work together when responding and engage with external partners as necessary who also had access to the SharePoint platform. This was particularly important where collaborative work is already underway for specific types of infrastructure, such as nitrate mitigation, heathland mitigation and flood defence.
9.8 The total value of CIL available for this first funding round is £5,160,040. The total value of expressions received is £4,474,731. The value of those bids recommended for approval totals £3,011,531 leaving a residual balance of £2,148,508 for consideration at the next funding round.
9.9 The majority of bids comprised one infrastructure category. Some bids sought funding from multiple categories and have been adjusted for a ‘better fit’ where appropriate. The residual balances cannot, however, be further reallocated or amalgamated between infrastructure types or areas.
9.10 The government has introduced measures to allow developers to defer payment of CIL due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. A residual of £194,680.00 for uncategorised monies in Purbeck has been retained to provide contingency to help meet the cost of CIL in the Purbeck area during the 2020/21 financial year.
9.11 Funding recommendations for approval are as follows in section 10 of this report. Appendix A which accompanies this report sets out a short summary of each Expression of Interest, together with assessment score, amount of funding sought, amount of funding recommended and the recommended funding category.
9.12 The expressions of interest were considered and are recommended by PMG and CSAMG. Financial transfers set out here will be delegated to the Executive Director for Place to sign-off when the requisite projects are ready for delivery.
10. Funding Recommendations
10.1 Children’s Services (schools and educational establishments)
West (£484,116.48). Balance after approved bid(s) £484,116.48
W&P (£303,707.21). Balance after recommended bid(s) £303,707.21
East (£238,397.53). Balance after recommended bid(s) £238,397.53
No bids submitted by Education Team but PMG confirm bids will be made in round 2.
Page 271 10.2 Highways / Transport
West (£242,058.24). Balance after recommended bid(s) £0
Widening of pavement to improve accessibility between Morrisons turn-off from South St to South Mill Lane (supports BBL programme at Flood Lane) £127,656.96 and £40,343.04 Public Realm monies Ridgeway Footway Construction (introduction of slabbed footway) £74,401.28 (project part-funded) Weymouth Avenue Dorchester Footway Enhancements (replacement of paving) £40,000.00
W&P (£60,741.44). Balance after recommended bid(s) £741.44
Park Street Connection Project (improving cycling and pedestrian links between railway station and town centre) £60,000.00
East (£536,394.43). Balance after recommended bid(s) £394.43
Installation of new electric vehicle charge points in East Dorset £65,000.00 East Dorset Rights of Way Network Enhancement (range of public footpath and bridleway enhancements) £100,000.00 South East Dorset dockless bike sharing scheme £240,000.00 Provision of SEND independent travel / Life skill training for residents of East Dorset £131,000.00
10.3 Green Infrastructure & Recreation
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £4,719.08
West Dorset Maiden Newton to West Bay Old Railway Line bridleway shared route £75,967.00
W&P (£60,741.44). Balance after recommended bid(s) £24,101.44
Weymouth s1/34 surface (installation of stone path) £12,000.00 Weymouth s1/75 surface (installation of stone path) £4,500.00 Weymouth s1/112 surface and widening (installation of stone path) £12,000.00 Weymouth s1/135 surface (installation of stone path) £5,140.00 Weymouth s1/157 steps (installation of replacement steps) £3,000.00
Page 272 10.4 Waste Management
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £20,686.08
Sherborne Household Recycling Centre reuse area (covered area where items are reused) £10,000.00 Dorchester Household Recycling Centre reuse area and associated office (covered area where items are reused) £45,000.00 Improvement to Bridport Household Recycling Centre reuse area (covered area where items are reused) £5,000.00
W&P (£30,370.72). Balance after recommended bid(s) £370.72
Weymouth Household Recycling Centre welfare facilities (replacement building with improved accessibility) £30,000.00
10.5 Public Realm
West (£40,343.04). Balance after recommended bid(s) £0
Widening of pavements to improve accessibility between Morrisons turn-off from South St to South Mill Lane (supports BBL programme at Flood Lane) £40,343.04 and £127,656.96 Transport / Highways
W&P (£30,370.72). Balance after recommended bid(s) £9,370.72
Weymouth Station Gateway Project – lighting £21,000.00
10.6 Flood Defence
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £0
Lyme Regis Environmental Improvement (LREI) Scheme Phase 5 – The Cobb (scour protection works) £80,686.08
10.7 Culture & Leisure (Culture, Leisure, Community Facilities)
West (£282,401.28). Balance after recommended bid(s) £282,401.28
W&P (£121,482.88). Balance after recommended bid(s) £59,812.88
Rodwell Trail bench replacement £1,925.00 Rodwell Trail signs £745.00 Weymouth s1/76 new surface (new compacted stone surface) £6,000.00 Weymouth s1/133 new surface (new tarmac surface) £3,000.00
Page 273 Refurbishment of external changing rooms and pavilion £50,000.00
10.8 Uncategorised
Purbeck (£804,000.00). Balance after recommended bid(s) £194,680.00
Nitrogen enrichment mitigation £313,320.00 and £18,180.00 of Poole Harbour Nutrient Replacement of Gym Equipment, Purbeck Sports Centre £146,000.00 Huntick Road footway/cycleway £150,000.00
10.9 Flood Defence (With Environment Agency)
W&P (£485,931.53). Balance after recommended bid(s) £0
Weymouth Harbour & Esplanade Flood & Coastal Risk Management Scheme Phase 1 £485,931.53
10.10 Dorset Heathlands (With Natural England)
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £80,686.08
Purbeck (£510,390.00). Balance after recommended bid(s) £210,654.00
Purbeck Visitor Network Project (network of paths linking SANGS) £240,600.00 Purbeck Heaths Visitor Management Project (parking infrastructure) £59,136.00
East (£202,195.67) Balance after recommended bid(s) £2,195.67
BytheWay Field 5 year SANG Maintenance Contribution £74,500.00 Woolslope 5 year SANG Maintenance Contribution £82,500.00 Slop Bog Emergency Access £43,000.00
10.11 Poole Harbour Nutrient (With Natural England)
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £80,686.08
Purbeck (£18,180.00). Balance after recommended bid(s) £0
Nitrogen enrichment mitigation £18,180.00 of Poole Harbour Nutrient and £313,320.00 uncategorised funding.
Page 274 10.12 Poole Harbour Recreation SAMM (With Natural England)
Purbeck (£21,932.00). Balance after recommended bid(s) £21,932.00
10.13 Healthcare (With NHS)
West (£40,343.04). Balance after recommended bid(s) £6,343.04
Dorset County Hospital Dermatology Reconfiguration £34,000.00
W&P (£60,741.44). Balance after recommended bid(s) £10,741.44
Dorset County Hospital CT1 Changing Room Installation £50,000.00
10.14 Emergency Services (With Dorset Police, SW Ambulance Trust, D&W Fire & Rescue)
West (£80,686.08). Balance after recommended bid(s) £80,686.08
W&P (£30,370.72). Balance after recommended bid(s) £30,370.72
10.15 Utilities (Broadband)
W&P (£40,343.04). Balance after recommended bid(s) £343.04
West (£30,370.72). Balance after recommended bid(s) £370.72
Fibre Hubs Connectivity in Rural Dorset £70,000.00
10.16 The five rejected bids are:
1. Swanage Town Coastal Protection and Public Realm Improvements Scheme (£804,000) - funding sought towards public realm enhancements. Flood and coastal defence project elements can proceed without funding. Rejection of bid enables three other projects to come forward using funding pot. 2. A351 footway/cycleway enhancement, Wareham – Potential for project to proceed with alternative developer contribution funding source (s106). 3. New 7x7 3G Floodlit Football Pitch, Portland - project requires 100% CIL to meet match funding requirement. Cannot meet costs from funds available.
Page 275 4. Contribution towards replacement upgraded MRI scanner - Dorset County Hospital - insufficient CIL funding in category to support project. 5. Installation of new electric vehicle charge points in West Dorset - potential for project to proceed with alternative developer contribution funding source (s106).
10.17 35 of the 37 bids recommended for approval have had their funding requirements met in full. The two bids which have been unsuccessful in gaining full funding are:
1. South East Dorset dockless bike sharing scheme - Low assessment score, project could proceed with lesser amount. Doing so enables other (better scoring) transport related projects to be funded. 2. Ridgeway Footway Construction – insufficient CIL to fully fund project.
10.18 Projects benefitting from CIL funding as a result of the recommendations will be required to provide sufficient evidence of delivery and achievability prior to the release of any funding.
10.19 The council has an obligation to report on how CIL funding is used in its Infrastructure Funding Statement which is published annually in December. Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 276 Appendix A - Analysis of Community Infrastructure Levy Expressions of Interest – November 2020
A total of 42 Expressions of Interest received 2nd November – 27th November.
West Area
Infrastructure Category Value of CIL Available Number of EoIs for Approval Total against category Residual
Education (schools, educational establishments) £484,116.48 0 £0 £484,116.48
Transport (highways, walking, cycling, passenger transport) £242,058.24 3* £242,058.24 £0
Green Infrastructure & Recreation (open spaces, sports pitches, play) £80,686.08 1 £75,967.00 £4,719.08
Waste Management £80,686.08 3 £60,000.00 £20,686.08
Public Realm £40,343.04 1* £40,343.04 £0
Page 277 Page Flood Defence £80,686.08 1 £80,686.08 £0
Culture, Leisure, Community Facilities (arts, community, sports venues) £282,401.28 0 £0 £282,401.28
Utilities (Broadband) £30,370.72 1 £30,000.00 £370.72
Dorset Heathlands £80,686.08 0 £0 £80,686.08
Poole Harbour Nutrient £80,686.08 0 £0 £80,686.08
Healthcare £40,343.04 1 £34,000.00 £6,343.04
Emergency Services £30,370.72 0 £0 £30,370.72
*denotes EoI split between category. £1,553,433.92 12 (net 11) £563,054.36 £990,379.56
W&P Area
Infrastructure Category Value of CIL Available Number of EoIs for Approval Total against category Residual
Education (schools, educational establishments) £303,707.21 0 £0 £303,707.21
Transport (highways, walking, cycling, passenger transport) £60,741.44 1 £60,000.00 £741.44
Green Infrastructure & Recreation (open spaces, sports pitches, play) £60,741.44 5 £36,640.00 £24,101.44 Waste Management £30,370.72 1 £30,000.00 £370.72
Public Realm £30,370.72 1 £21,000.00 £9,370.72
Culture, Leisure, Community Facilities (arts, community, sports venues) £121,482.88 5 £61,670.00 £59,812.88
Utilities (Broadband) £40,343.04 (see west) £40,000.00 £343.04
Flood Defence £485,931.53 1 £485,931.53 £0
Healthcare £60,741.44 (see west) £50,000.00 £10,741.44
Emergency Services £80,686.08 0 £0 £80,686.08
£1,275,116.50 14 £785,241.53 £489,874.97
Purbeck Area
Infrastructure Category Value of CIL Available Number of EoIs for Approval Total against category Residual
Page 278 Page Uncategorised £804,000.00 3* £609,320.00 £194,680.00
Dorset Heathlands £510,390.00 2 £299,736.00 £210,654.00
Poole Harbour Nutrient £18,180.00 1* £18,180.00 £0
Poole Harbour Recreation £21,932.00 0 £0 £21,932.00
*denotes EoI split between category. £1,354,502.00 6 (net 5) £927,236.00 £427,266.00
East Area
Infrastructure Category Value of CIL Available Number of EoIs for Approval Total against category Residual
Education (schools, educational establishments) £238,397.53 0 £0 £238,397.53
Transport (highways, walking, cycling, passenger transport) £536,394.43 4 £536,000.00 £394.43
Dorset Heathlands £202,195.67 3 £200,000.00 £2,195.67
£976,987.63 7 £736,000.00 £240,987.63
Total Available CIL = £5,160,040.05 Total Bids (42) = £4,474,731.00 Total (Recommended 37) = £3,011,531.89 Total Residual CIL = £2,148,508.16 Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category Dorset Dorset Council Fibre Hubs Fibre Hubs Connectivity in Rural Dorset £70,000.00 60 Utilities £30,000 (Utilities £40,000 (Utilities £70,000.00 Area of spend not specified Council Digital & Change Connectivity in West) Weymouth) in EoI. Taken from both Rural Dorset available pots. East Dorset Council BytheWay Field 5 BytheWay Field, (Dorset’s first strategic £74,500.00 50 Dorset Heathlands £74,500.00 £74,500.00 Dorset year SANG SANG) was implemented around 2012. (Dorset Maintenance This proposal looks to in part address Heathlands Contribution the unresolved issue of continuing to maintain BytheWay to mitigating standard, it being a critical site to the developing strategic SANG network Page 279 Page across Dorset East Dorset Council Woolslope 5 year Woolslope is a 16.5ha popular site on £82,500.00 48 Dorset Heathlands £82,500.00 £82,500.00 Dorset SANG the outskirts of Westmoors and within (Dorset Maintenance close proximity to Ferndown. There was Heathlands Contribution initially three years of maintenance secured for Woolslope SANG and this proposal looks to secure a further five years in order to unlock further capacity and continue to maintain phase one to a high standard whilst undertaking phase 2 planning East Dorset Council Slop Bog To improve access onto Slop Bog nature £43,000.00 53 Dorset Heathlands £43,000.00 £43,000.00 Dorset Emergency Access reserve in order to protect it from (Dorset recreational disturbance and antisocial Heathlands behaviour. By improving a less sensitive route for pedestrian and emergency vehicle use to divert pressure from the most sensitive areas East Dorset Council Installation of new This project aims to improve the public £65,000.00 38 Transport/Highways £65,000.00 £65,000.00 Dorset Highways electric vehicle network of electric vehicle charge (Transport/Highw charge points in points (EVCPs) in the East Dorset area. ays) East Dorset Increasing the number of public EVCPs will make it easy for residents, business, visitors and staff to charge their electric vehicles, encourage greater electric vehicle ownership and meet growing demand for public charge points. This in Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category turn will reduce carbon emissions and improve local air quality through reduced petrol and diesel vehicle ownership and use East Dorset Council East Dorset Rights The proposal is to allocate funding to a £100,000.00 46 Transport £100,000.00 £100,000.00 Dorset Highways of Way Network range of public footpath and bridleway /Highways (Transport/Highw Enhancement enhancements across the East Dorset ays) area
East Dorset Council South East Dorset The proposal is to provide a dockless £370,000.00 39 Transport/Highways £240,000 £240,000.00 Low score, could proceed Dorset Highways dockless bike bike sharing scheme for south east (Transport/Highw with lesser amount. sharing scheme Dorset to further maximise the benefit ays) of the large scale investment in cycle Enables other transport infrastructure being delivered through related projects to be the Transforming Cities Fund. funded. East Dorset Council A 2-year project that will offer travel £131,000 55 Transport/Highways £131,000 £131,000.00 Dorset Dorset Travel skills for up to forty young people with (Transport/Highw
Page 280 Page special educational needs and ays) disabilities (SEND) per year. The outcome is to give the young people greater independence by offering them a life-long skill to travel independently on public transport. Purbeck DC; BCP; DWT Poole Harbour Provision of grant funding to facilitate £331,500.00 53 Poole Harbour Nutrient £18,180.00 (Poole £313,320.00 £331,500.00 Catchment Project change in land management (removal and Uncategorised Harbour Nutrient) (uncategorised) from agricultural production) leading to Purbeck monies. reduction of nitrate input into Poole Harbour to mitigate the impacts of completed development within the drainage catchment of this internationally protected site. Purbeck Dorset Council Purbeck Visitor This project aims to create a network of £240,600.00 56 Dorset Heathlands £240,600.00 £240,600.00 Network Project paths linking Suitable Alternative (Dorset Natural Greenspaces (SANGs) to other Heathlands resilient areas, to create a choice of longer and additional attractive routes. The project will run in two phases. Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category Purbeck Dorset Council Purbeck Heaths The project will deliver the £59,136.00 54 Dorset Heathlands £59,136.00 £59,136.00 Visitor infrastructure needed to control (Dorset Management parking relating to Purbeck heaths. Heathlands Project Currently there is a gradual spread of roadside parking in areas where there are sensitive habitats. By reinstating bank-and-ditching and creating pull in areas it will reduce negative impacts of the increasing visitor numbers to the heaths by directing where people can and cannot park cars Purbeck Dorset Council Replacement of Purbeck Sports Centre’s gym £146,000.00 55 Uncategorised £146,000.00 £146,000.00 Gym Equipment equipment needs replacement as it is (Uncategorised) 12 years old and is now continually failing, causing dissatisfaction within the community. The equipment had an original lifespan of 5 to 7 years and now requires replacement. If the equipment
Page 281 Page is not replaced, then this would result in the local community having no public accessible gym facilities within the area of Purbeck Purbeck Dorset Council Swanage Town The development and subsequent £804,000 51 Flood defence / coastal £0 £0 £0 Funding sought towards Coastal Protection construction of a flood & coastal erosion; Public Realm public realm enhancements. and Public Realm defence scheme along Swanage town Flood and coastal defence Improvements Coastal Frontage and subsequent Public project can proceed without Scheme Realm improvements to Lower High funding this element. Street. The scheme will deliver Protection from present-day wave overtopping flooding to the town; Protect the town from coastal inundation flooding for the next 100 years; Public realm regeneration/improvement of the Lower High Street to a pedestrian focused area; Public realm and education boards in immediate area of the proposed flood defence works. Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category Purbeck Dorset Council A351 The proposed package of £110,000.00 58 Transport/Highways £0 £0 £0 Project could proceed with Highways footway/cycleway, measures will provide alternative developer Wareham a shared footway and cycleway across contribution funding source the existing bridge deck alongside the (s106). A351 and other route enhancements to provide an important north-south link between residential areas to the north of the railway and Wareham town centre. This will cater for all potential users
Purbeck Dorset Council Huntick Road The scheme is to construct a shared-use £150,000.00 57 Uncategorised £150,000.00 £150,000.00 Highways footway/cycleway footway/cycleway alongside Huntick (Uncategorised) Road between Lychett Matravers and
Page 282 Page Dorchester Road, Upton. It will provide an off-carriageway shared-use route for pupils travelling from Lytchett Matravers village to Lytchett Minster School and for commuters wishing to cycle to and from Upton and Poole W&P Dorset Council Rodwell Trail To supply and install three public £1,925.00 40 Culture, Leisure, £1,925.00 £1,925.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space bench benches with modern recycled plastic Community Facilities (Culture, Leisure, recognise ROWIP as Team replacement ones. Remove the old benches Community corporate priority Facilities) W&P Dorset Council Rodwell Trail signs To supply 20 warning signs to be install £745.00 35 Culture, Leisure, £745.00 (Culture, £745.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space at all entrances to the Rodwell Trail Community Facilities Leisure, recognise ROWIP as Team Community corporate priority Facilities) W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/34 To supply and install stone to path £12,000.00 33 Green Infrastructure / £12,000.00 £12,000.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space surface 585m long by 1.5m Recreation (Green recognise ROWIP as Team Infrastructure & corporate priority Recreation) W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/75 To supply and install stone to path £4,500.00 40 Green Infrastructure / £4,500.00 (Green £4,500.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space surface 193m long by 1.5m Recreation Infrastructure & recognise ROWIP as Team Recreation) corporate priority W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/76 To supply and install a compacted stone £6,000.00 35 Culture, Leisure, £6,000.00 £6,000.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space new surface surface for distance of 290m by 1.2m Community Facilities (Culture, Leisure, recognise ROWIP as Team Community corporate priority Facilities) Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/112 To supply and install stone to path £12,000.00 35 Green Infrastructure / £12,000.00 £12,000.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space surface and 520m long by 1.5m Recreation (Green recognise ROWIP as Team widening Infrastructure & corporate priority Recreation) W&P Culture, Leisure, Weymouth s1/133 To supply and install tarmac surface £3,000.00 40 Culture, Leisure, £3,000.00 £3,000.00 Scored low because failed to Community new surface 150m by 1.2m Community Facilities (Culture, Leisure, recognise ROWIP as Facilities Community corporate priority Facilities) W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/135 To supply and install stone to path £5,140.00 35 Green Infrastructure / £5,140.00 (Green £5,140.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space surface 257m long by 2m Recreation Infrastructure & recognise ROWIP as Team Recreation) corporate priority W&P Dorset Council Weymouth s1/157 To supply and install replacement steps £3,000.00 35 Green Infrastructure / £3,000.00 (Green £3,000.00 Scored low because failed to Green Space steps over distance of 25m Recreation Infrastructure & recognise ROWIP as Team Recreation) corporate priority W&P Dorset Council Weymouth Replacement of dilapidated welfare £30,000.00 50 Waste Management £30,000.00 £30,000.00 Household facilities with modern modular building (Waste Recycling Centre and improved access. The replacement Management)
Page 283 Page welfare facilities facility will provide a modern modular building and will address the access issue for wheelchair users or staff with limited mobility. W&P Dorset Coast Weymouth The overall project is to provide a £21,000.00 46 Public Realm £21,000 (Public £21,000.00 Forum Station Gateway welcoming & more accessible public Realm) Project – lighting space to ensure the area is a safer and more welcoming environment. We would like to apply for CIL funding for new improved lighting to be included in the project. W&P Dorset Council - Refurbishment of The need for improvements to the £50,000.00 52 Culture, Leisure, £50,000.00 £50,000.00 Leisure Services external changing external changing facilities at Redlands Community Facilities (Culture, Leisure, rooms and Sports Hub. The existing provision is Community pavilion dated and in a state of disrepair. The Facilities) facility is currently leased to Weymouth College, however due to pressures on their educational budgets, they have been unable to fund any improvements. The facilities serve 61 teams from 15 clubs for matches plus additional clubs and teams for training W&P Dorset Council - New 7x7 3G The need for a ½ sized 3G all-weather £150,000.00 52 Culture, Leisure, £0 £0 £0 Project requires 100% CIL to Leisure Services Floodlit Football pitch in the Portland area to meet the Community Facilities; meet match funding. Cannot Pitch existing demand within the area. The Green meet costs from funds facility would be an all year-round Infrastructure/Recreati available. facility with fencing and floodlighting on Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category W&P Dorset Council & Weymouth The development and subsequent £485,931.53 51 Flood defence / coastal £485,931.53 £485,931.53 Environment Harbour & construction of a flood & coastal erosion (Flood defence / Agency Esplanade Flood & defence scheme along Weymouth coastal erosion) Coastal Risk Harbour & Esplanade. The scheme will Management be delivered in conjunction with the Scheme Phase 1 Environment Agency (EA) and entails phased replacement and improvement of flood defences around Weymouth harbour and esplanade, in order to provide the required standard of protection against flood & erosion risk. W&P Dorset Council Park Street This project will improve pedestrian and £60,000.00 55 Transport/Highways £60,000.00 £60,000.00 Highways Connection cycling links from the railway station (Transport / Project into Weymouth town centre Highways) West Dorset Council Weymouth The scheme is intended to replace the £40,000.00 56 Transport/Highways £40,000.00 £40,000.00 Dorset Highways Avenue large uneven slabs on the footway in (Transport/Highw Dorchester front of the market area, and to address ays) Footway issues caused by tree roots pushing up
Page 284 Page Enhancements into the footway. West Dorset County Dermatology Reconfiguration of current PUVA £34,000.00 45 Healthcare £34,000.00 £34,000.00 CIL funding fully delivers Dorset Hospital NHS Reconfiguration Treatment Room with adjoining office (Healthcare) project. Foundation Trust space to enable an increased and improved clinical area with privacy and dignity issues overcome. Convert two former offices in to clinic rooms. Works include replacing carpet flooring with vinyl and provision of wash hand basins in each. Layout changes approved with the clinical team West Dorset County MRI2 Contribution towards replacement £100,000.00 50 Healthcare £0 £0 £0 Insufficient CIL funding in Dorset Hospital NHS upgraded MRI scanner - Dorset County category to fund project. Foundation Trust Hospital West Dorset County CT1 Changing Provision of a second changing and £50,000 45 Healthcare £6,343.04 £43,656.96 £50,000.00 CIL funding fully delivers Dorset Hospital NHS Room Installation cannulation area for those patients (Healthcare) (Healthcare) project. Foundation Trust attending DCH for CT scanning diagnostic imaging Drawing healthcare monies from West & W&P pots as project serves both areas. West Dorset Council Bridport: Alterations to the pavement and £168,000 49 Public Realm; £127,656.96 £40,343.04 £168,000.00 Dorset improvement to Highway on the east side of South Transport /Highways (Transport / (Public Realm) access from the Street between the road turn-off to Highways) Morrisons turn-off Morrisons and South Mill Lane from South St to South Mill Lane Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category West Dorset Council – West Dorset Working with local landowners and £75,967.00 54 Green Infrastructure / £75,967.00 £75,967.00 Dorset Green Maiden Newton communities to develop an old railway Recreation (Green Infrastructure to West Bay Old line as a shared route for horse-riders, Infrastructure & Advice Team Railway Line (ORL) walkers & cyclists of all ages needs and Recreation) bridleway (BR) abilities linking all the communities it shared route travels between from Maiden Newton to West Bay. When completed, this project will link with the wider PRoW network to provide a coast to coast link from West Bay to Weymouth. For this particular stage we wish to connect the parish of Toller Porcorum with Powerstock Common nature reserve- completion of this section will add considerable momentum to the overall project West Dorset Council Sherborne Provision of covered area for items £10,000.00 45 Waste Management £10,000.00 £10,000.00 Dorset Household intended for re-use. A shelter for the (Waste
Page 285 Page Recycling Centre reuse area would prevent items Management) reuse area becoming damaged by inclement weather. West Dorset Council Dorchester Provision of covered area for items £45,000.00 50 Waste Management £45,000.00 £45,000.00 Dorset Household intended for re-use and associated (Waste Recycling Centre office/welfare facility. A shelter for the Management) reuse area and reuse area would prevent items associated office becoming damaged by inclement weather. Replacement welfare facility will save on the maintenance costs of repairing the current welfare facility. The current facility does not include access for wheelchair/limited mobility users. West Dorset Council Improvement to Improvement to area for items £5,000.00 45 Waste Management £5,000.00 (Waste £5,000.00 Dorset Bridport intended for re-use to include screening Management) Household from inclement weather, shelving and Recycling Centre signage. Further screening for the reuse reuse area area would prevent items becoming damaged by inclement weather, and shelving will keep items above the ground which can be wet. Recommended Score Contribution Contribution Total Area Project Project Description Request (£) Infrastructure Comment / 60 from Category from Category Contribution Category West Dorset Council Lyme Regis Scour protection works to stabilise The £80,686.08 54 Flood defence / coastal £80,686.08 (Flood £80,686.08 Dorset Environmental Cobb structure and improvement works erosion defence / coastal Improvement to the fish landing quay, utility erosion) (LREI) Scheme provision, surfacing and amenity Phase 5 – The Cobb West Dorset Council Ridgeway Footway The scheme is to reconstruct a slabbed £212,000.00 58 Transport/Highways £74,401.28 £74,401.28 Cannot fully fund Dorset Highways Construction footway at Ridgeway, which is failing (Transport / throughout, due to substandard Highways) construction. West Dorset Council Installation of new This project aims to improve the public £31,600.00 41 Transport/Highways £0 £0 £0 This could be funded from Dorset Highways – electric vehicle network of electric vehicle charge s106 Transport contributions Transport charge points in points (EVCPs) in the West Dorset area. available for Dorchester. Planning West Dorset Increasing the number of public EVCPs will make it easy for residents, business, visitors and staff to charge their electric vehicles, encourage greater electric vehicle ownership and meet growing Page 286 Page demand for public charge points. This in turn will reduce carbon emissions and improve local air quality through reduced petrol and diesel vehicle ownership and use £3,011,188.85 Agenda Item 13
Recommendation to Cabinet From People and Health Overview Committee of 14 December 2020 Current & Future Changes to the Financial Assessment and Care Contributions Policy
For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr L Miller, Adult Social Care and Health
Local Councillor(s): All Councillors
Executive Director: V Broadhurst, Interim Executive Director of People- Adults
Report Status: Public
Recommendation: (a) That the updated policy as set out in appendix A of the report to People and Health Overview Committee is agreed. This incorporates the changes identified with the report to people and Health Overview Committee under section 2.2.
(b) That agreement is sought for the Executive Director and the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health to have delegated authority to sign off future minor amendments and clarification of decision-making processes within the policy.
Reason for Recommendation: As a public body, we have both a legal and a moral duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
Appendices
Appendix 1 - Report to People and Health Overview Committee of 14 December 2020 (including appendix A the updated policy)
Appendix 2 – Extract minute of People & health Overview Committee of 14 December 2020.
Page 287 This page is intentionally left blank Appendix 1 People & Health Overview Committee 14 December 2020 Current & Future Changes to the Financial Assessment and Care Contributions Policy
For Recommendation to Cabinet
Portfolio Holder: Cllr L Miller, Adult Social Care and Health
Local Councillor(s): n/a
Executive Director: V Broadhurst, Interim Executive Director of People - Adults
Report Author: Nicola Fowler Title: Financial Assessment Team Manager Tel: 01305 224732 Email: [email protected]
Report Status: Public
Recommendation: The updated policy as set out in appendix A is agreed. This incorporates the changes identified with this report under section 2.2.
Agreement is sought for the Executive Director and the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health to have delegated authority to sign off future minor amendments and clarification of decision-making processes within the policy.
Reason for Recommendation: To update the Charging and Financial Assessments Policy to support the continued delivery of the Service ensuring care contributions can be assessed and collected in a timely manner supporting fairness and equitability across the county.
1.0 Background Unlike the NHS, Adult Social Care is not a free service. The expectation is that individuals who can afford to fund their own care do so and those who are unable to do this can apply to Dorset Council for support. The support from Dorset Council will be based on a care needs assessment which will identify the needs of an individual an whether they are eligible under the Care Act 2014. If the
Page 289 council is going meet an individual’s needs through services e.g. home care, residential care, day care, direct payment, then a financial assessment will be carried out to determine the level of contribution that an individual can afford to make towards their care. In carrying out the Financial Assessment, the Financial Assessment Team will seek to ensure that an individual is maximising the income they can claim in relation to benefits and also take account of any disability related expenditure. For some individuals they will be assessed as not being able to afford to make a contribution towards their care costs for others the assessment process will determine the maximum amount of contribution they need to make.
Dorset Council’s Charging and Financial Assessment policy was originally written in 2015 before the implementation of The Care Act 2014. When the Care Act 2014 was implemented, this policy was adopted. Under The Care Act 2014 local authorities are able to charge for care and support. Where charges are made the overarching principle is that people should only be required to pay what they can afford. The charging framework is therefore based on the following principles that local authorities should take into account when making decisions on charging. ensure that people are not charged more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay
be comprehensive, to reduce variation in the way people are assessed and charged be clear and transparent, so people know what they will be charged promote wellbeing, social inclusion, and support the vision of personalisation, independence, choice and control support carers to look after their own health and wellbeing and to care effectively and safely be person-focused, reflecting the variety of care and caring journeys and the variety of options available to meet their needs apply the charging rules equally so those with similar needs or services are treated the same and minimise anomalies between different care settings encourage and enable those who wish to stay in or take up employment, education or training or plan for the future costs of meeting their needs to do so be sustainable for local authorities in the long-term
Since the implementation of The Care Act 2014, it has become clear that there are areas where the Act is not always clear on how to treat an individual’s finances within the financial assessment, e.g. in the specific area of allowances in the financial assessment for Disability Related Expenditure (DRE). Often when faced with a difference of opinion between the council and the individual or their representative, The Care Act 2014 cannot provide a definitive resolution, which leaves Dorset Council with a dispute around the outcome of the financial assessment. Recently there has been a case where in-house legal advice was
Page 290 also unable to clarify The Care Act so it was felt that the situation would benefit from a review by the Local Government Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO)to clarify the position when the CA is not clear. The outcome from the LGSCO was that where the Care Act 2014 is not clear, the local authority’s policy should be clear on how they will deal with those charging issues within the financial assessment. In 2019/20 Dorset Council invoiced 4,540 people a total of £23.162m. In that same year 6,432 people were receiving care services, suggesting that approximately 70% of service users make a contribution towards their care costs, ranging between £2 per week and the full cost of the care they receive.
2.0 Current Amendments 2.1 This is a refresh and review of the current policy following a recent decision by the LGSCO. This review has taken account of changes in the benefit system after the Care Act was implemented, the expectation on people who have authority to manage someone’s money, the allowances that can be made for household or disability-related expenditure.
The amended policy is attached and requires urgent sign off as it now addresses a number of areas where individuals are currently in the process of taking their appeals to the LGSCO. 2.2 The amendments to the policy are in the following areas and are shown in blue in the amended policy;
Section Change Reason
2.2 Entitlement to financial Clarifies the expectation around assessment completion of a financial assessment and that people will be charged the full cost of their care if they choose not to engage with the financial assessment process
2.4 Treatment of couples Clarifies the request for additional information on the assets of a spouse which they are not obliged to provide as part of the assessment process. Although financial assessments are based on individual circumstances, where people have joint assets or income, they may be asked to provide information on their own assets in order
Page 291 to ensure that the correct allowances are made in the financial assessment. This will be to the benefit of the spouse and will only be used to increase their own income rather than decrease it.
2.6 – 2.8 ‘Gross without prejudice’ funding Clarifies how we will support people who do not have capacity and cannot access their assets until someone is formally appointed to act for them. Also provides clarification on the process for recovering monies paid out where people do not have capacity.
2.10 Financial assessment in prisons Clarifies how we will assist prisoners who are receiving care in a custodial setting to access financial support with care services.
3.2 Tariff Income Clarifies the contribution that people are expected to make towards care from their capital assets
4.2 – 4.3 Completion of financial Confirms how resources will be used to assessments enable individuals to make applications for financial assistance for care services and the expectation on people with formal authority to act on a individuals behalf.
4.7 Capacity regarding finances Clarifies that where people do not have someone acting for them formally we will engage with a nominated relative/friend to provide information for the financial assessment, to enable people to access financial assistance where they are entitled.
6.3 Decisions on deprivation of Confirms the review process for assets appealing decisions around people giving away assets with the intention of reducing future care costs.
Page 292 8.3 Third party financial Clarifies the process for ensuring that assessments relatives who state that they are able to meet the cost of a third party contribution are able to do so for a 2- year period and the process where this is not considered to be affordable to ensure that people do not enter into a financial agreement that they cannot afford.
8.6 Minimum Income Guarantee Clarifies that MIGs are set annually by (MIG) central Government and adopted by LAs.
8.8 Property ownership Clarifies that the value of properties which are not the individuals own home will be treated as a capital asset in the financial assessment.
8.9 – 8.10 Invoicing periods Clarifies the frequency and detail of requesting payment for care costs.
24.1 (iv) Disregarded properties Clarifies the process for notifying the LA of changes in circumstance where a property has been disregarded in a financial assessment due to a statutory disregard being met.
26.1 (a) 12 Week Property Disregard Clarifies start date of 12- week property disregard where individual has been self-funding.
44.2 b (v) Minimum Income Guarantee Clarifies that MIGs are set annually by (MIG) central Government and adopted by LAs and how they will be treated as income.
45.6 Entitlement to welfare benefits Confirms that people are expected to claim all of the benefit income that they are entitled to in order to maximise their income and minimise financial assistance required from the local authority.
Page 293 46.1 Backdated benefits Confirms that people are expected to inform the LA of changes in their income, in order to ensure that the financial assessment is correct and confirms that where changes are not notified, then the charges may be backdated, possibly resulting in a debt.
46.2 Transfers from Disability Living Clarifies the differing treatment of DLA Allowance (DLA) to Personal and PIP in the financial assessment and Independence Payment (PIP) the responsibility of the person or their representative to inform the LA of the change in order to avoid backdated charges being applied to the assessment.
47.1 – Support for Mortgage Interest Clarifies that where people are entitled 47.2 Loans to apply for a Mortgage Interest Loan to assist with payment of a mortgage, they are expected to make all appropriate efforts to do so, in order to maximise their own income.
48.1 Debts Confirms that no allowance can be made in the financial assessment for outstanding debts and that people should take independent advice to address debt issues in with the requirement to pay for care services.
49.2 d) ii, Disability Related Expenditure Clarifies the treatment of DRE in the iii, iv, h) i, (DRE) financial assessment on a range of ii, i, j, k, l different expenditure in order to ensure fairness and equitability across all areas 49.3 of Dorset. 49.4
52.3 Minimum Income Guarantee Clarifies allowances made in the (MIG) and non-dependant financial assessment which reflect the deductions fact that people who live with relatives are expected to contribute towards household expenditure such as rent,
Page 294 council tax, utilities, food.
53 Appeals process Confirms the process for appealing decisions made within the financial assessment process.
3.0 Future amendments
The Charging and Financial Assessment Policy will continue to require regular amendments, as and when issues are identified that are not clearly addressed within The Care Act. There needs to be a simple and timely ability to amend the policy as and when required. Delegated authority for further minor changes to the Charging and Financial Assessment Policy is being sought to enable the Executive Director and the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health to authorise minor amendments. The majority of minor changes made to the policy will only clarify how specific situations around expenditure and other allowances are considered in the assessment and will not fundamentally change the way individuals are financially assessed across the county. Significant changes would require member agreement and potentially a formal consultation process.
4.0 Executive Summary
4.1 Financial Implications
Adoption of the changes to the policy should lead to improved clarity and operational delivery of the policy. Fewer cases being lost when reviewed by the LGSCO and in turn, increased income and reduced reputational damage. The LGSCO have themselves recommended that our policy be amended to reflect some of their more recent rulings.
4.2 Well-being and Health Implications
The purpose of clarifying the policy is to ensure that people are treated fairly and equitably across the county and that the policy is sustainable in recovering income from charges for care – enabling the authority to continue to provide the high level of care services required.
4.3 Climate implications
Page 295 None identified
4.4 Other Implications
None identified
5.0 Risk Assessment
Having considered the risks associated with this decision, the level of risk has been identified as: Current Risk: LOW – the aim is to clarify policy decisions, allowing the Financial Assessment Team to implement charges fairly across the county Residual Risk: LOW – if the policy amendments are not agreed then the authority faces potential reputational risk where the decision-making process is not clear and could face challenge from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
6.0 Equalities Impact Assessment The amended assessment does not affect the previously completed EqIA
7.0 Appendices Amended Charging and Financial Assessment Policy – specific amended areas shown in blue
8.0 Background Papers .
Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 296 Ref. No. Category (Y/N) People Place Corporate Financial Assessment and Care In Constitution Contributions Policy
Policy details
What is this policy Local authorities have a duty to arrange care and support for adults with eligible for? needs, and a power to meet non-eligible needs. In both cases the local authority has discretion to choose whether or not to charge. This policy sets out how Dorset Council has decided to exercise that discretion, in accordance with the regulations, the statutory guidance and the overarching principle that people should only be asked to pay what they can afford. Who does this policy This policy applies to staff who are involved in charging and financial assessment, affect? and service users, carers and their families. Keywords Eligible needs. Fair charging. Fair contributions. Financial assessment. Additional payments. Personal Budgets. Policy owner Financial Support Manager Does this policy Care Act 2014 Sections 14, 17 and 69-70 relate to any laws? Care Act 2014: Care and support statutory guidance Care and Support and Aftercare (Choice of Accommodation) Regulations 2014 Is this policy linked Direct Payments; Recovery of Debts; Deferred Payments; Transport; and to any other Dorset Safeguarding. It is also linked to public information on our website. Council policies? Equality Impact An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) was completed for all financial policies that Assessment (EqIA) were written to introduce the Care Act in Dorset. A further EqIA (with an action plan to mitigate adverse impacts) was completed in respect of the ‘Making Charges Fairer’ review carried out in March 2017.
The EQIA will be updated when the policy is reviewed. Other Impact N/A Assessments
Status and Approvals
Status Live / Under review Version V3 Last review date September 2020 Next review date January 2022 Approved by (Director) Director for Adults and Date approved July 2017 Housing Member/ Partnership Executive Advisory Panel Date approved July 2017 Board Approval / Cabinet
Page 297 Adults and Community Services Financial Assessment and Care Contributions Policy
Local authorities have a duty to arrange care and support for adults with eligible needs, and a power to meet non-eligible needs. In both cases the local authority has discretion to choose whether or not to charge. This policy sets Purpose out how Dorset Council has decided to exercise that discretion, in accordance with the regulations, the statutory guidance and the overarching principle that people should only be asked to pay what they can afford.
The scope of this policy covers: Introduction Common Issues for Charging; Capital Limits; Carrying out a Financial Assessment; ‘Light Touch’ Financial Assessments; ‘Deprivation of Assets’ and Debts; Scope Charging for Care and Support in a Care Home; Choice of Accommodation; Charging for Care and Support in other Care Settings; Charging for Support to carers; Requesting Support to Meet Eligible Needs; Pension Reforms; Complaints.
This policy applies to staff who are involved in charging and financial Areas of responsibility assessment, and service users, carers and their families.
Eligible needs. Fair charging. Fair contributions. Financial assessment. Keywords Additional payments.
Term Definition Dorset, the Council, we, Dorset Council (the ‘local authority’) ourselves, us The Care Act The Care Act is a major reform of the law Glossary of Terms / about care and support. It puts people Definitions and their carers in control. Policy A policy is a set of principles, rules and guidelines that help the Council make decisions and that let people know what they can expect from us.
PagePage 2982 of 46 Wellbeing The wellbeing principle in the Care Act means that when Dorset arranges care and support for someone it must take into account a wide range of things that contribute to their physical, mental and emotional welfare. Personalisation Personalisation means that every person who receives support, whether it is provided by Dorset, or funded by themselves, will have choice and control over the ‘shape’ of that support in all care settings. Eligible needs ‘Eligible’ needs are those needs for care and support which Dorset is required to meet by the Care Act. Although the Council has powers to meet any other needs, the determination of ‘eligible’ needs is important in helping people to access care and support. Capacity The Mental Capacity Act protects people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. This could be for reasons such as a mental health condition, a severe learning disability, a brain injury or a stroke. Financial assessment The Council carries out a financial assessment (or ‘means-test) to work out how much, if anything, someone will pay for the social care services they receive. The assessment looks at someone’s income and capital, compared to the cost of providing the services. Capital Examples of capital include, but are not limited to, property and savings. Income Examples of income include, but are not limited to, money received from work or benefits, or as returns from capital. Resources Capital and income together make up someone’s resources. Deprivation of assets Sometimes people deliberately try to avoid or decrease payment of a contribution towards their care and support, by ‘depriving’ themselves of capital or income. Disregards A disregard is something that is not taken into account in the financial assessment.
This policy relates to sections 14, 17 and 69-70 of the Care Act 2014, the Care Legislation and legal and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and requirements the Care and Support and Aftercare (Choice of Accommodation) Regulations 2014.
PagePage 3 of 29946 An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was completed for all financial policies Equality impact that were written to introduce the Care Act in Dorset. A further EQIA was assessment completed in respect of the ‘Making Charges Fairer’ review carried out in March 2017.
PagePage 3004 of 46 1. Introduction
1.1. The Care Act says that if a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s needs, it may charge, except where it is required by the law to arrange the care and support free of charge. The law says that people should only be asked to pay what they can afford. So some people are entitled to financial support based on a means-test and some people are entitled to free care and support. Dorset’s policy about charging is based on the following principles:
a) we will not charge people more than it is reasonably practicable for them to pay; b) we will be comprehensive, to minimise variation in the way people are assessed and charged; c) we will be clear and open, so people know what they will be charged; d) we will promote wellbeing, and social inclusion, and we will support the vision of personalisation, independence, choice and control; e) we will support carers to look after their own health and wellbeing and to care effectively and safely; f) we will be person-focused, reflecting the different care and caring journeys and the different options available to meet people’s needs; g) we will apply the charging rules equally so those with similar needs or services are treated the same and to minimise anomalies between different care settings; h) we will encourage and help those who wish to (a) stay in or take up employment, education or training, or (b) plan for the future costs of meeting their needs to do so; i) we will ensure the policy is affordable for Dorset in the long-term.
1.2. Alongside this, we will ensure there is sufficient information and advice available in a suitable format for the person’s needs, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, to ensure that they or their representative are able to understand any contributions they are asked to make. We will also make sure that the person, or their representative, is aware of the availability of independent financial information and advice.
2. Common Issues for Charging
2.1. Dorset has a duty to arrange care and support for adults with eligible needs, and a power to meet non-eligible needs. In both cases, Dorset has the discretion to choose whether or not to charge. This policy sets out how Dorset Council has decided to exercise that discretion, in accordance with the regulations and the guidance. Staff must follow this policy at all times, but if they believe that to do so would be inappropriate in a particular individual case, they should discuss the matter with their manager.
2.2. People are assumed to be able to meet the full cost of any care services provided to them, unless they prove that they have insufficient assets with which to meet the full cost of their care. In order to do this, they are expected to undertake a financial assessment, during which they will be expected to provide evidence of their capital, income and expenditure. Normally this will include requesting verification for a 3 to 6 month period prior to the commencement of care services. However, Dorset can request whatever information is deemed necessary to satisfy itself that people are entitled to receive financial assistance with their care costs, which may mean that verification of financial information over a longer period is requested. If the person chooses not to have a financial assessment, or fails to engage with the financial assessment process, they will be charged the full cost of any services they receive from Dorset Council.
2.3. If a financial assessment shows that a person has more capital than the ‘upper capital limit’, the law says that Dorset must not pay towards the costs of a care home. However, the law about charging for
PagePage 5 of 30146 settings other than care homes is different and Dorset has made a decision about what it is reasonable to charge in accordance with the law.
2.4. Dorset has no power to assess couples or civil partners according to their joint resources. Each person must therefore be treated individually. However, we will ask people who are part of a couple (this includes being married, being civil partners or living together as a couple) whether they would like to provide details of their partner’s capital and income, as this may be to their benefit: we can make additional allowances in the financial assessment where the spouse/partner has income below minimum income limits, and we can seek to ensure the couple is in receipt of all benefits they may be entitled to. Additional allowances can only be considered where the spouse provides evidence of both their income and their capital assets.
2.5. Where a person lacks capacity, we may still assess them as being able to contribute towards the cost of their care. We will put in place policies about how we communicate, how we carry out financial assessments and how we collect any debts that take into consideration the capacity of the person as well as any condition they may have. Sometimes it will be useful to consult with and engage with family members; however, family members may not have the legal right to access the person’s bank accounts. Where possible, we will work with someone who has the legal authority to make financial decisions on behalf of a person who lacks capacity. If there is no such person, then an approach to the Court of Protection will be made.
2.6. There are occasions when it remains to be determined where the responsibilities lie for funding placements and/or providing care and support. On such occasions, Dorset may offer to assist with funding on a ‘without prejudice’ basis in order that the person’s needs will be met. When the determination is made any charges for care and support owing to Dorset will be backdated to the date the care and support commenced, in accordance with the outcome of the financial assessment.
2.7. The council expects that a person making an application to be legally appointed to act for another person with needs for care and support, but who lacks capacity to manage their own finances, will apply to the Department for Work and Pensions to become their Appointee, to enable them to receive their welfare benefit income pending the application to the Office of the Public Guardian/Court of Protection. The welfare benefit income can be used to contribute towards the cost of their care.
2.8. The council expects that a person who makes an application to the Office of the Public Guardian/Court of Protection will ensure that the Executor named in the person lacking capacity’s Will (if they have a Will) is aware of any debt accruing to Dorset Council which must be addressed by the Estate if the person dies before the applicant has been formally appointed.
2.9. The Care Act charging rules apply equally to people in prison. Whilst prisoners have restricted access to paid employment and benefits (and earnings in prison are disregarded for the purposes of a financial assessment), any capital assets, savings and pensions will be given specific consideration as set out in this policy and our policy on ‘Prisons, approved premises and bail accommodation’.
PagePage 3026 of 46 2.10. Where a person requires care and support in a custodial setting, we will work with HM Prison Service to establish who can assist with completion of the financial assessment. This may be a family member, or someone appointed to act for the person. If the person deals with their own finances, we will carry out a ‘benefit check’ to establish their past and current entitlement to benefits and, where appropriate, we will visit the person in custody to finalise the information required to complete the assessment.
PagePage 7 of 30346 3. Capital Limits
3.1. An amount of money called the ‘upper capital limit’ sets out at what point a person is entitled to access support from Dorset. This limit is set by the Government.
3.2. The upper capital limit is £23,250 for the year 2020-21. Below this level, a person can ask for means- tested support from Dorset. This means that we will carry out a financial assessment of the person’s assets and will make a charge based on what the person can afford to pay. Where a person has less than the lower capital limit – which is £14,250 – they will not need to contribute to the cost of their long-term care and support from their capital. Where a person’s capital assets are between £14,250 and £23,250, they will be expected to contribute towards the cost of the care from their income, on a sliding scale of £1 for each £250 or part thereof, between the upper and lower capital limits (see paragraph 4.6).
3.3. A person with more in capital than the upper capital limit can still ask us to arrange their care and support for them. However, they are not entitled to receive any financial assistance from Dorset, and they pay the full cost of their care and support until their capital falls below the upper capital limit.
3.4. Dorset must not charge for certain types of care and support which the law says must be arranged free. These are:
a) Intermediate care including reablement (for up to six weeks). We will also follow our policy on ‘Preventing, reducing or delaying needs’ which explains how we may apply our discretion to offer this free of charge for longer than six weeks where there are clear preventative benefits. b) Community equipment (aids and minor adaptations). Aids must be provided free of charge whether they meet or prevent/delay needs. A minor adaptation is one costing £1,000 or less. c) Care and support provided to people with Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. d) After-care services/support provided under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983. e) Any service or part of service which the NHS is under a duty to provide. This includes Continuing Health Care and the NHS contribution to Registered Nursing Care. f) Any services which Dorset is under a duty to provide through other legislation may not be charged for under the Care Act. g) Assessment of needs and care planning, which do not constitute ‘meeting needs’.
4. Carrying out a Financial Assessment
4.1. When Dorset makes a charge, it will not charge more than the cost that it incurs in meeting the assessed needs of the person and it will not charge any administration fee relating to arranging the care and support. The only exception to that is if a person with eligible needs and assets above the upper capital limit asks us to arrange their care and support for them. When that happens, we may charge an administration fee to cover our costs, but it will not be higher than the cost to us of arranging the care and support. (But see also paragraphs 11.1 – 11.4)
PagePage 3048 of 46 4.2. The council’s usual method of completing financial assessments is via a telephone call at a pre- arranged date and time. However, we will often undertake a financial assessment via post or email, where the person has a legally appointed representative (i.e. DWP Appointeeship, Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney, or a Court-Appointed Deputy).
4.3. In exceptional circumstances, we will visit the person to carry out a financial assessment. For example, where an elderly or vulnerable person is managing their own finances and is unable to complete a financial assessment over the phone.
4.4. When Dorset is making a charge, we will carry out a financial assessment of what the person can afford to pay. When it is finished, we will give a written record of that assessment to the person. We might provide it alongside a person’s care and support plan or separately. It will explain how the assessment has been carried out, what the charge will be, and how often it will be made. If the charges are not going to be always the same, it will explain why in a way that the person can easily understand.
4.5. Dorset will regularly reassess a person’s ability to meet the cost of any charges to take account of any changes to their resources. This is likely to be annually to reflect annual increases in state benefits, but will also take place if there are other changes in circumstances, or at the request of the person.
4.6. At the time of the assessment of care and support needs, staff will refer to our policy about ‘Independent Advocacy’ and make sure that the person has the mental capacity to take part in the care plan and financial assessment. If the person lacks capacity, staff will find out if the person has any of the following, as they would need to be consulted:
a) Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA); b) Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for Property and Affairs; c) Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), or Deputyship for Health and Welfare; d) Property and Affairs Deputyship under the Court of Protection; or e) Any other person dealing with that person’s affairs (e.g. someone who has been given Appointeeship by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for the purpose of benefits payments).
4.7. People who lack capacity to give consent to a financial assessment and who cannot rely on any of the above people with authority to be involved in their affairs may require the appointment of a Property and Affairs Deputy. Family members can apply for this to the Court of Protection or we can apply if there is no family involved in the care of the person and the circumstances of the person meet the criteria set by Dorset Council’s Service User’s Financial Affairs Team (SUFA). While this takes some weeks, it then enables the person appointed to access information about bank accounts and financial affairs. A person with dementia for example should not be ‘forced’ to undertake a financial assessment, or to sign documents they are unable to understand, and should not be punished for any incomplete information that is elicited from them. We will work with the EPA, a LPA or a Deputy instead. If a family member is prepared to assist with the financial assessment, this will be accepted in order to complete the financial assessment or where there is no relative or friend available to help the individual, we will work with them to assist them with completing the financial assessment.
PagePage 9 of 30546 4.8. A person’s capital is taken into account in the financial assessment in accordance with Annex B, unless it is subject to one of the disregards described in the Care Act. The main examples of capital are property and savings. Where the person receiving care and support has capital valued at between the lower capital limit of £14,250 and the upper capital limit of £23,250, we will charge them £1 per week for every £250 in capital between the two amounts. This is called ‘tariff income’. For example, if a person has £4,000 above the lower capital limit, they are charged a tariff income £4,000/£250 = £16 per week towards their care.
4.9. In assessing what a person can afford to pay, Dorset also takes into account their income. However, to help encourage people to remain in or take up employment, with the benefits this has for a person’s well-being, earnings from current employment are disregarded when working out how much they can pay. There are different approaches to how income is treated depending on whether a person is in residential care or receiving care and support in their own home. Further details are set out in Annex C on the Treatment of Income.
5. ‘Light-touch’ Financial Assessments
5.1. In some circumstances, we will treat a person as if a financial assessment had been carried out. In order to do this, we must be satisfied on the basis of evidence provided by the person that they can afford, and will continue to be able to afford, any charges due. This is known as a ‘light-touch’ financial assessment.
5.2. The main circumstances in which we may consider carrying out a light-touch financial assessment are:
a) Where a person has significant financial resources and does not wish to undergo a full financial assessment for personal reasons but wishes nevertheless to have our support in arranging their care. In these situations, we may accept other evidence in lieu of carrying out the financial assessment and consider the person to have financial resources above the upper limit; b) Where we charge a small or nominal amount for a particular service (for example, for subsidised services) which a person is clearly able to meet and would clearly have the relevant minimum income left, and carrying out a financial assessment would be disproportionate; c) When an individual is receiving welfare benefits, such as Jobseekers’ allowance or Universal Credit, which demonstrate that they would not be able to contribute towards their care and support costs. d) We may be satisfied that a person is able to afford any charges due if there is evidence the person has: e) property clearly worth more than the upper capital limit, where they are the sole owner, or it is clear what their share is; f) savings clearly worth more than the upper capital limit; or, g) sufficient income left following the charge due.
5.3. Where Dorset is going to meet the person’s needs and we propose to undertake a light-touch financial assessment and, on that basis, to charge the person, we will still make sure that the person concerned is willing to pay all the charges due. We will not charge people more than it is reasonably
PagePage 10306 of 46 practicable for them to pay. Where a person does not agree to the charges that they have been assessed as being able to afford to pay, a full financial assessment may be needed.
5.4. When deciding whether or not to undertake a light-touch financial assessment we will consider both the level of charge we propose to make as well as the evidence or other certification the person is able to provide. We will inform the person when a light-touch assessment has taken place and make it clear that they have the right to request a full financial assessment should they so wish, as well as making sure they have access to sufficient information and advice, including the option of independent financial information and advice.
6. ‘Deprivation of Assets’ and Debts
6.1. People with care and support needs are free to spend their income and assets as they see fit including making gifts to friends and family. This is important for promoting their wellbeing and enabling them to live fulfilling independent lives. However, it is also important that people pay their fair contribution towards their care and support costs.
6.2. There are some cases where it is reasonable to predict that care costs will be incurred, and a person has chosen to ‘deprive’ themselves of either capital or income. Where we believe this may be the case, we will follow our policy called ‘Deprivation of Assets’. In such cases, we may either charge the person as if they still possessed the asset or, if the asset has been transferred to someone else, seek to recover the lost income by charging that person. However, we cannot recover more than the person gained from the transfer.
6.3. Where we decide that a person has deprived themselves of assets with the intention of avoiding or reducing care and support charges, the person has a route to appeal against that decision via the council’s statutory Complaints Procedure. The Procedure provides for a review of the decision by a senior manager within the Strategic Finance Service. If the person, or their appointed representative, is not satisfied with the outcome of the review, we will advise the person to approach the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and request an independent review. Further details cane be found in Dorset Council’s Deprivation of Assets policy.
6.4. Where a person has accrued a debt to us following a decision that they have deprived themselves of assets with the intention of avoiding or reducing care and support charges, we may use our legal powers to recover that debt. In deciding how to proceed, we will consider the circumstances of the case before deciding a course of action. For example, we will consider whether this was a deliberate avoidance of payment or due to circumstances beyond the person’s control.
6.5. Ultimately, we may institute court proceedings to recover the debt. However, we will only use this power after other reasonable alternatives for recovering the debt have been exhausted. Further details on how to pursue debts are set out in our ‘Debt Management’ policy.
PagePage 11 of 307 46 7. Charging for Care and Support in a Care Home
7.1. This section must be read in conjunction with Annex B on the Treatment of Capital and Annex C on the Treatment of Income.
7.2. Where we have decided to charge and have undertaken the financial assessment, we will support the person to identify options of how best to pay any charge. This may include offering the person a deferred payment agreement in accordance with our ‘Deferred Payments’ policy.
7.3. Where we are meeting needs by arranging a care home, we will be responsible for the contractual arrangements with the provider. Even where a contribution is being paid by the person, or a ‘top-up’ is being paid, we will be responsible for making the payment to the provider of the full amount. Any contributions or top-ups will be invoiced to the individual by Dorset Council.
7.4. Where a person is a short-term or temporary resident in a care home, we will charge based on our charging policies as applied in other settings, or in their own home.
7.5. People in a care home as long-term residents will contribute most of their income, excluding their earnings, towards the cost of their care and support. However, we will leave the person with a specified amount of their own income so that they have money to spend on personal items such as clothes and other items that are not part of their care. This is known as the Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA) and it is set by the Government. It is in addition to any income the person receives from earnings. Dorset has discretion to apply a higher income allowance in individual cases, for example where the person needs to contribute towards the cost of maintaining their former home, which has been ‘disregarded’ in the financial assessment.
8. Choice of Accommodation
8.1. Where the care planning process shows that a person’s needs are best met in a care home we will provide for the person’s preferred choice of accommodation, subject to certain conditions. This also applies to ‘shared lives’, supported living and extra care housing settings. We will determine the right type of accommodation with the adult as part of the care planning process, therefore this choice only applies between providers of the same type.
8.2. We will ensure that the person has genuine choice of accommodation and offer at least one option that is affordable and available within a person’s personal budget. However, a person will also be able to choose alternative options, including a more expensive setting, where a third party (or in certain circumstances the resident) is willing and able to pay the additional cost (‘top-up’). However, an
PagePage 12308 of 46 additional payment will always be a matter of choice for the person. When a third-party top-up is chosen, we will carry out a financial assessment of the third party to confirm that they have the means to pay.
8.3. Where we complete a third-party financial assessment and conclude that the proposed payment is not affordable for a two-year period, we will ask the relevant Locality Team to consider an alternative placement for the person. We will also ask the Locality Team to consider an alternative placement when a third-party top-up is in place, but the third-party says that they can no longer afford the payment.
8.4. Charging for Care and Support in other Care Settings, Including a Person’s Own Home
8.5. These charging arrangements cover any setting for meeting care and support needs outside of a care home, for example, care and support received in a person’s own home, in extra care housing, supported living accommodation or ‘shared lives’ arrangements. This section should be read in conjunction with Annex B on the ‘Treatment of Capital’ and Annex C on the ‘Treatment of Income’.
8.6. Because a person who receives care and support outside a care home will need to pay their daily living costs such as rent, food and utilities, the charging rules ensure they have enough money to meet these costs. After charging, a person will be left with the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). The MIG rates are set by the Government annually (usually in April) and set out in a Circular to local authorities. The various rates reflect different people’s circumstances and entitlements to welfare benefits. Where a person receives benefits to meet their disability needs that do not meet the eligibility criteria for care and support from Dorset, the charging arrangements will ensure that they keep enough money to cover the cost of meeting these disability-related costs.
8.7. The financial assessment of a person’s capital will exclude the value of the property which they continue to occupy as their main or only home. The council will usually consult people with care and support needs when making important decisions about the exercise of discretion in relation to charging. We will also consider how to protect people’s income.
8.8. Where a person owns property or land that is additional to the property they continue to occupy as their main or only home, we will include the value of the additional property or land in the financial assessment as capital. If a person’s capital exceeds the upper capital limit, we will expect them to meet the full cost of their care.
8.9. The council operates a weekly charging period: Sunday to Saturday. We will charge all of the costs incurred in a week to the person, subject to their assessed ability to pay for that week. Each week will be taken in isolation to the weeks preceding and following, and a full week’s ability to pay will be applied to each week, irrespective of the number of days on which care and support have been provided.
PagePage 13 of 309 46 8.10. The council will calculate an amount below which it is uneconomic to raise a weekly invoice and below which there will therefore be no charge to the person for the care received in that week. The weekly amount from April 2020 is £3.00. We call this the ‘minimum invoice allowance’.
9. Charging for Support to Carers
9.1. Where a carer has eligible support needs of their own, Dorset has a duty, or in some cases a power, to arrange support to meet their needs. When we meet the needs of a carer by providing a service directly to them, for example a relaxation class or driving lessons, we have the power to charge the carer. However, we will not charge a carer for care and support provided directly to the person they care for under any circumstances.
9.2. The law does not say that we must charge a carer for the support that they receive, and in many cases, it would be a false economy to do so. In deciding when to charge, and how much, we have taken into account that we value carers within our local communities as ‘partners in care’, and that we recognise the significant contribution that carers make. Carers help to maintain the health and wellbeing of the person they care for, support their independence and enable them to stay in their own homes for longer. In many cases carers voluntarily meet eligible needs that we would otherwise be required to meet.
9.3. It may be that there are circumstances where a nominal charge may be appropriate, for example to provide for a service which is subsidised, but for which the carer may still pay a small charge, such as a gym class. We will make sure that charges do not negatively impact on a carer’s ability to look after their own health and wellbeing and to care effectively and safely. Where we decide to charge carers, we will do so in accordance with the non-residential charging rules. We will usually carry out a financial assessment to ensure that any charges are affordable, except where the carer agrees with us that a full financial assessment would be disproportionate in relation to the charges. In such cases we will carry out ‘light touch’ financial assessments as described at Section 5.
9.4. A carer’s assessment may identify that the carer’s needs for support could be met by arranging time away from the person they care for, for instance so that they can stay on top of other aspects of their lives, and that in order to achieve this, services need to be provided to support the cared-for person in their absence. Such services would be provided directly to the cared-for person, even though they may meet the needs of both parties and may have been identified through the carer’s assessment. The Council may not charge the carer for these services, and any charges should be based on our policy on charging for non-residential care and support.
10. Requesting Support to Meet Eligible Needs.
10.1. People with eligible needs and financial assets above the upper capital limit may ask us to meet their needs. This could be for a variety of reasons such as the person finding the system too difficult to navigate or wishing to take advantage of our knowledge of the local market for care and support services. Where the person asks us to meet their eligible needs, and it is anticipated that their needs
PagePage 14310 of 46 will be met by a care home placement, then we may choose to meet their needs, but we are not required to do so. In other cases, where the needs are to be met by care and support of some other type, we will meet those eligible needs.
10.2. We will make people aware that they have the right to ask us to meet their needs, in certain circumstances even when they have resources above the financial limits and would not be entitled to financial support with any charges. We will be clear that this right does not extend to needs met by a care home placement, although we may choose to apply the same approach. We will offer support to people in meeting their own needs, including providing information and advice on different options, and we may offer to arrange contracts with providers.
10.3. Where the person’s resources are above the financial limit, the person’s entitlement to our support in meeting their needs may be dependent on the request having been made. Therefore, it is important that the person, and any carer, advocate or other person they wish to involve, are aware of this ability. We will make clear to the person that they may be liable to pay an arrangement fee in addition to the costs of meeting their needs, to cover the costs of putting in place the care and support required.
10.4. The arrangement fees we charge will cover only the costs that we actually incur in arranging care. The fees will take account of the cost of negotiating and/or managing the contract with a provider and cover any administration costs incurred. Where we choose to meet the needs of a person with resources above the financial limit who requires a care home placement, we will not charge an arrangement fee. This is because we would be supporting people under our power (rather than our duty) to meet needs and our ability to charge the arrangement fee applies only to circumstances when we are required to meet needs.
10.5. We will not charge people for a financial assessment, a needs assessment or the preparation of a care and support plan. We may charge a flat rate fee for arranging care. However, any flat rate will be set at a level which does not exceed the costs that we actually incur.
10.6. The information we provide to the person following a financial assessment will include information on their right to request us to meet their needs – and how they would be charged – and the advice and support that is available to help people make arrangements to meet their own needs, whatever type of support they require.
10.7. We are under a duty to meet a person’s eligible needs when requested to do so and their needs are to be met by care and support other than in a care home. However, where the person has resources above the financial limits, we may charge the person for the full cost of their care and support. In such circumstances, the person remains responsible for paying for the cost of their care and support, but we take on the responsibility for meeting those needs. This means that we may provide or arrange care and support, or make a direct payment, or some combination of these.
PagePage 15 of 311 46 10.8. We will assure ourselves that, whilst the person remains responsible for paying for their own care, they have enough assets for the arrangements that we put in place to remain both affordable and sustainable. We will also take steps to avoid disputes and additional liabilities by securing a person’s agreement in writing to pay the costs that they are responsible for in meeting their needs, including payments to providers. We will make similar arrangements with any third parties that agree to contribute towards these costs.
11. Pension reforms
11.1. Reforms to defined contribution pensions came into effect from April 2015. The aim of the reforms is to provide people with much greater flexibility in how they fund later life. The Government expects there to be a range of new products that people will use to manage and access money from their pensions as and when they need it. Where possible, these will be treated similarly to existing drawdown products for charging purposes. 11.2. For the purposes of charging, we will follow the guidance set out on the treatment of income and capital in Annexes B and C and treat a person’s assets accordingly. Where a person has chosen to withdraw funds from their pension pot and manage it directly, for example combining it with other assets rather than through a pension product, this may be treated as capital under the rules set out in Annex B.
12. Complaints
12.1. A person may wish to make a complaint about any aspect of the financial assessment or how we have chosen to charge. We will make clear how our complaints procedure can be used and provide information and advice on how to make a complaint.
12.2. Complaints about the level of charge levied by Dorset are subject to the Care and Support complaints procedure as set out in The Local Authority Social Services and NHS Complaints Regulations 2009.
PagePage 16312 of 46 Annex A Capital This annex covers the treatment of capital when conducting a financial assessment in all circumstances. 13. Treatment of Capital
13.1. This section of the guidance applies where Dorset has chosen to charge a person for the services it is arranging and therefore must undertake a financial assessment. When doing so, we must assess the income and capital of the person. This Annex covers the treatment of capital and should be read in conjunction with Annex C on the ‘Treatment of Income’.
13.2. The financial assessment will look across all of a person’s assets – both capital and income – decide which is capital and which is income, and assess those assets according to the regulations and guidance. Therefore, staff must also refer to Annex C on the ‘Treatment of Income’ before conducting a financial assessment. The treatment of income will vary depending on the type of setting a person is receiving care in. The treatment of capital is the same for all settings, except where described.
13.3. In assessing what a person can afford to contribute we will apply the upper and lower capital limits. The upper capital limit is currently £23,250 and the lower capital limit is £14,250.
13.4. A person with assets above the upper capital limit is deemed to be able to afford the full cost of their care. Those with capital between the lower and upper capital limit will be deemed as able to make a contribution, known as ‘tariff income’, from their capital. Any capital below the lower capital limit will be disregarded. Further details are set out in later paragraphs 24 to 28.
14. What is capital?
14.1. Capital can mean many different things. Staff may need to take advice and consider the individual asset on its merits. In general, it refers to financial resources available for use and tends to be from sources that are considered more durable than money in the sense that they can generate a return.
14.2. The following list gives examples of capital. This list is intended as a guide and is not exhaustive.
a) Buildings b) Land c) National Savings Certificates and Ulster Savings Certificates d) Premium Bonds e) Stocks and shares f) Capital held by the Court of Protection or a Deputy appointed by that Court g) Any savings held in:
PagePage 17 of 313 46 (i) Building society accounts. (ii) Bank current accounts, deposit accounts or special investment accounts. This includes savings held in the National Savings Bank, Girobank and Trustee Savings Bank (iii) SAYE schemes (iv) Unit Trusts (v) Co-operatives share accounts (vi) Cash h) Trust funds
14.3. It is important that people are not charged twice on the same resources. Therefore, resources should be treated as either income or capital but not both. If a person has saved money from their income, then those savings should normally be treated as capital. However, they should not be assessed as both income and capital in the same period. Therefore, in the period when they are received as income the resource should be disregarded as capital.
15. Cases where it is not clear whether a payment is capital or income
15.1. In assessing a person’s assets, it may not be immediately clear whether a resource is capital or income, particularly where a person is due to receive planned payments. In order to guide our decision, in general, a planned payment of capital is one which is: a) Not in respect of a specified period; and b) Not intended to form part of a series of payments. 15.2. We will also have regard to the guidance on capital treated as income at paragraph
16. Who owns the capital?
16.1. A capital asset is normally defined as belonging to the person in whose name it is held i.e. the legal owner. However, in some cases this may be disputed and/or beneficial ownership argued. Beneficial ownership is where someone enjoys the benefits of ownership, even though the title of the asset is held by someone else or where they directly or indirectly have the power to vote or influence a transaction regarding a particular asset. In most cases the person will be both the legal and beneficial owner.
16.2. Where ownership is disputed, we will seek written evidence to prove where the ownership lies. If a person states they are holding capital for someone else, we will obtain evidence of the arrangement, the origin of the capital and intentions for its future use and return to its rightful owner.
Example A - capital dispute: Arlene has £14,000 in a building society account in her own name. She says that £3,000 is set aside for her granddaughter’s education. Unfortunately, there is no deed of trust or other legal arrangement which would prevent Arlene using the whole amount herself. She is therefore treated as the beneficial owner of the whole amount.
PagePage 18314 of 46 Example B - capital dispute: Lisa has £10,000 in a bank account in her own name and shares valued at £6,500. She provides evidence to show that the shares were purchased on behalf of her son who is abroad and that they will be transferred to her son when he returns to the UK. Although Lisa is the legal owner, she is holding the shares in trust for her son who is the beneficial owner. Only the £10,000 is therefore treated as Lisa’s capital.
16.3. Where a person has joint beneficial ownership of capital the total value should be divided equally between the joint owners and the person should be treated as owning an equal share. Once the person is in sole possession of their actual share, they can be treated as owning that actual amount. 16.4. In some cases, a person may be the legal owner of a property but not the beneficial owner of a property. In other words, they have no rights to the proceeds of any sale. In such circumstances the property must not be taken into account.
17. Calculating the value of Capital
17.1. We will need to work out what value a capital asset has in order to take account of it in the financial assessment. Other than National Savings Certificates, valuation must be the current market or surrender value of the capital asset, e.g. property, whichever is higher, minus:
a) 10% of the value if there will be any actual expenses involved in selling the asset. This must be expenses connected with the actual sale and not simply the realisation of the asset. For example, the costs to withdraw funds from a bank account are not expenses of sale, but legal fees to sell a property would be; and, b) Any outstanding debts secured on the asset, for example a mortgage.
17.2. A capital asset may have a current market value, for example stocks or shares, or a surrender value, for example premium bonds. The current market value will be the price a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller. The way the market value is obtained will depend on the type of asset held.
17.3. If the person and the assessing officer both agree that after deducting any relevant amounts set out in paragraph 14 that the total value of the person’s capital is more than the upper capital limit of £23,250 or less than the lower capital limit of £14,250 then it is not necessary to obtain a precise valuation. If there are any disputes, a precise valuation should be obtained. However, we will bear in mind how close someone is to the upper capital limit when deciding whether to obtain a precise valuation.
17.4. Where a precise valuation is required, a professional valuer should be asked to provide a current market valuation. Once the asset is sold, the capital value to be taken into account is the actual amount realised from the sale, minus any actual expenses of the sale.
PagePage 19 of 315 46 17.5. Where the value of a property is disputed, we will aim to resolve this as quickly as possible. We will try to obtain an independent valuation of the person’s beneficial share of the property within the 12- week disregard period where a person is in a care home. This will enable us to work out what charges a person should pay and enable the person, or their representative, to consider whether to seek a deferred payment agreement.
17.6. The value of National Savings Certificates (and Ulster Savings Certificates) is assessed in the same way as other capital assets. To enable an accurate value for the savings certificates the person must provide details of the: a) certificate issue number(s); b) purchase price; c) date of purchase.
18. Assets held abroad
18.1. Where capital is held abroad and all of it can be transferred to the UK, its value in the other country should be obtained and taken into account less any appropriate deductions under paragraph 14. Where capital is held jointly, it should be treated the same as if it were held jointly within the UK. The detail will depend on the conditions for transfer to the UK.
18.2. Where the capital cannot be wholly transferred to the UK due to the rules of that country, for example currency restrictions, we will require evidence confirming this fact. Examples of acceptable evidence could include documentation from a bank, Government official or solicitor in either this country or the country where it is held.
18.3. Where some restriction is in place, we will seek evidence showing what the asset is, what its value is and to understand the nature and terms of the restriction so that should this change, the amount can be taken into account. We will also take into account the value that a willing buyer would pay in the UK for those assets, but be aware that it may be less than the market or surrender value in the foreign country.
19. Capital not immediately realisable
19.1. Capital which is not immediately realisable due to notice periods, for example National Savings Bank investment accounts or premium bonds, will be taken into account in the normal way at its face value. This will be the value at the time of the financial assessment. It may need to be confirmed and adjusted when the capital is realised. If the person chooses not to release the capital, the value at the time of assessment should be used and it should be reassessed at intervals in the normal way.
PagePage 20316 of 46 20. Upper and lower capital limits
20.1. The capital limits set out at what point a person is able to access our support and how much support they receive. The capital limits as at April 2020 are set by the Department of Health and Social Care as follows;
(i) Upper capital limit: £23,250; (ii) Lower capital limit: £14,250.
20.2. If a person clearly has capital in excess of the upper capital limit, there is no need to make a wider assessment. If a person is near the upper capital limit, we will be mindful of the need to plan ahead for when assets have been spent down and the person may therefore fall below the upper capital limit. This will help reduce burdens on both Dorset and the person from needing to repeat the financial assessment within a short timeframe.
20.3. The capital which a person has below the lower capital limit must be disregarded in the calculation of tariff income (see below).
20.4. Where a person is benefiting from the 12 week property disregard and has chosen to pay a ‘top-up’ fee from their capital resources between the upper and lower capital limits, the level of tariff income that applies during those 12 weeks is the same as it would be if the person were not using the capital to ‘top-up’.
21. Tariff income
21.1. Where a person has assets between the lower and upper capital limits, we will apply tariff income. This assumes that for every £250 of capital, or part thereof, a person can afford to contribute £1 per week towards the cost of their eligible care needs.
Example C - Tariff income: Nora has capital of £18,100. This is £3,850 above the lower capital limit of £14,250. Dividing the £3,850 by £250 produces a figure of £15.40. When calculating tariff income, the amount is always rounded up. This therefore gives a tariff income of £16 per week.
22. Notional capital 22.1. In some circumstances a person may be treated as possessing a capital asset even where they do not actually possess it. This is called ‘notional capital’.
22.2. Notional capital may be capital which: a) Would be available to the person if they applied for it; b) Is paid to a third party in respect of the person;
PagePage 21 of 317 46 c) The person has deprived themselves of in order to reduce the amount of charge they have to pay for their care.
22.3. A person’s capital should therefore be the total of both actual and notional capital. However, if a person has actual capital above the upper capital limit, it may not be necessary to consider notional capital.
22.4. Where a person has been assessed as having notional capital, the value of this must be reduced over time. The rule is that the value of notional capital must be reduced weekly by the difference between the weekly rate the person is paying for their care and the weekly rate they would have paid if notional capital did not apply.
Example D - diminishing notional capital: Hayley is receiving care and support in a care home. She is assessed as having notional capital of £20,000 plus actual capital of £6,000. This means her assets are above the upper capital limit and she needs to pay the full cost of her care and support at £400 per week. The notional capital should therefore be reduced by £300 per week – the difference between the sum Hayley is paying (£400) and would have paid without the notional capital (£100). If she did not have the notional capital it would not affect her ability to pay. This is as she has an income of £120.40 and a personal allowance of £24.40 per week and would therefore be assessed as being able 23.to pay Capital£100. disregarded
23.1. The following capital assets will be disregarded:
a) Property in specified circumstances (see paragraph 34); b) The surrender value of any: (i) Life insurance policy; (ii) Annuity. c) Payments of training bonuses of up to £200; d) Payments in kind from a charity; e) Any personal possessions such as paintings or antiques, unless they were purchased with the intention of reducing capital in order to avoid care and support charges; f) Any capital which is to be treated as income or student loans; g) Any payment that may be derived from: (i) The Macfarlane Trust; (ii) The Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust; (iii) The Macfarlane (Special Payment) (No 2) Trust; (iv) The Caxton Foundation; (v) The Fund (payments to non-haemophiliacs infected with HIV); (vi) The Eileen Trust; (vii) The MFET Trust; (viii) The Independent living Fund (2006); (ix) The Skipton Fund; (x) The London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund. h) The value of funds held in trust or administered by a court which derive from a payment for personal injury to the person. For example, the vaccine damage and criminal injuries compensation funds;
PagePage 22318 of 46 i) The value of a right to receive: (i) Income under an annuity; (ii) Outstanding instalments under an agreement to repay a capital sum; (iii) Payment under a trust where the funds derive from a personal injury; (iv) Income under a life interest or a life-rent; (v) Income (including earnings) payable in a country outside the UK which cannot be transferred to the UK; (vi) An occupational pension; (vii) Any rent. Please note however that this does not necessarily mean the income is disregarded. Please see Annex C for guidance on the treatment of income.
Example E - disregarded capital: Mr T is a former Far East prisoner of war and receives a £10,000 ex-gratia payment as a result of his imprisonment. He now requires care and support and has a total of £25,000 in capital. When calculating how much capital should be taken into account, we will disregard the first £10,000 – the value of the ex- gratia payment. The normal capital rules are then applied to the remaining £15,000. In this case, the first £14,250 would be completely disregarded in addition to the £10,000. Tariff income would therefore only be applied to the remaining £750 giving a charge of £3.
j) Capital derived from an award of damages for personal injury which is administered by a court or which can only be disposed of by a court order or direction; k) The value of the right to receive any income under an annuity purchased pursuant to any agreement or court order to make payments in consequence of personal injury or from funds derived from a payment in consequence of a personal injury and any surrender value of such an annuity; l) Periodic payments in consequence of personal injury pursuant to a court order or agreement to the extent that they are not a payment of income and area treated as income (and disregarded in the calculation of income); m) Any Social Fund payment; n) Refund of tax on interest on a loan which was obtained to acquire an interest in a home or for repairs or improvements to the home; o) Any capital resources which the person has no rights to as yet, but which will come into his possession at a later date, for example on reaching a certain age; p) Payments from the Department of Work and Pensions to compensate for the loss of entitlement to Housing Benefit or Housing Benefit Supplement; q) The amount of any bank charges or commission paid to convert capital from foreign currency to sterling; r) Payments to jurors or witnesses for court attendance (but not compensation for loss of earnings or benefit); s) Community charge rebate/council tax rebate; t) Money deposited with a Housing Association as a condition of occupying a dwelling; u) Any Child Support Maintenance Payment; v) The value of any ex-gratia payments made on or after 1st February 2001 by the Secretary of State in consequence of a person’s, or person’s spouse or civil partner’s imprisonment or internment by the Japanese during the Second World War; w)Any payment made by a local authority under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (under section 2(b)(b) or 3 of this act); x) The value of any ex-gratia payments from the Skipton Fund made by the Secretary of State for Health to people infected with Hepatitis C as a result of NHS treatment with blood or blood products;
PagePage 23 of 319 46 y) Payments made under a trust established out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for Health in respect of persons suffering from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to the victim or their partner (at the time of death of the victim); z) Any payments under Section 2, 3 or 7 of the Age-Related Payments Act 2004 or Age-Related Payments Regulations 2005 (SI No 1983); aa) Any payments made under section 63(6)(b) of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 to a person to meet childcare costs where he or she is undertaking instruction connected with the health service by virtue of arrangements made under that section; bb) Any payment made in accordance with regulations under Section 14F of the Children Act 1989 to a resident who is a prospective special guardian or special guardian, whether income or capital.
24. Property disregards
24.1. In the following circumstances the value of the person’s main or only home will be disregarded: a) Where the person is receiving care in a setting that is not a care home; b) If the person’s stay in residential or nursing care is temporary and they: (i) Intend to return to that property and that property is still available to them; or (ii) Are taking reasonable steps to dispose of the property in order to acquire another more suitable property to return to. c) Where the person no longer occupies the property but it is occupied in part or whole as their main or only home by any of the people listed below, the mandatory disregard only applies where the property has been continuously occupied since before the person went into a care home (for discretionary disregards see below): (i) The person’s partner, former partner or civil partner, except where they are estranged; (ii) A lone parent who is the person’s estranged or divorced partner; (iii) A relative as defined in paragraph 35 of the person or member of the person’s family who is: I Aged 60 or over, or II Is a child of the resident aged under 18, or IIIIs incapacitated. (iv) Where the property is disregarded in the financial assessment because a person described at (1)-(3) above resides in it, it is the responsibility of the person, or their appointed representative, to inform us as soon as that arrangement changes. If we subsequently find that we were not informed of such a change at the time, we will amend the financial assessment and backdate it to take into account the change at the time that it happened.
24.2. For the purposes of the disregard a relative is defined as including any of the following: a) Parent (including an adoptive parent) b) Parent-in-law c) Son (including an adoptive son) d) Son-in-law e) Daughter (including an adoptive daughter) f) Daughter-in-law g) Step-parent h) Step-son i) Step-daughter j) Brother k) Sister l) Grandparent
PagePage 24320 of 46 m) Grandchild n) Uncle o) Aunt p) Nephew q) Niece r) The spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner of a to k inclusive.
Example F - emotional attachment to a property: Bea is 62 years’ old and lives with her family in Kent. Her father Patrick is a widower who has been living in the family home in Dorchester that she and her sister grew up in and where she occasionally stays to help her father. Patrick has been assessed as having eligible care and support needs that are best met by moving into a care home. Although Bea is over the age of 60, the family home is not her main or only home and the property is therefore not disregarded.
24.3. A member of the person’s family is defined as someone who is living with the qualifying relative as part of an unmarried couple, married to or in a civil partnership.
24.4. For the purposes of the disregard the meaning of ‘incapacitated’ is not closely defined. However, it will be reasonable to conclude that a relative is incapacitated if either of the following conditions apply: a) The relative is receiving one (or more) of the following benefits: incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance, personal independence payments, armed forces independence payments, attendance allowance, constant attendance allowance, or a similar benefit; or b) The relative does not receive any disability related benefit but their degree of incapacity is equivalent to that required to qualify for such a benefit. Medical or other evidence may be needed before a decision is reached.
24.5. For the purpose of the property disregard, the meaning of ‘occupy’ is not closely defined. In most cases it will be obvious whether or not the property is occupied by a qualifying relative as their main or only home. However, there will be some cases where this may not be clear, and we will undertake a factual inquiry weighing up all relevant factors in order to reach a decision. An emotional attachment to the property is not enough for the disregard to apply.
24.6. Circumstances where it may be unclear might include where a qualifying relative has to live elsewhere for the purposes of their employment, for example a member of the armed services or the diplomatic service. Whilst they live elsewhere in order to undertake their employment, the property remains their main or only home. Another example may be someone serving a prison sentence. It would not be reasonable to regard the prison as the person’s main or only home and they may well intend to return to the property in question at the end of their sentence. In such circumstances we
Example G - occupying a property when not physically present: Matt is 60 years old and has been living overseas for the past 10 years due to his job in the diplomatic service. When he is in England, he lives at the family home where he grew up. His father Ken has been assessed as having eligible care and support needs that are best met by moving into a care home. In Ken’s financial assessment, the value of his property is disregarded as his son Matt is a qualifying relative that occupies the property as his mainPagePage or 25only of home.321 46 Although Matt is not physically present at the property at the point Ken moves into the care home, his alternative accommodation is only as a result of his employment and the family home is his main home. may wish to consider the qualifying relative’s length of sentence and the likelihood of them returning to the property. Essentially the qualifying relative is occupying the property but is not physically present.
24.7. We will need to take account of the individual circumstances of each case; however, it may be helpful to consider the following factors in making a decision: a) Does the relative currently occupy another property? b) If the relative has somewhere else to live do they own or rent the property (i.e. how secure/permanent is it?) c) If the relative is not physically present is there evidence of a firm intention to return to or live in the property? d) Where does the relative pay council tax? e) Where is the relative registered to vote? f) Where is the relative registered with a doctor? g) Are the relative’s belongings located in the property? h) Is there evidence that the relative has a physical connection with the property?
24.8. A property must be disregarded where the relative meets the qualifying conditions (i.e. is aged 60 or over or is incapacitated) and has occupied the property as their main or only home since before the resident entered the care home.
Example H- discretion to apply a property disregard: Jayne has the early signs of dementia but wishes to continue living in her own home. She is not assessed as having eligible needs but would benefit from some occasional support. Her best friend Penny gives up her own home to move in with Jayne. At this point, there is no suggestion that Jayne may need care in a care home. After 5 years Jayne’s dementia has reached the point where she needs a far greater level of care and support and following an assessment it is agreed her needs would best be met in a care home. On moving into the care home, we use our discretion to apply the property disregard as this has now become Penny’s main or only home.
25. Discretionary disregard
25.1. We may also use our discretion to apply the disregard in other circumstances. However, we will balance this discretion with ensuring a person’s assets are not maintained at public expense. An example where it may be appropriate to apply the disregard is where it is the sole residence of someone who has given up their own home in order to care for the person who is now in a care home or is perhaps the elderly companion of the person.
25.2. A property may be disregarded when a qualifying relative moves into the property after the resident enters the care home. Where this happens, we will need to consider all the relevant factors in deciding whether the property must be disregarded. Factors such as the timing and purpose of the move may be relevant to establishing if the property is the relative’s main or only home. The purpose of the disregard in these circumstances is to safeguard certain categories of people from the risk of homelessness.
PagePage 26322 of 46 25.3. We will consider if the principal reason for the move is that it is necessary to ensure the relative has somewhere to live as their main or only home. A disregard would not be appropriate, for example where a person moves into a property solely to protect the family inheritance. We need to ensure that people are not needlessly maintained at public expense. We will take account of the individual circumstances of each case; considering the factors listed above for the mandatory disregard plus the following additional factors in making a decision: a) Was the relative occupying another property as their main or only home at the time of the previous financial assessment? b) Could the relative have reasonably expected to have the property taken into account at the time they moved into the property? c) Would failure to disregard the property result in the eligible relative becoming homeless? d) Would failure to disregard the property negatively impact on the eligible relative’s own health and wellbeing?
Example I - discretion to apply a property disregard where the qualifying person moves into the property after the resident entered the care home: Fred’s family home is unoccupied because his father has died, and his mother is in a care home and Fred and his siblings have their own homes. The property is subject to a deferred payment agreement. Fred has a serious accident and becomes incapacitated. As a result, he is unable to work or pay for his existing home. He has nowhere else to live so he moves into the family home which becomes his only home. In the circumstances, we exercise our discretion to disregard the property.
Example J - discretion to apply a property disregard: Hilda is 63 and lives in a rented flat. Her brother, Stephen, has recently died and his wife, Charlotte, has move into a care home. The property is subject to a deferred payment agreement. Hilda suddenly loses her job and is unable to afford to live in her rented flat. Hilda moves into Stephen and Charlotte’s house and this becomes her only home. In the circumstances, we exercise our discretion to disregard the property.
26. 12-week property disregard
26.1. An important aim of the charging framework is to prevent people being forced to sell their home at a time of crisis. The regulations under the Care Act therefore create space for people to make decisions as to how to meet their contribution to the cost of their eligible care needs. We will therefore disregard the value of a person’s main or only home when the value of their non-housing assets is below the upper capital limit for 12 weeks in the following circumstances:
a) When they first enter residential care as a permanent resident, whether or not the council is assisting with the cost of the placement; b) When a property disregard other than the 12-week property disregard unexpectedly ends, i.e. Because the qualifying relative has died or moved into a care home.
PagePage 27 of 323 46 26.2. In addition, we have discretion to choose to apply the disregard when there is a sudden and unexpected change in the person’s financial circumstances. In deciding whether to do so, we will consider the individual circumstances of the case. Such circumstances might include a fall in share prices or an unanticipated debt. An example is given below.
Example K - The end of a property disregard: Win and Ern have been married for 60 years and bought a home together. 18 months ago, Win moved into residential care as a result of dementia. During her financial assessment, the value of the home she shared with Ern was disregarded as Ern is her husband, was over 60, and still lived in the property. Ern has been in good health and there is no reason to anticipate a sudden change in circumstance. Unfortunately, Ern suffers a heart attack and passes away, leaving the property to Win. There is no longer an eligible person living in the property, meaning its value can now be taken into account in what Win can afford to contribute to the cost of her care. Given this was unplanned for, Win and her family need time to consider what the best option might be. The 12-week disregard would therefore be applied.
Example L - Unexpected change in financial circumstances: Harry is a widower who owns his own home. 10 months ago, he moved into residential care as a self- funder. He has been meeting the bulk of his costs from shares he received as part of his redundancy package. Due to an unexpected event, the value of his shares is suddenly reduced by half, meaning he is unable to meet the cost of his care. Although already in residential care and likely to remain responsible for paying for this care, Harry approaches us for assistance and to seek a deferred payment agreement. During the financial assessment we agree that the circumstances could not have been foreseen and use our discretion to disregard the value of his property for the first 12 weeks. This provides Harry with the space he needs to make arrangements for the deferred payment agreement to be put in place and enable him to continue to meet the cost of his care.
27. 26-week disregard
27.1. The following capital assets must be disregarded for at least 26 weeks in a financial assessment. However, we may choose to apply the disregard for longer where we consider this appropriate. For example, where a person is taking legal steps to occupy premises as their home, but the legal processes take more than 26 weeks to complete.
a) Assets of any business owned or part-owned by the person in which they were a self-employed worker and have stopped work due to some disease or disablement but intend to take up work again when they are fit to do so. Where the person is in residential care, this should apply from the date they first took up residence. b) Money acquired specifically for repairs to or replacement of the person’s home or personal possessions provided it is used for that purpose. This should apply from the date the funds were received. c) Premises which the person intends to occupy as their home where they have started legal proceedings to obtain possession. This should be from the date legal advice was first sought or proceedings first commenced. d) Premises which the person intends to occupy as their home where essential repairs or alterations are required. This should apply from the date the person takes action to effect the repairs.
PagePage 28324 of 46 e) Capital received from the sale of a former home where the capital is to be used by the person to buy another home. This should apply from the date of completion of the sale. f) Money deposited with a Housing Association which is to be used by the person to purchase another home. This should apply from the date on which the money was deposited. g) Grant made under a Housing Act which is to be used by the person to purchase a home or pay for repairs to make the home habitable. This should apply from the date the grant is received.
28. 52-week disregard
28.1. The following payments of capital must be disregarded for a maximum of 52 weeks from the date they are received.
a) The balance of any arrears of or any compensation due to non-payment of: (i) Mobility supplement (ii) Attendance Allowance (iii) Constant Attendance Allowance (iv) Disability Living Allowance/ Personal Independence Payment (v) Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance (vi) Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance (vii) Armed forces service pension based on need for attendance (viii) Pension under the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983, based on the need for attendance (ix) Income Support/Pension Credit (x) Minimum Income Guarantee (xi) Working Tax Credit (xii) Child Tax Credit (xiii) Housing Benefit (xiv) Special payments to pre-1973 war widows. As the above payments will be paid for specific periods, they should be treated as income over the period for which they are payable. Any money left over after the period for which they are treated as income has elapsed, should be treated as capital. b) Payments or refunds for: (i) NHS glasses, dental treatment or patient’s travelling expenses; (ii) Cash equivalent of free milk and vitamins; (iii) Expenses in connection with prison visits.
c) Personal Injury Payments
Example M - A disregard for 52 weeks: During his financial assessment it is identified that Colin is eligible for Pension Credit but is not currently claiming the support. He is therefore assessed as being able to pay £75 per week towards the cost of his care. Colin tells us that he will apply for Pension Credit. It is explained to him that the level of what he can afford to contribute will be reassessed once he started receiving the additional support. If the payments are backdated, his contributions to the cost of his care will also be backdated and he may therefore need to make an additional payment to meet any arrears. Colin therefore chooses to pay £90 per week. After six weeks, arrears of Pension Credit at £35 per week (£210) are received. What Colin can afford to contribute is reassessed and he is now asked to pay £110 per week. As Colin has been paying £15 a week more than required, he only owes £120 rather than the full £210 of Pension Credit arrears. The remaining £90 of arrears payments should therefore be treated as capital and disregarded. PagePage 29 of 325 46 29. 2-year disregard
29.1. We will disregard payments made under a trust established out of funds by the Secretary of State for Health in respect of CJD to:
a) The victim’s parent (or guardian) for 2 years from the date of death of the victim (or from the date of payment from the trust if later); or b) A dependent child or young person until they turn 18.
30. Other disregards
30.1. In some cases a person’s assets may be tied up in a business that they own or part-own. Where a person is taking steps to realise their share of the assets, these should be disregarded during the process. However, the person should be required to show that it is their clear intention to realise the asset as soon as practicable.
30.2. In order to show their intent, we will request the following information:
a) A description of the nature of the business asset; b) The person’s estimate of the length of time necessary to realise the asset or their share of it; c) A statement of what, if any, steps have been taken to realise the asset, what these were and what is intended in the near future; and d) Any other relevant evidence, for example the person’s health, receivership, liquidation, estate agent’s confirmation of placing any property on the market.
30.3. Where the person has provided this information to show that steps are being taken to realise the value of the asset, we will disregard the value for a period that we consider to be reasonable. In deciding what is reasonable we will take into account the length of time of any legal processes that may be needed.
30.4. Where the person has no immediate intention of attempting to realise the business asset, its capital value should be taken into account in the financial assessment. Where a business is jointly owned, this should apply only to the person’s share.
31. Treatment of investment bonds
31.1. The treatment of investment bonds is currently complex. This is in part because of the differing products that are on offer. As such, we may wish to seek advice from our legal service.
31.2. Where an investment bond includes one or more elements of life insurance policies that contain cashing-in rights by way of options for total or partial surrender, then the value of those rights must be disregarded as a capital asset in the financial assessment.
PagePage 30326 of 46 32. Capital treated as income
32.1. The following capital payments should be treated as income. We will therefore consider Annex C on the ‘Treatment of Income’ before conducting an assessment:
a) Any payment under an annuity. b) Capital paid by instalment where the total of:
(i) The instalments outstanding at the time the person first becomes liable to pay for their care, or in the case of a person in temporary care whom we had previously decided not to charge, the first day on which we decided to charge; and (ii) The amount of other capital held by the resident is over £16,000. If it is £16,000 or less, each instalment will be treated as capital.
33. Earnings
33.1. Any income of the person derived from employment must be treated as earnings and not taken into account in the financial assessment.
34. Income treated as capital
34.1. The following types of income will be treated as capital:
a) Any refund of income tax charged on profits of a business or earnings of an employed earner; any holiday pay payable by an employer more than 4 weeks after the termination or interruption of employment; b) Any holiday pay payable by an employer more than 4 weeks after the termination or interruption of employment; c) Income derived from a capital asset, for example, building society interest or dividends from shares. This will be treated as capital from the date it is normally due to be paid to the person. This does not apply to income from certain disregarded capital; d) Any bounty payment paid at intervals of at least one year from employment as: (i) A part time fireman (ii) An auxiliary coastguard (iii) A part time lifeboat man (iv) A member of the territorial or reserve forces. e) Any advance of earnings or loan made to an employed earner by the employer if the person is still in work. This is as the payment does not form part of the employee’s regular income and would have to be repaid; f) Charitable and voluntary payments which are neither made regularly nor due to be made regularly, apart from certain exemptions such as payments from AIDS trusts. Payments will include those made by a third party to the person to support the clearing of charges for residential accommodation; g) Any payments of arrears of contributions by us or another local authority to a custodian towards the cost of accommodation and maintenance of a child.
PagePage 31 of 327 46 35. Capital available on application
35.1. In some instances, a person may need to apply for access to capital assets but has not yet done so. In such circumstances this capital should be treated as already belonging to the person except in the following instances:
a) Capital held in a discretionary trust; b) Capital held in a trust derived from a payment in consequence of a personal injury; c) Capital derived from an award of damages for personal injury which is administered by a court; d) Any loan which could be raised against a capital asset which is disregarded, for example the home.
35.2. We will distinguish between:
a) Capital already owned by the person but which in order to access they must make an application for. For example:
(i) Money held by the person’s solicitor; (ii) Premium Bonds; (iii) National Savings Certificates; (iv) Money held by the Registrar of a County Court which will be released on application; and
b) Capital not owned by the person that will become theirs on application, for example an unclaimed Premium Bond win. This should be treated as notional capital.
35.3. Where we treat capital available on application as notional capital, we will do so only from the date at which it could be acquired by the person.
35.4. April 2015 saw much greater flexibility introduced regarding how people can people can access their defined contribution pensions, including enabling them to access their full pension pot. As a result, when applying notional income to a defined contribution pension this will be calculated as the maximum income that could be available if the person had taken out an annuity.
PagePage 32328 of 46 Annex C Income This annex covers:
The treatment of income when conducting a financial assessment in all circumstances. This is divided into:
Care homes
All other settings.
The purpose of this annex is to provide detailed guidance on how to apply to the Care and Support (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, in terms of how to treat different types of income when calculating what a person can afford to contribute to the cost of their eligible care needs. 36. Treatment of Income
36.1. This section of the guidance only applies where we have chosen to charge a person for the services we are arranging and therefore we must undertake a financial assessment. When doing so, we must assess the income and capital of the person.
36.2. There are differences in how income is treated in a care home and in all other settings. Charging a person in a care home is provided for in a consistent national framework, set out in this policy. When charging a person in all other settings, we have more discretion.
36.3. This annex covers the treatment of income and should be read in conjunction with Annex B on the treatment of capital. The detail of the sources of income which we must disregard are set out in the regulations which accompany this guidance.
37. Common issues for all care settings
37.1. Only the income of the cared-for person can be taken into account in the financial assessment of what they can afford to pay for their care and support. Where a cared-for person receives income as one of a couple the starting presumption is that the cared-for person has an equal share of the income. We will also consider the implications for the cared-for person’s partner.
37.2. Income is net of any tax or National Insurance contributions.
37.3. Income will always be taken into account unless it is disregarded under the regulations. Income that is disregarded will either be:
a) Partially disregarded: or b) Fully disregarded.
37.4. In all cases, irrespective of setting, employed and self-employed earnings are fully disregarded.
PagePage 33 of 329 46 37.5. Earnings in relation to an employed earner are any remuneration or profit from employment. This will include: a) any bonus or commission; b) any payment in lieu of remuneration except any periodic sum paid to the person on account of the termination of their employment by reason of redundancy; c) any payments in lieu of notice, or any lump sum payment intended as compensation for the loss of employment but only in so far as it represents loss of income; d) any holiday pay except any payable more than four weeks after the termination or interruption of employment; e) any payment by way of a retainer; f) any payment made by the person’s employer in respect of any expenses not wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of employment, including any payment made by the person’s employer in respect of travelling expenses incurred by the person between their home and the place of employment and expenses incurred by the person under arrangements made for the care of a member of the person’s family owing to the person’s absence from home; g) any award of compensation made under section 112(4) or 117(3)(a) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (remedies and compensation for unfair dismissal); h) any such sum as is referred to in section 112 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (certain sums to be earnings for social security purposes); i) any statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay or statutory adoption pay, or a corresponding payment under any enactment having effect in Northern Ireland; j) any remuneration paid by or on behalf of an employer to the person who for the time being is on maternity leave, paternity leave or adoption leave or is absent from work because of illness; k) the amount of any payment by way of a non-cash voucher which has been taken into account in the computation of a person’s earnings in accordance with Part 5 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001.
37.6. Earnings in relation to an employed earner do not include:
a) any payment in kind, with the exception of any non-cash voucher which has been taken into account in the computation of the person’s earnings – as referred to above; b) any payment made by an employer for expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment; c) any occupational/personal pension.
37.7. Earnings in the case of employment as a self-employed earner mean the gross receipts of the employment. This includes any allowance paid under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973 or section 2 of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 to the person for the purpose of assisting the person in carrying on his business.
37.8. Earnings in the case of employment as a self-employed earner do not include:
a) any payment to the person by way of a charge for board and lodging accommodation provided by the person; b) any sports award.
37.9. Earnings also include any payment provided to prisoners to encourage and reward their constructive participation in the regime of the establishment, this may include payment for working, education or participation in other related activities.
PagePage 34330 of 46 38. Benefits
38.1. Alongside the financial assessment, we aim to offer every person free advice to help them claim all of the benefits they are entitled to. We will take most of the benefits that people receive into account. The benefits we will disregard are listed below. We will ensure that in addition to the minimum guaranteed income, or personal expenses allowance, people retain enough of their benefits to pay for things that meet needs that are not being met by Dorset.
38.2. We will disregard any income from the following sources:
a) Direct payments; b) Guaranteed Income Payments made to veterans under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; c) The mobility component of Disability Living Allowance and the mobility component of Personal Independence Payments.
38.3. The following benefits will be taken fully into account when considering what a person can afford to pay towards their care from their income:
a) Attendance Allowance, including Constant Attendance Allowance and Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance b) Bereavement Allowance c) Carer’s Allowance d) Disability Living Allowance (care component) e) Employment and Support Allowance or the benefits this replaces such as Severe Disablement Allowance and Incapacity Benefit f) Income Support g) Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or equivalent benefits h) Jobseeker’s Allowance i) Maternity Allowance j) Pension Credit k) Personal Independence Payments l) State Pension m) Universal Credit
38.4. Working Tax Credit will be taken into account when considering what a person can afford to pay from their income towards the cost of their care in a care home. However, it will be disregarded in the calculation of income for care and support arranged other than in a care home.
38.5. Where any Social Security benefit payment has been reduced (other than a reduction because of voluntary unemployment), for example because of an earlier overpayment, the amount taken into account should be the gross amount of the benefit before reduction.
39. Annuity and pension income
39.1. An annuity is a pension product that provides a regular income for a number of years in return for an investment. Such products are usually purchased at retirement in order to provide a regular income.
PagePage 35 of 331 46 While the capital is disregarded, any income from an annuity must be taken fully into account except where it is:
a) Purchased with a loan secured on the person’s main or only home; or b) A gallantry award such as the Victoria Cross Annuity or George Cross Annuity.
39.2. For those who have purchased an annuity with a loan secured on their main or only home, this is known as a ‘home income plan’. Under these schemes, a person has purchased the annuity against the value of their home – similarly to a deferred payment agreement.
39.3. Where a person is in a care home and paying half of their occupational pension, personal pension or retirement annuity to their spouse or civil partner, we will disregard 50% of its value.
39.4. In order to qualify for the disregard, one of the annuitants must still be occupying the property as their main or only home. This may happen where a couple have jointly purchased an annuity and only one of them has moved into a care home. If this is not the case, the disregard must not be applied.
39.5. Where the disregard is applied, only the following aspects may be disregarded:
a) The net weekly interest on the loan where income tax is deductible from the interest; or b) The gross weekly interest on the loan in any other case.
39.6. Before applying the disregard, the following conditions must be met:
a) The loan must have been made as part of a scheme that required that at least 90% of that loan be used to purchase the annuity; b) The annuity ends with the life of the person who obtained the loan, or where there are two or more annuitants (including the person who obtained the loan), with the life of the last surviving annuitant; c) The person who obtained the loan or one of the other annuitants is liable to pay the interest on the loan; d) The person who obtained the loan (or each of the annuitants where there are more than one) must have reached the age of 65 at the time the loan was made; e) The loan was secured on a property in Great Britain and the person who obtained the loan (or one of the other annuitants) owns an estate or interest in that property; and f) The person who obtained the loan or one of the other annuitants occupies the property as their main or only home at the time the interest is paid.
39.7. Where the person is using part of the income to repay the loan, the amount paid as interest will be disregarded. If the payments the person makes on the loan are interest only and the person qualifies for tax relief on the interest they pay, we will disregard the net interest. Otherwise, we will disregard the gross interest.
39.8. Reforms to defined contribution pensions come into effect from April 2015. The aim of the reforms is to provide people with much greater flexibility in how they fund later life. This may lead to changes in how people use the money in their pension fund. The rules for how we will assess pension income for the purposes of charging are:
a) If a person has removed the funds and placed them in another product or savings account, they will be treated according to the rules for that product;
PagePage 36332 of 46 b) If a person is only drawing a minimal income, or choosing not to draw income, then we may apply notional income. This will be the maximum income that could be drawn under an annuity product. If we apply maximum notional income, the actual income will be disregarded to avoid double counting. c) If a person is drawing down an income that is higher than the maximum available under an annuity product, the actual income that is being drawn down will be taken into account.
40. Mortgage protection insurance policies
40.1. We will usually take into account any income from an insurance policy. In the case of mortgage protection policies where the income is specifically intended to support the person to acquire or retain an interest in their main or only home or to support them to make repairs or improvements to their main or only home it will be disregarded. However, the income must be being used to meet the repayments on the loan.
40.2. The amount of income from a mortgage protection insurance policy that will be disregarded is the weekly sum of:
a) The amount which covers the interest on the loan; plus b) The amount of the repayment which reduced the capital outstanding; plus c) The amount of the premium due on the policy.
40.3. It should be remembered that Income Support and Pension Credit may be adjusted to take account of the income from the policy.
41. Other income that will be fully disregarded
41.1. Any income from the following sources will be fully disregarded:
a) Armed Forces Independence Payments and Mobility Supplement; b) Child Support Maintenance Payments and Child Benefit, except where the accommodation is arranged under the Care Act in which the adult and child both live; c) Child Tax Credit d) Council Tax Reduction Schemes where this involves a payment to the person; e) Disability Living Allowance (Mobility Component) and Mobility Supplement f) Christmas bonus g) Dependency increases paid with certain benefits h) Discretionary Trust i) Gallantry Awards j) Guardian’s Allowance k) Guaranteed Income Payments made to Veterans under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme l) Income frozen abroad m) Income in kind n) Pensioners’ Christmas payments o) Personal Independence Payment (Mobility Component) and Mobility Supplement p) Personal injury trust, including those administered by a Court q) Resettlement benefit r) Savings credit disregard s) Social Fund payments (including winter fuel payments)
PagePage 37 of 333 46 t) War widow and widowers’ special payments u) Any payments received as a holder of the Victoria Cross, George Cross, or equivalent
v) Any grants or loans paid for the purposes of education; and w)Payments made in relation to training for employment x) Any payment from the: (i) Macfarlane Trust (ii) Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust (iii) Macfarlane (Special Payment) (No 2) Trust (iv) Caxton Foundation (v) Fund (payments to non-haemophiliacs infected with HIV) (vi) Eileen Trust (vii) MFET Limited (viii) Independent Living Fund (2006) (ix) Skipton Fund (x) London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund.
42. Savings Credit
42.1. For people receiving care and support other than in a care home, the savings credit the adult receives should be fully disregarded.
43. Charitable and voluntary payments
43.1. Charitable payments are not necessarily made by recognised charities but could come from charitable motives. The individual circumstances of the payment will be taken into account before making a decision. In general, a charitable or voluntary payment which is not made regularly is treated as capital.
43.2. Charitable and voluntary payments that are made regularly are fully disregarded.
44. Partially disregarded income The following income is partially disregarded:
44.1. The first £10 per week of War Widows and War Widowers pension, survivor’s Guaranteed Income Payments from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, Civilian War Injury pension, War Disablement pension and payments to victims of National Socialist persecution (paid under German or Austrian law).
44.2. A savings disregard based on qualifying is made to people as follows:
a) For individuals: (i) Where a person is in receipt of qualifying income of less than the weekly pension age entitlement to Pension Credit there will be no savings disregard made. (ii) Where a person is in receipt of qualifying income between the lower weekly pension credit entitlement and the upper weekly pension credit entitlement the savings credit disregard is made,
PagePage 38334 of 46 which will equal the actual amount of the savings credit received or a sum as set annually by the Department of Health and Social Care, whichever is less. (iii) Where a person is in receipt of qualifying income in excess of the upper weekly pension credit entitlement , and a savings credit reward is in payment, a flat rate savings disregard as determined annually by the Department of Health and Social Care will be made irrespective of how much the savings credit payment is. (iv) Where a person has qualifying income above the limit for receiving a savings credit reward a flat rate savings disregard as determined annually by the Department of Health and Social Care is made.
b) For couples
(i) Where a person is part of a couple (including a civil partnership) and is in receipt of qualifying income of less than the couple’s basic weekly pension credit entitlement there will be no savings disregard made. (ii) Where a person who is part of a couple (including a civil partnership) and is in receipt of qualifying income between the lower weekly pension credit rate and the upper weekly pension credit rate the savings disregard will be made, which will equal the actual amount of the savings credit received, or a sum set annually by the Department of Health and Social Care, whichever is less. (iii) Where a person who is part of a couple (including a civil partnership) and is in receipt of qualifying income in excess of the upper weekly pension credit rate , and a savings credit reward is in payment, a flat rate savings disregard of a sum set annually by the Department of Health and Social Care will be made irrespective of how much the savings credit payment is. (iv) Where a person who is part of a couple (including a civil partnership) and has qualifying income above the upper weekly pension credit limit depending on their individual circumstances a flat rate savings disregard as determined by the Department of Health and Social Care annually is made. (v) The annual Minimum Income Guarantee rates are set annually by the Department of Health and Social Care. They are based on standard rates of pension credit and income support and are increased where individuals and couples qualify as severely disabled, or as carers, because of receipt of qualifying benefits.
45. Notional income
45.1. In some circumstances a person may be treated as having income that they do not actually have. This is known as ‘notional income’. This might include for example income that would be available on application but has not been applied for, income that is due but has not been received or income that the person has deliberately deprived themselves of for the purpose of reducing the amount they are liable to pay for their care. See our policy ‘Deprivation of Assets’ for further guidance. In all cases we will satisfy ourselves that the income would or should have been available to the person.
45.2. Notional income will also be applied where a person has reached retirement age and has a personal pension plan but has not purchased an annuity or arranged to draw down the maximum income available from the plan. Estimates of the notional income will be sought received from the pension provider or the Government Actuary.
45.3. Where notional income is included in a financial assessment, it will be treated the same way as actual income. Therefore, any income that would usually be disregarded will continue to be.
PagePage 39 of 335 46 Example N - Notional income: Andrew is 70 and is living in a care home. He has not been receiving his occupational pension which he would have been entitled to from age 65. After contacting his former employer, they state Andrew will be paid the entire pension due from age 65. The local authority can therefore apply notional income from age 65.
Example O - Notional income in relation to new pension flexibilities: Ben has a pension fund worth £30,000. he has taken the opportunity to access this flexibly and as a result is only drawing down £5 a week as income at the point he begins to receive care and support. The equivalent maximum annuity income would be £120 per week. For the purpose of the financial assessment, we can assume an income of £120 per week.
45.4. Notional income will be calculated from the date it could be expected to be acquired if an application had been made. In doing so, we will assume the application was made when it first became aware of the possibility and take account of any time limits which may limit the period of arrears.
45.5. However, there are some exemptions and the following sources of income will not be treated as notional income:
a) Income payable under a discretionary trust; b) Income payable under a trust derived from a payment made as a result of a personal injury where the income would be available but has not yet been applied for; c) Income from capital resulting from an award of damages for personal injury that is administered by a court; d) Occupational pension which is not being paid because:
(i) The trustees or managers of the scheme have suspended or ceased payments due to an insufficiency of resources; or (ii) The trustees or managers of the scheme have insufficient resources available to them to meet the scheme’s liabilities in full
e) Working Tax Credit 45.6. The council expects a person to claim their full entitlement to welfare benefits in order to maximise their income. If the person chooses not to maximise their income by claiming all of the benefits they are likely to be entitled to, then we may include the benefit income they are expected to be entitled to receive as notional income in the financial assessment, and the person’s charge may increase, even though they are not actually receiving the benefit.
46. Backdated Financial Assessments
46.1. Once we have completed a financial assessment, it is the responsibility of the person or their authorised representative to inform us of any changes in their income. If we subsequently become aware of changes to a person’s income that we were not informed about, we may backdate the
PagePage 40336 of 46 financial assessment to include the change. This includes, for example, where the person stops receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and applies for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
46.2. Under previous legislation, where a person was in receipt of DLA, but was not in receipt of night-time services from the council, then the night-time element of DLA was disregarded in the financial assessment. Following the implementation of the Care Act 2014, the rules changed and both DLA and PIP are now included in full in the financial assessment. PIP is no longer split into day and night-time elements. Dorset Council made the decision to only amend the statutory disregard from the point of the changeover from DLA to PIP, to ensure that people receiving the same benefit are not treated differently. However, we will amend the person’s financial assessment when they begin to receive PIP and we will remove the statutory disregard at that point.
47. Support for Mortgage Interest loans
47.1. Following changes to Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) rules regarding payment of mortgage interest, some people are entitled to apply for financial assistance with their mortgage in the form of a Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan. Under a SMI loan agreement the mortgage interest is paid and recovered by the DWP from the sale of the property later.
47.2. The council expects people to apply for a Support for Mortgage Interest loan where they may be entitled to do so, either themselves or via their legal representative. Where a person is acting as a Court-Appointed Deputy, we expect them to ask the Court for permission to apply for a SMI loan, and to do so if permission is granted. Only on receipt of evidence that an application for the SMI loan has been made and declined, will we consider making an allowance in the financial assessment for a mortgage payment.
48. Payment of Existing Debts
48.1. No allowance will be made in the financial assessment for existing debts.
49. Disability-related expenditure
49.1. Where disability-related benefits may be taken into account under the Regulations, we will make an individual assessment and allow the person to keep enough benefit to pay for necessary disability- related expenditure to meet any needs which are not being met by us.
49.2. In assessing disability-related expenditure, we will include the following:
a) Payment for any community alarm system. b) The costs of any privately arranged care services required, including respite care. c) The costs of any specialist items needed to meet the person’s disability needs, for example: d) day or night care which is not being arranged by us;
PagePage 41 of 337 46 (i) specialist washing powders or laundry; (ii) additional costs of special dietary needs due to illness or disability (the person may be asked for permission to approach their GP in cases of doubt). However, we will not usually allow the costs of diabetic and coeliac diets if these are not required to meet the person’s disability needs. And where we use our discretion to allow the costs associated with these diets, we may not consider it necessary to meet them in full and we may restrict the allowance to staple food items. For example, flour, pasta and bread for a coeliac diet; (iii) special clothing or footwear, for example, where this needs to be specially made; or additional wear and tear to clothing and footwear caused by disability. Where we make an allowance it will only be for clothing and footwear needs that are additional and we will price those needs on the basis of the cheapest serviceable options available; (iv) additional costs of bedding, for example, because of incontinence. Where we make an allowance, it will be for costs that are in addition to normal household expenditure and we will calculate the costs on the basis of the cheapest serviceable options available; (v) any heating costs, or metered costs of water, above the average levels for the area and housing type, occasioned by age, medical condition or disability; e) reasonable costs of basic garden maintenance, cleaning, or domestic help, if necessitated by the individual’s disability and not met by social services; f) purchase, maintenance, and repair of disability-related equipment, including equipment or transport needed to enter or remain in work; this may include IT costs, where necessitated by the disability; reasonable hire costs of equipment may be included, if due to waiting for supply of equipment from a local authority; g) personal assistance costs, including any household or other necessary costs arising for the person; h) internet access. For example, for blind and partially sighted people;
(i) other transport costs necessitated by illness or disability, including costs of transport to day centres, over and above the mobility component of DLA or PIP, if in payment and available for these costs. In some cases, it may be reasonable for us not to take account of claimed transport costs – if, for example, a suitable, cheaper form of transport, e.g. council-provided transport to day centres is available but has not been used. We will usually consider transport for daily living and general medical appointments as normal expenditure; (ii) in other cases, it may be reasonable for us not to allow for items where a reasonable alternative is available at lesser cost. For example, we would not allow for the private purchase cost of continence pads, where these are available from the NHS. i) Specialist support costs during a holiday. Holidays are a choice for everyone so the cost of an annual holiday will not be considered as DRE. However, where specialist support has to be provided, these costs will be considered as DRE allowance. j) Personal assistance costs, including any household or other necessary costs arising for the person k) Exercise is a choice but where it is required for health needs there are usually options available for free rather than activities which have to be paid for e.g. gym, swimming etc. No allowance will be considered for health and fitness unless it is clear that those needs could not be met via activities which are free. Where the is no free option available, then we will calculate the costs on the basis of the cheapest serviceable options available; l) Costs incurred for personal assistance dogs
PagePage 42338 of 46 Example P - Disability-related expenditure Zach is visually impaired and describes the internet as a portal into the seeing world. For example, he explains that if a sighted person wants to access information they can go to a library, pick up a book or buy a magazine that provides them with the information they need. The internet is also a portal into shopping. For example, without the internet if Zach wanted to shop, he would have to wait until a friend or family member could accompany him on a trip out. He would be held by their schedule and they would have to explain what goods were on offer, and what an item looked like. A sighted person would be able to go into a shop when their schedule suits and consider what purchase to make on their own. The internet provides Zach with the freedom and independence to do these things on his own. 49.3. The care plan completed by a social work professional will be used as the starting point for considering what is necessary disability-related expenditure. However, DRE will not be limited to what is necessary for care and support. When else would we consider it?
49.4. The council takes into account the standard Disability-Related-Expenditure allowances for equipment, heating and metered water as calculated annually by the National Association of Financial Assessment Officers (NAFAO) and set out in Dorset Council’s annual ‘DRE Guidelines’ document.
50. Personal expenses allowance in care homes
50.1. We must leave the person with a minimum amount of income. This is known as the Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA) and the amount is set annually by the Department of Health and Social Care and updates sent via a local authority circular. Anything above this may be taken into account in determining charges.
50.2. The PEA is not a benefit but the amount of a person’s own income that they should be left with after charges have been deducted. However, where a person has no income, we are not responsible for providing one. However, we should support the person to access any relevant state benefits or independent advocacy service.
50.3. The purpose of the PEA is to ensure that a person has money to spend as they wish. It must not be used to cover any aspect of their care and support that we have contracted for and/or assessed as necessary to meet the person’s eligible needs. This money is for the person to spend as they wish and any pressure from us or a provider to do otherwise is not permitted.
50.4. There may be some circumstances where it would not be appropriate for us to leave a person only with the personal expenses allowance after charges. For example:
a) Where a person has a dependent child we will consider the needs of the child in determining how much income a person should be left with after charges. This applies whether the child is living with the person or not. b) Where a person is paying half their occupational or personal pension or retirement annuity to a spouse or civil partner who is not living in the same care home, we will disregard this money. This
PagePage 43 of 339 46 does not automatically apply to unmarried couples although we may exercise our discretion in individual cases. c) Where a person is temporarily in a care home and is a member of a couple – whether married or unmarried – we will disregard any Income Support or Pension Credit awarded to pay for home commitments. We will also consider disregarding other costs related to maintain the couple’s home (see below). d) Where a person’s property has been disregarded, we will consider whether the PEA is enough to enable the person to meet any resultant costs. For example, allowances should be made for fixed payments (like mortgages, rent and Council Tax), building insurance, utility costs (gas, electricity and water, including basic heating during the winter) and reasonable property maintenance costs. e) Where a person’s situation has changed so that they are now supported by us and they have a deferred payment arrangement in place, we will ensure they have sufficient resources to maintain and insure the property in accordance with the disposable income allowance.
51. All other settings
51.1. As all earnings will be disregarded, this leaves other sources of income such as benefits, pensions and payments from other products.
52. Minimum income guarantee
52.1. We will ensure that a person is left with a minimum level of income after charges have been deducted. The amounts are set out in the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations annual Local Authority Circular. This approach will maintain consistency between the charging framework and established income protections under the income support rules.
52.2. The purpose of the minimum income guarantee is to promote independence and social inclusion and ensure that people have enough funds to meet basic needs such as purchasing food, utilities costs and insurance. This will be after any housing costs such as rent and council tax (net of any benefits to support meeting these costs) and any disability related expenditure.
52.3. Where a non-dependent adult who is receiving services from the local authority is living with a family member e.g. with parents or with adult children in their home, the service user does not normally have any legal responsibility towards payments of the rent or council tax on the property in which they live. However, Dorset Council accepts that those people will be expected to contribute towards rent and council tax payments for the property in which they live. Allowances will be made in the financial assessment for rent and council tax contributions in line with the ‘non-dependant deduction’ applied for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support purposes. These rates are set by central Government annually and are detailed in Dorset Council’s annual ‘DRE Guidelines’ document. Any additional contribution(s) towards rent and council tax made between the service user and their family member should be met from the MIG.
52.4. Separate guidance applies when determining an appropriate contribution from income under a deferred payment agreement.
PagePage 44340 of 46 53. Appeals Process
The Care Act 2014 gives you access to a statutory complaints’ procedure. However, if you simply wish to appeal against a decision we have made about your financial assessment, or your charges for care, because you think we have made a mistake, then we encourage you to use our fast-track appeal process in the first instance. You will find it quicker and easier to make an appeal – and you still have the option of using the statutory complaints procedure later, if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal. Both the fast-track appeal process and the statutory complaints procedure will mean that the decision(s) we have made are reviewed by senior members of staff.
Page45 341 Document control
Policy lead Service Manager for Finance (Adults & Housing)
Author Financial Support Manager
Original date issued 15 July 2015
January 2022 Review date The policy will be reviewed annually as part of the budget setting process.
Page 46342 Appendix 2 Extract from draft minutes of People and Health Overview Committee – 14 December 2020
Current & Future Changes to the Financial Assessment and Care Contributions Policy The Committee considered a report by the Interim Executive Director of People - Adults on changes to the financial assessment and care contributions policy. The current policy had been unchanged since the Care Act was introduced in 2014 and in some appeals the Local Government Social Care Ombudsman had found the local authority at fault. The changes would not alter the way that contributions were collected but provided greater clarity as to how certain situations would be treated and examples were given to illustrate this. Comments were welcomed on the policy either at or following the meeting. Members discussed the report in detail and the follow changes/amendments were suggested:- there should be reference to people having their own home; there should be a reference to married couples; the policy should be written in a way to make it more easily understood; this was a new policy for Dorset Council yet there were references to dates in 2015; the risk rating for the policy was low yet the activity carried some financial risk; the need to encourage people to make plans for their future health and financial position before they had care needs; that a similar approach to the mid autumn adjusted system be adopted; was there anything in the policy about people who were uncooperative? links be provided to the two policies referred to on Page 30. Having made the above suggestions, the Committee:- Recommended That the updated policy as set out in appendix A is agreed. This incorporates the changes identified with this report under section 2.2. That agreement is sought for the Executive Director and the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health to have delegated authority to sign off future minor amendments and clarification of decision-making processes within the policy. Reason for Recommendations: To update the Charging and Financial Assessments Policy to support the continued delivery of the Service ensuring care contributions could be assessed and collected in a timely manner supporting fairness and equitability across the county.
Page 343 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 14
Recommendation to Cabinet From People and Health Overview Committee of 14 December 2020 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Draft Strategy and Action Plan
For Decision
Portfolio Holder: Cllr P Wharf, Corporate Development and Change
Local Councillor(s): All Councillors
Executive Director: Matt Prosser, Chief Executive
Report Status: Public
Recommendation:
That Cabinet adopt the draft equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and action plan (attached at appendix 3 of this report) Reason for Recommendation: As a public body, we have both a legal and a moral duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
Appendices
Appendix 1 - Report to People and Health Overview Committee of 14 December 2020 Appendix 2 - Equality, diversity and inclusion draft strategy and action plan Appendix 3 - Draft EqIA Appendix 4 – Extract from People & Health Overview Committee minutes of 14 December 2020.
Page 345 This page is intentionally left blank Appendix 1 People and Health Overview Committee 14 December 2020 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Draft Strategy and Action Plan
For Recommendation to Cabinet
Portfolio Holder: Cllr P Wharf, Corporate Development and Change
Local Councillor(s): All
Executive Director: M Prosser, Chief Executive
Report Author: Becky Forrester Title: Business Partner – Policy, Research and Performance Tel: 01305 224821 Email: [email protected]
Report Status: Public
Recommendation:
That Cabinet adopt the draft equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and action plan (attached at appendix 1); Note the findings of the public consultation; and Note the timetable for decision-making by Cabinet in January 2021.
Reason for Recommendation: As a public body, we have both a legal and a moral duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
1. Executive Summary
Dorset Council has worked on a number of projects to understand and advance equality, diversity and inclusion since its inception in April 2019. These include internal activities that relate to the council as an employer; and external services that we deliver to individuals and communities. These include the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, the Gender Pay Gap Trailblazer work with Unison, the Syrian Resettlement Programme, the co-production of services in Children’s
Page 347 Services and an assessment into the impact of COVID-19 on Dorset’s most vulnerable communities.
While there have been pockets of positive activity, the new council has not yet agreed a vision in relation to EDI; or reached out to partners to establish this as part of its culture and how it hopes to work with partners and communities in future.
During the consultation it was suggested that equality, diversity and inclusion lost visibility as a result of local government reorganisation, and that opportunities to show commitment and leadership were missed. The strategy and action plan brings together the council’s activities on equality, diversity and inclusion; puts them into a nationally recognised structure and starts building a performance framework by which progress can be measured.
It is hoped that, by working with partners, and voluntary and community organisations; the strategy and action plan will move beyond a series of initiatives and act as a catalyst for wider cultural change.
2. Financial Implications
None in relation to this report.
3. Well-being and Health Implications
The need for an EDI strategy and action plan was given greater urgency as a result of the pandemic, where evidence has shown that COVID-19 does not affect all population groups equally. Many analyses have shown that older age, deprivation, ethnicity, males and geographical areas are associated with a greater risk of infection and mortality.
4. Climate implications
None in relation to this report.
5. Other Implications
None in relation to this report.
6. Risk Assessment
Having considered the risks associated with this decision, the level of risk has been identified as: Current Risk: Low
Page 348 Residual Risk: Low
7. Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA)
The draft EqIA is attached at appendix 2. The purpose of the strategy and action plan is to improve the council’s work on equality, diversity and inclusion.
8. Appendices
i. Equality, diversity and inclusion draft strategy and action plan ii. Draft EqIA
9. Background and pre-consultation activity
9.1 Three pre-consultation meetings were held to inform the draft documents and contribute towards the formal consultation process. The consultees included the Trades Unions, employees, and partner organisations, including Dorset Race Equality Council, Dorset & Wiltshire Deaf Association, Dorset Polish Centre, Dorset Mental Health Forum, Help and Kindness and others.
9.2 Pre consultation comments included:
“If organisations don’t proactively, willingly and deliberately include, they automatically exclude” (voluntary organisation)
“Equality, diversity and inclusion lost visibility during local government re- organisation, and the council missed some opportunities to speak up, like over the Black Lives Matter movement” (employee comment).
This message also came up in initial conversations with voluntary sector representatives, one of whom said “there’s been an absence of reflective practice and honesty by the council”. On the topic of the council being relatively new, one Trade Union colleague said:
“The new council can set an example – a good way of doing that would be to adopt gender-neutral language”.
9.3 The pre-consultation meetings indicated a clear desire amongst voluntary and community sector organisations, employees and partners for the council, to show strong and sustained leadership around EDI and to work with others in doing so. As one voluntary organisation said ‘equality doesn’t end with legal compliance. It’s an ongoing journey, and we want to be on it together’.
Page 349 10. Consultation findings
10.1 61 responses were received to the written consultation. The responses showed that: 29% of respondents felt the council addresses EDI well or very well at present 56% felt the draft strategy was a good document to guide the council’s actions in future 54% of respondents agreed that the action plan was a good document to guide the council’s actions in the future
10.2 In addition to the written consultation, officers had more detailed consultation meetings with voluntary and community organisations and the Trades Unions. Many helpful additions were suggested for the action plan, including:
Refer to Project Weymouth and Portland that is currently being researched (several comments were made about poverty and housing in Weymouth and Portland) Work with the Trades Unions to promote EDI training opportunities Look for equality champions amongst employees whose work isn’t computer-based (cleaners, rangers, wardens etc) Look at complaints data to understand EDI complaints Undertake regular employee surveys to review how well the council is implementing the strategy and action plan Continue to ask voluntary and community organisations how they think the council is doing on EDI (essentially using this consultation as a benchmark and a monitoring process) Work with commissioning and procurement to ensure local suppliers are considering EDI issues
10.3 Several people commented that the action plan was too high level and not SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited). This was a conscious decision, as explained in the consultation document, and a more detailed action plan will be developed in conjunction with the portfolio holder and officers once cabinet has adopted the strategy and this high-level action plan; this will be approved by cabinet, delivered and developed by officers and an annual report will be reported to cabinet.
10.4 Some suggestions were made that haven’t been included in the action plan, specifically:
Page 350 Introduce mandatory training in schools and colleges (omitted because schools are independent of the council - similar suggestions were made relating to visitors, town and parish councils and private sector businesses which were omitted for the same reason). Just stop doing it altogether (rejected because we have a legal and moral duty to do it, and there was clearly a very strong appetite for the council to do more rather than less). Weymouth needs to be smartened up, the area by the train station looks shoddy and run down (omitted because it’s outside of the scope of this work). Make EDI training mandatory (omitted because it is already). Contradictory statements (too many actions in the action plan and not enough actions).
10.5 Perhaps inevitably, many of the suggestions were either far-reaching and/or focussed on very specific issues. Aspirations and actions that are deliverable within the current constraints have been included in the strategy and action plan, recognising that this is a starting point for further work. All comments have been tracked in a ‘you said/we did’ spreadsheet which will be shared with services and with the organisations and partners that contributed, in order that everyone can track individual suggestions.
10.6 One residents said “it's all too easy to have a policy, strategy or vision, but they are of the moment. They are out of date the moment they hit the press. Do something and do it well; small/short, consistent, iterative improvement cycles that don't cost huge in terms of time, money or resources”.
10.7 The action plan has been written with this approach in mind, but we recognise that this is as much about cultural change as it is about taking specific actions. As one respondent said ‘success is measured where diversity is in the warp and weft of the culture, attitude and values, not in a schedule of actions’.
10.8 Some specific comments were made in relation to economic disadvantage, the provision of housing, how the council buys goods and services, and working with schools and young people. These will be shared with the services, but the council has an Economic Growth Strategy, Procurement Strategy, a Children and Young People’s Plan, and housing policies which won’t be replicated in the EDI strategy. Officers will work together where these measures overlap through the employee steering group and shared performance measures.
Page 351 11. Ongoing engagement and monitoring of the strategy and action plan
11.1 18 respondents said they would like to be involved in monitoring the strategy and action plan going forward. It is suggested that this happens through the Dorset Forum for Equality and Diversity. The council will also be including several EDI performance measures in its performance management and monitoring processes, including:
A regular employee survey (HIVE) looking at how well the council is delivering the strategy and action plan Dorset Council’s score for the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index The percentage of employees who declare additional personal data The number of Diversity Champions and allies who support EDI within the council
11.2 We will also continue to ask partners how well we address equality, diversity and inclusion as a council to identify if we are making suitable progress. It is recognised that this as a systems leadership issue and the council needs to work on a multi-agency basis and engage communities to promote better understanding and awareness of what it means to be a diverse society.
11.3 The draft strategy, action plan and proposed measures will go to Cabinet on 19 January 2021.
Please do not delete the footnote. Footnote: Issues relating to financial, legal, environmental, economic and equalities implications have been considered and any information relevant to the decision is included within the report.
Page 352 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2021-2024
Page 353 1 Contents
Foreword 3
1. Why do we need an equality, diversity and inclusion strategy? 4
2. Diverse Dorset - what does the data tell us? 6
3. Where are we now as a council? 8
4. Where do we want to be? 10
5. The action plan 10
6. Performance measures and monitoring progress 11
Draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2021-2022 12
Page 354 2 Foreword
Dorset Council is relatively young – it was created in 2019 and I am proud to have been the member champion for equality, diversity and inclusion during that time. Since 2019 we have worked hard on various aspects of equality and inclusion – including the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, the Syrian Resettlement Programme and new training packages. We did an extensive assessment into the impact of COVID-19 on Dorset’s vulnerable communities earlier this year, and that has informed the strategy and its action plan. However, it is obvious from talking to employees and partner organisations that some of the values we adopted as a new council have yet to be fully demonstrated; there is more that we can and must do.
What came across most strongly from initial conversations – and the message was consistent from both employees and partners – was that while areas of good activity do exist, the new council lacks a coherent strategy and vision. The reorganisation of local government in Dorset was enormously complex and required a significant effort from everyone involved, but we now need to energise the conversation around equality, diversity and inclusion, sharpen our focus on what it means in terms of change, and show more determined leadership to deliver it.
Another theme to have emerged from the conversations was the importance of honesty and reflection. It is clear that we have missed some opportunities to show leadership as a new council. We should have spoken out more quickly following the death of George Floyd, and we should have worked with partners in doing so. The keenness of partners to work with us to deliver this strategy and action plan has been truly humbling, and the constructive and practical suggestions for additions to the action plan have been hugely helpful. As a county we are blessed with many brilliant voluntary and community organisations and active residents, and with your help, we can and will do better.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those organisations and individuals that contributed to developing the strategy and action plan. I commend it to all who read this and look forward to working together to deliver it.
Cllr Peter Wharf January 2020
Page 355 3 1. Why do we need an equality, diversity and inclusion strategy?
As a public body, we have both a legal and moral duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) amongst residents, service users and our own employees. As one of the biggest employers in Dorset, it is important that we lead by example and make the council the best employer it can be.
The council’s vision is to make Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. As an organisation we are committed to EDI, valuing and recognising our differences, but we appreciate there is a lot more we should be doing, and 2020 was an unprecedented year. In May 2020 we did an extensive assessment into the impact of COVID-19 on Dorset’s vulnerable communities which highlighted the following concerns: i. Mental health: Widespread concern was expressed about the impact of lockdown on mental health and wellbeing in general. ii. Young people: Lockdown was viewed as having had a particularly significant impact on young people, particularly on their mental health. iii. Seldom heard: Many vulnerable people have been supported, but there was concern that some people who needed help were reluctant to ask for it. iv. Economic and health vulnerability: The pandemic has had an enormous impact locally and it is expected that this impact on economic and health inequalities will grow. v. Digital exclusion: There was concern that a significant number of people are excluded from accessing digital services.
This strategy and action plan aim to build on the findings of the assessment locally, and of the national and international call to end racism and all forms of discrimination.
First, we want to be clear about what EDI means to Dorset Council. Our definitions are as follows:
Equality is about recognising that everyone is different, and that people’s needs are met in different ways. It is not about ‘treating everyone the same’. Equality is about fairness and ensuring that everyone has the best possible chance to succeed in life, whatever their background or identity.
Diversity is about understanding that everyone is unique, recognising, respecting and celebrating the value that these differences bring.
Inclusion is where difference is seen as an essential feature of society and a benefit, and where perspectives and differences are shared, leading to better decisions. An inclusive working environment is one in which everyone feels valued, that their contribution matters, and they can perform to their full potential.
While we are committed to EDI as a point of principle, and it is also reinforced and underpinned by a clear legal duty.
Page 356 4 Equality Act 2010
The EDI strategy will help make sure that Dorset Council meets (and hopefully exceeds) its legal equality duty. The Equality Act 2010 requires the council to take a proactive approach to equality and diversity. The Act sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone, such as direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation and failing to a make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person.
The act also includes the Public Sector Equality Duty (Section 149) which sets both general and specific duties to which public bodies like us are legally bound. The general duty requires public bodies to have ‘due regard’ to: • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation • advance equality of opportunity between all people • foster good relations between people, tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.
There are specific duties within the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). These duties require the council to: • publish relevant information demonstrating its compliance with the Equality Duty • set specific, measurable equality objectives.
Page 357 5 2. Diverse Dorset - what does the data tell us?
Dorset’s population
To support us in making informed decisions it is important that we Dorset Council’s population understand the people we serve.
Dorset Council has a population of 378,510, with a slightly larger population of females (51%) compared to males. Dorset 49% 51% is considered an attractive place for people to settle in their 378,510 retirement. It has a large population of older people, 29% are aged People 65 and above. Currently there are over 8,000 people in Dorset living with dementia, and the number is increasing. Younger people often move away from the area and it has a relatively low birth rate. The population continues to grow slowly, driven by people who are on average older, moving into the county plus increasing life expectancy. The greatest part of population growth is among over 65s. Dorset’s 16-64 population is expected to see a decline of 5.5% 65+ year olds with dementia over the next 25 years.
One in five of Dorset’s population consider themselves as having a 2029 long-term health problem that that limits their daily lives a little or a 10,200 lot. In Weymouth and Portland this accounts for 22% of residents, 2021 compared to North Dorset with 18%. 8,000 According to the 2011 Census, most of Dorset’s population (95.6%) Dorset identify as White British and 4.4% identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME). The highest proportion of this population are classified as ‘White Other’ who make up approximately 41% of Dorset’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic population. This Long-term health problems classification includes people who identify as white but who do not have UK national identity.
Dorset has ten neighbourhoods that are within the top 20% most deprived nationally for multiple deprivation. Nine of these are in Weymouth and Portland. The gap in life expectancy between the most deprived and least deprived areas is 6.3 years for males and 5.3 years for females. 46% of Dorset’s population live in rural areas. This causes significant barriers to housing, transport and essential Deprivation in Dorset services.
Dorset has a large military presence, with 3,150 service personnel across four basis. There’s also a large veterans community. Due to the significance of the military in Dorset, we work with the military and partners to remove the disadvantages faced by the armed forces community and ensure the families of the armed forces are supported.
9 out of 10 deprived areas are in Weymouth & Portland
Page 358 6 Dorset Council’s employees
The information below reflects the make-up of Dorset Council’s workforce as of November 2020 (excluding school employees). The information is analysed by equality group. Dorset Council employed 4485 people.
Dorset Councils’ workforce age
5.6% 65+ 4.9% 24 and under Age Workforce % 9.9% 60-64 24 and under 4.9% 23.9% 25-39 25-39 23.9% 40-49 23.8% 50-59 31.8%
31.8% 50-59 60-64 9.9% 65+ 5.6%
23.8% 40-49
Disability - Only 2.7% of employees shared that they had a disability. 58.7% of our employees state that they do not. This fits with many organisations nationally who have similar declared rates of disability. 38.8% have not shared or would prefer not to say. We recognise as a council more work needs to be undertaken to encourage employees to share their data, so that we can see to what extent our workforce reflects the communities it serves.
Race and ethnicity - 68.3% of our employees shared their ethnicity. Analysis showed that 1.3% of our employees identified as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and 2.5% identified as White other. 28.2% did not declare.
Sex - 63.1% of the workforce are female and 36.9% are male. Currently the council does not collect data on gender identity. We recognise that this needs to change and it has been included in our action plan.
Religion and belief - Data relating to religion and belief was last analysed in May 2019. 16% of employees shared their religion or belief. 73% did not.
Dorset Councils’ workforce age
0.1% Buddhist Religion Workforce % 51.1% Christian 0.02% Hindu and belief 0.02% Jewish 0.02% Muslim Christian 15.1% 0.7% Other Buddhist 0.1% Hindu 0.02% Jewish 0.02% 11% No religion Muslim 0.02%
4.0% Prefer not to say Other 0.7% No religion 11%
68.9% Not declared Prefer not to say 4.0% Not declared 68.9%
Sexual orientation - Data relating to sexual orientation was last analysed in May 2019. 38.1% of employees shared their sexual orientation with just under 1% identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). Page 359 7 3. Where are we now as a council?
Dorset Council was created in 2019 and replaced six other local authorities. We recognise that the council’s commitment to EDI takes different forms and is not yet consistent across all services.
A public consultation conducted in November 2020 showed that 29% of respondents felt the council currently did well in addressing equality, diversity and inclusion. 29% felt we did poorly. 42% felt we did reasonably. There is clearly a great deal to do. We will use this data as a benchmark and continue to ask the question at regular intervals to monitor whether we are improving.
In 2019 the council adopted the following values, behaviours and strategies, which apply to our employees and residents alike. What became clear during the consultation is that these are not yet fully embedded across all areas of activity as summarised below.
Values
• We are an advocate for Dorset on a local, national and global stage: This may be true for some services, but opportunities to promote Dorset as an EDI-friendly place on a national and global scale have been missed. • We work together with our communities and our partners to make things happen: This aspiration is shared by partners in the voluntary and community sector and partners would like to work more closely together on EDI. • We put people first and design services around their needs now and in future: There is insufficient evidence to confirm this. • We are open, accessible and accountable: Residents, organisations and employees frequently struggle to access information. Not everyone has access to the internet, and some of the information available on the internet and intranet is not accessible. • We value people and build on their strengths: Again, this is a worthy aspiration but feedback suggests that we don’t always listen or respond, either internally with employees, or externally with organisations and partners.
Our Behaviours
In 2019 the council adopted a new behaviours framework, which was developed by employees. In terms of EDI, it was clear that the behaviours that the council has adopted are particularly relevant:
Responsibility: We act with integrity. We are honest and we don’t attribute blame when something goes wrong. We are all part of the solution.
Respect: We are aware of our impact on others. We treat people fairly and have high expectations of ourselves and others, and value differences in approaches and opinions. We instigate and lead through positive behaviour.
Recognition: We appreciate and value the contribution of individuals and teams for work well done. We lead by taking time to provide feedback and share lessons learnt and achievements to support the organisation’s development. We celebrate commitment and success.
Collaboration: We work with colleagues, residents and partners to achieve the best possible outcomes. We feel confident to share ideas, we listen and respect other points of view and we strive to set this example to each other. We value the power in combining our personal qualities, skills and experience to achieve a shared goal.
Page 360 8 People Strategy
In 2019 the council also developed a People Strategy. The People Strategy sets out how Dorset Council will promote and proactively work towards enabling a diverse workforce across all levels of our organisation, acting as a role model for Dorset employers.
The People Strategy sets out our ambition to be an employer of choice, where we can do our jobs well and make a difference to the people of Dorset. We have worked with employees to understand what an employer of choice means to us, and this is what we have heard: We want the council to be a place where we: • Recognise that our colleagues are the organisation’s greatest asset • Find our work rewarding and can see the difference we make to the lives of Dorset residents • Are supported to develop ourselves, enhance our skills and increase our knowledge • Value diverse backgrounds, skills and personalities • Respect everyone’s rights and dignity • Develop a positive working culture that is flexible, responsive and enhances the health and wellbeing of our employees • Have access to the resources and support we need to do our work effectively • Take responsibility for our work and the outcomes we deliver • Listen to others’ views and we recognise their contribution • Work as one team to achieve our shared goals
Feedback from the consultation indicates that these remain the right aspirations, but progress needs to be made before people feel that they are embedded. This has also been shown in recent employee surveys which show that: • 57% of respondents felt the organisation treats everyone with dignity and respect; and • 59% of respondents felt the council treats people fairly with dignity and respect
There is a separate action plan for the People Strategy which aims to address this.
Equality Objectives
Dorset Council has three equality objectives that underpin this strategy. These set out our long-term aims for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion when delivering services, supporting our communities and developing our work culture. These are: • To foster good relations with and within the community • To develop and support a diverse workforce • To develop, commission and deliver inclusive and responsive services
These were adopted in January 2019 by the ‘shadow’ Dorset Council, and there has been little opportunity to review the objectives and develop an action plan. The introduction of this strategy and action plan will help in delivering actions in relation to our equality objectives, and understanding how they need to be updated in future.
Page 361 9 4. Where do we want to be?
Dorset Council wants to continue developing a positive culture. We want Dorset to be a place where people want to live and work, with a positive and energetic approach to EDI. We want to respond rapidly with intent to local, national or global issues that impact on equality and diversity matters. We want to embed further equality, diversity and inclusion in everything we do, to help make Dorset and Dorset Council a better place for everyone.
Feedback from the consultation suggested employees and partners want the council to be: • More engaged and responsive – listening to and understanding people’s experiences • More responsive in how we communicate with everyone • More committed to working with voluntary and community organisations • Bolder in our commitment to anti-racism • More explicit in our commitment to LGBTQ+ • More focussed on socio-economic deprivation • More explicit in its actions
5. The action plan
We have developed an action plan to help deliver our equality strategy. It is based on a framework recommended by the Local Government Association¹ which consists of four themes:
• Understanding and working with our communities • Leadership and organisational commitment • Responsive services and customer care • Diverse and engaged workforce
¹ Called the Equality Framework for Local Government. The Local Government Association is an umbrella organisation that all local authoritiesPage can join. 362 10 6. Performance measures and monitoring progress
We want to ensure that our equality, diversity and inclusion activities are measurable, so we know how we’re doing and can be challenged if things don’t improve. These measures will include: • A regular employee survey (HIVE) looking at how well the council is delivering the strategy and action plan • Dorset Council’s score for the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index • The percentage of employees who declare additional personal data • The number of Diversity Champions and allies who support EDI within the council
We will also continue to ask partners how well we address equality, diversity and inclusion as a council to identify if we are making progress.
We know we can’t assess our own performance, so we need others to help. We will do this by: • Setting up an officers’ working group • Working with external community groups and other stakeholders to monitor progress with delivery of the plan • Working with Trade Unions • All employees to regularly monitor objectives, behaviours, wellbeing, peer feedback and workplace culture.
Page 363 11 Draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2021-2022
This action plan is intended to deliver the council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, the plan will be developed to include specific actions and timescales and is a working document, which will be updated frequently.
The plan will also be reviewed in February 2022 and a year 2 plan will then be implemented, focusing on the achievements of 2021-22 and informed by feedback from employees, residents and the EDI Officer Working Group. The action plan has been developed around the following: • Theme: We have grouped work into four themes, which are used in the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) . We will use this framework to benchmark ourselves and as a tool to help us improve how we deliver services and be an employer of choice. • Equality Objectives: The Equality Act 2010 requires us to have equality objectives, these objectives are key areas we want to focus on. • Dorset Council values and behaviours: As a new organisation in 2019 we defined our principles and values for our journey ahead.
1 . Understanding and working with our communities
Link to our equality objectives, our values: Fostering good relations with and within our community. We work together with our communities and our partners to make things happen. We put people first and design services around their needs now and in the future.
How will we achieve this? • Build and maintain strong relationships with our communities, the community, voluntary and faith sector and partner agencies to improve our knowledge and enable us to work together to improve opportunities for all • Analyse and use equality and diversity data to monitor and plan services that meet the needs of our diverse communities • Foster good relations and promote understanding between people from different communities across Dorset • Carry out consultations when we are proposing service changes • Provide public information in the most appropriate and accessible way
Key actions for 2021-2022 • Introduce equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base and inform service planning • Create an annual calendar of key diversity dates which are supported by the council • Collaborate with partners and the community and voluntary sector on EDI issues e.g. Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Group, Prejudice Free Dorset, Anti-Slavery Partnership, Children and Young People • Continue to deliver the Dorset Syrian Resettlement Programme • Monitor complaints and compliments by protected characteristic to follow any inequality or discrimination • Continue to deliver the actions in the COVID-19 EqIA relating to vulnerable communities • Use Local Democracy Week to encourage people to understand more how local democracy works and work with Dorset Youth Parliament • Implement initiatives to ensure that Dorset Council is working towards being anti-racist • Develop research base looking specifically at Weymouth and Portland Page 364 12 2 . Leadership and organisational commitment
Link to our equality objectives, our values: Developing and supporting a diverse workforce We are open, accessible and accountable We are an advocate for Dorset on a local, national and global stage
How will we achieve this? • Equality objectives will be monitored and reviewed on an annual basis • Publish data annually to show how the council is meeting the Public Sector Equality Duty • Offer a suite of equality and diversity learning and development opportunities to all employees and councillors • Create a positive workplace culture for all • Share messages of celebration and communications about key diversity dates and events
Key actions for 2021-2022 • Implement a communication policy on incidents which are attracting public and media interest • Publish equality data annually: • annual workforce report • gender pay gap report • EqIAs • Deliver the actions as set out in the People Strategy² including: • Becoming an employer of choice • Developing our people • Engaging our people • Supporting our people • Rewarding and recognising performance • Creating a positive workplace culture • Review councillors’ equality and diversity learning and development opportunities • Implement an annual programme of EDI awareness activities for employees which includes learning opportunities
3 . Responsive services and customer care
Link to our equality objectives, our values: Developing, commissioning and delivering inclusive and responsive services We use time and money wisely
How will we achieve this? • Embed equality and diversity within our policies and procedures • Embed equality and diversity within our commissioning and procurement processes • Ensure that equalities implications inform policy formulation and decision making from the start of the process • Offer appropriate translation and interpreting services
2 The People Strategy is how we create a positive workplace culture, so employees feel valued and part one organisation. Page 365 13 • Ensure information on our Dorset Council website is accessible and conforms with the Accessibility Standards • Create awareness and promote ownership across the council of the Equality and Diversity Strategy and action plan
Key actions for 2021-2022 • Review our approach to equality impact assessments • Deliver regular equality analysis training to ensure that we are giving due regard in decision making • Establish a monitoring process to capture social value from purchasing and commissioning activities • Review our HR policies and procedures to ensure gender neutral language is used • Implement translation, interpreting and alternative formats guidance • Raise awareness of the Accessibility Standards and providing accessibility training
4 . Diverse and engaged workforce
Link to our equality objectives, our values: Developing and supporting a diverse workforce We value people and build on their strengths
How will we achieve this? • Review and modernise our approaches to recruitment and retention to check for unconscious bias • Continue to participate in benchmarking schemes such as Disability Confident, Stonewall and Mindful Employer • Encourage employees to share their diversity data • Undertake regular employee snapshots through our survey platform and other engagement methods • Ensure that gender pay gap data is collected and published annually • Use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is
Key actions for 2021-2022 • Develop and monitor a workforce plan to help understand the profile of the organisation • Launch and develop our employee networks • Deliver regular equality and diversity induction training to new employees • Review our equality and diversity learning and development opportunities and work with trade unions to develop new training • Implement a Mobile workforce group to look at how we improve communications with our workforce who do not have access to the intranet or a Dorset Council email address • Carry out a Hive survey on the work of the EDI strategy • Work with UNISON on the Gender Pay Gap Trailblazer • De velop a Disability Confident action plan and a become a Disability Confident Employer (level 2) by the end of 2021 • Develop a LGBTQ+ action plan using Stonewall feedback and improve our ranking in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for 2021 • Continue to be a member of Mindful Employer and share resources • Increase the number of employees sharing their diversity data year on year • Implement a sexual harassment policy • Develop policies and guidance on managing the menopause at work • Develop a Trans3 policy and guidance for all employees who identify as trans • Establish a role models and allies programme and ensure it includes our mobile workforce
3 Tr ans is an umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assignedPage at birth 366 14 Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) Before completing this EqIA please ensure you have read the guidance on the intranet.
Initial Information Name: Rebecca Forrester Business Partner – Policy, Research & Job Title: Performance Email address: [email protected] Members of the assessment team: Tamsyn Harwood & Susan Ward-Rice Date assessment started: 1 October 2020 Date of completion: 17 December 2020 Version Number: 2
Part 1: Background Information Is this (please tick or expand the box to explain) Existing Changing, updating or revision New or proposed X Other
Is this (please tick or expand the box to explain) Internal (employees only) External (residents, communities, partners) Both of the above X
What is the name of your policy, strategy, project or service being assessed? Dorset Council Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan
What is the policy, strategy, project or service designed to do? (include the aims, purpose and intended outcomes of the policy) This strategy sets out how the council will deliver equality, diversity and inclusion over the next three years (2021-2024), the action plan details the actual work that will be undertaken in the first year (2021-2022), this plan will then be reviewed and an updated action plan for year two will be published.
What is the background or context to the proposal? Dorset Council is a relatively new council, formed in April 2019, when a local government reorganisation created a new council area.
Since the formation of Dorset Council there have been a number of initiatives, projects and general work to advance equality, diversity and inclusion. These include internal activities that relate to the council as an employer e.g.: gender pay gap reporting workforce equality monitoring data
1 Page 367 equality and diversity training (for councillors and employees) working with external bench marking organisations such as Disability Confident and Stonewall undertaking equality analysis of new or changing services, policies, projects etc Externally, the council has also: engaged with partners on equality, diversity and inclusion issues including Gypsy & Traveller Liaison, anti-slavery, European Union Settlement Scheme and community safety. implemented an accessibility strategy for school age pupils with a disability worked with partners to deliver the Dorset Syrian Resettlement Programme
While there have been pockets of positive activity within the council, the council does not have an agreed vision or strategy in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion. In addition, significant events in the last year such as COVID-19 and its impact on different communities and the murders in America of George Floyd and many others has shone a light on the racism and discrimination people from Black, Asian and diverse communities face throughout the world.
Additionally, recent national reports such as The McGregor-Smith Review (2017) and Public Health England Disparities in the risk and outcomes of Covid-19 (June 2020) also highlight people from Black, Asian and diverse communities are often treated differently or more likely to have negative experiences in the workplace and/or in accessing services.
During the pre-consultation and the consultation for this strategy, a number of organisations and individuals suggested that equality, diversity and inclusion was not visible in the council and that opportunities to show commitment and leadership were missed especially in relation to our response around Black Lives Matter.
Leading up to the formation of Dorset Council, advice was sought from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about what requirements should be in place in relation to the Public Sector Equality Duty on the 1 April 2019 when the council was formed. The EHRC advised that the council must prepare and publish one or more equality objectives, the commission recommended developing a small number of high- level objectives, which could be developed further as the council evolves. These equality objectives were agreed by the Shadow Executive Committee on the 14 January 2019.
These objectives are high-level and there has been little opportunity to review the objectives and develop an action plan. The introduction of this strategy and action plan will help in delivering actions in relation to our equality objectives, so providing a framework to ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
If this equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and action plan is adopted, it is envisaged that a consistent approach to diversity and inclusion will be embedded in all aspects of engaging, consulting, planning, commissioning and delivery of services with and to our communities, and our employment practices within the organisation. As such, we anticipate that by its very nature the equality, diversity and inclusion strategy should not have any negative impacts on the protected characteristic groups listed in Part 4 of this impact assessment, for most if is anticipated there will be a positive impact.
It should also be noted that this strategy does not cover schools in Dorset. Schools including academies are subject to the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty and it is recommended by the EHRC that schools set out how they will comply with equality legislation and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
2 Page 368 The strategy and action plan have been developed around the following: Theme - we have grouped work into five themes, which are used in the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) . We will use this framework to benchmark ourselves and as a tool to help us improve how we deliver services and be an employer of choice. Equality Objectives - The Equality Act 2010 requires us to have equality objectives, these objectives are key areas we want to focus on. Dorset Council values and behaviours - as a new organisation in 2019 we defined our principles and values for our journey ahead.
Part 2: Gathering information What sources of data, information, evidence and research was used to inform you about the people your proposal will have an impact on? As this policy is both internal and external the following data has been used to understand our workforce profile and Dorset Council communities: Census and Office for National Statistics (2011-2018) taken from Dorset Insight State of Dorset 2019 Dorset Council workforce profile data (August 2019) Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2020 report Equality Framework for Local Government LGBT - Trans Report, Stonewall; 2018 Gender Identity Update, ONS, 2019 Pan Dorset Maternity Strategy 2014-19, Dorset CCG; 2014
What did this data, information, evidence and research tell you? Data about Dorset Council workforce: The following data relates to all employees at Dorset Council but not school employees, as the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy does not include schools or academies or those working within them.
Employees are encouraged to provide diversity monitoring data, but they are not obliged to do so. It should also be noted that for some protected characteristics we are unable to provide data, due to it not being collected or it being so small there is a risk of identifying individuals.
The data below was collected at two different times. The data for age, disability, ethnicity and sex were collected on the 1 November 2020. The data for sexual orientation and religion and belief were collected as part of an EqIA undertaken in August 2019.
Sex Overall workforce (Amount/%) Male 1,654 (36.88%) Female 2,831 (63.12%)
Race and Ethnicity Overall workforce (%) White British 68.03% White Other 2.52% Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic 1.25% Prefer not to say 8.18% Not declared 20.02%
3 Page 369 Disability Overall workforce (%) Disabled 2.70% Not disabled 58.73% Prefer not to say 6.62% Not declared 31.95%
Age Overall workforce (Amount/%) 14 – 24* 220 (4.91%) 25 – 39 1,069 (23.8%) 40 – 49 1,071 (23.8%) 50 – 59 1,427 (31.8%) 60 – 64 444 (9.90%) 65+ 254 (5.66%) * Employees aged between 14-16 are ‘Casual Swim Helpers’
Sexual Orientation Overall workforce (%) Heterosexual 37.13 Lesbian / Gay 0.58 Bisexual 0.16 Other 0.27 Prefer not to say 7.04 Not declared 54.82
Religion and Belief Overall workforce (%) Christian 15.14 Buddhist 0.14 Hindu 0.02 Jewish 0.02 Muslim 0.02 Other 0.72 No religion 10.99 Prefer not to say 4.02 Not declared 68.93
As part of the action plan relating to the strategy, there is a specific action to improve collecting diversity data and improving the questions asked.
Data relating to the Dorset Council area: Data on the population of Dorset can be found on Dorset Insight. However, some of the key headlines are: Population total of 376,480 of which: o 51.1% is female (192,380) o 48.9% is male (184,100) o 28.6% is aged 65+ years (107,810) o 55.4% is aged between 16-64 years (208,740) 95.6% identify as White British o 4.4% identify as Black and minority ethnic o 1.7% main language is not English o in 2018 1,045 NINos (National Insurance numbers) were all allocated to adult overseas nationals this is a decline of 7.5% on the allocated in 2017 65.1% of the population identify as Christian 25.4% have no religion 80.9% of residents report having very good or good health
4 Page 370 11.9% of residents provide unpaid care 182,677 residential properties in Dorset o 72.4% are owner occupied o 13.7% are privately rented o 40.5% of dwellings are detached and 15.6% are flats/maisonettes 15.2% have no car or van in the household 170,602 residents aged 16-74 in employment 4,491 households include an Armed forces person 12,110 parents identify as being a lone parent
It should be noted that for some of the protected characteristics listed in Part 4 of this EqIA, statistical data does not exist at a local authority area.
Is further information needed to help inform this proposal? No
Part 3: Engagement and Consultation What engagement or consultation has taken place as part of this proposal? The following activities have taken place:
Pre-consultation engagement events inform the draft documents and the formal consultation process: Briefing with Councillor Wharf (equality, diversity & inclusion portfolio holder) Dorset Council Internal Equality & Diversity Officer Group (2 October 2020) Pre-consultation engagement session with key Dorset equality organisations including Dorset Mental Health Forum, Dorset Polish Centre, Dorset Race Equality Council, Space Youth Project Dorset & Wilts Deaf Association and others Pre-consultation engagement session with unions (Unison & GMB - 7 October 2020)
Engagement activity: Information emails about the draft strategy, action plan and consultation were circulated to key Dorset equality organisations on 9 October, 19 October and 16 November 2020, those organisations were also asked to circulate and promote the survey if possible, through their networks Press release (12 October 2020) Social media messages (Facebook and Twitter at the launch and towards the end of the consultation period) Dorset Council intranet article for employees (12 October & 20 November 2020) Consultation engagement session with Unions including equality reps - Unison & GMB (18 November 2020) Attendance at Black Lives Matter Network, Bridport meeting (19 November 2020) Attendance and presentation at Forum for Equality & Diversity (17 November 2020)
Public consultation: A six-week public consultation (12 October to 22 November 2020) The consultation was held online via the Dorset Council website, word copies of the strategy and action plan were included on the consultation page, this allowed the documents to be accessible.
In addition, alternative formats of the consultation and the draft documents would be made available if required and people could complete the survey by telephone., this information
5 Page 371 was included in the press briefing. Due to current COVID restrictions surveys were unable to be left in council and public buildings such as libraries and local offices. Public consultation feedback: 61 people responded from the consultation and this can be broken down into: 29 (51.8%) as a Dorset resident 4 (6.6%) as a representative of an organisation/community group/business 26 (42.6%) as a Dorset Council employee 2 (3.3%) other e.g. councillor
The consultation asked a mixture of rating scale questions and open-ended questions, respondents were to rate how well the council currently addresses equality, diversity and inclusion, to rating whether the strategy was a good document to guide Dorset Council's actions in the future. Open ended questions asked respondents in what areas was both the strategy and action plan both strong and weak.
The response was broadly positive and showed that: 29% of respondents felt the council addresses EDI well or very well currently 56% felt that the draft strategy was a good document to guide the EDI work 54% of respondents agreed that the action plan was a good document to guide the council's actions in the future Respondents also made a number of suggestions for the action plan which included: work with commissioning and procurement to ensure local suppliers are considering EDI work with the trade unions on an initiative aimed at closing the gender pay gap use complaints data to understand EDI complaints consider additional policies and guidance around domestic abuse and menopause
Other suggestions made that haven't included in the action plan, as they were not considered appropriate or the work was already being done elsewhere in the council or will be included in other pieces of work already listed in the action plan.
The diversity of the respondents can be broken down into the following (using %): Age 1.7% 18-24 10.2% 25-34 18.6% 35-44 20.3% 45-54 18.6% 55-64 16.9% 65 or over 13.6% prefer not to say
Gender identity: 32.2% male 50.8% female 3.4% prefer to self-describe 13.6% prefer not to say
Disability: 68.4% did not consider themselves disabled whilst 22.8% did.
Race & Ethnicity: 81.4% White British 1.7% White Irish
6 Page 372 3.4% Gypsy/Irish Traveller 1.7% Other mixed background 10.2% prefer not to say
Sexual orientation: 5.3% Bi 1.8% Gay/Lesbian 66.7% Heterosexual/Straight 8.8% I use another term 17.5% Prefer not to say
Religion and Belief 31.6% Christian 3.5% Hindu 38.6% No religion 3.5% Other 22.8% Prefer not to say
In addition to the formal consultation, officers received email responses from voluntary and community organisations and the trade unions.
How will the outcome of consultation be fed back to those who you consulted with? Respondents on to the public consultation were asked how they would like to be kept informed of the progress and 18 said they would like to be involved. Participants attending the Forum for Equality & Diversity suggested using this forum as way of keeping organisations updated on progress. Other suggestions also included regular updates in the Dorset Council newsletter which goes out quarterly.
Performance measures are also being included in the action plan and these will be monitored by the senior leadership team through its performance management process.
Please refer to the Equality Impact Assessment Guidance before completing this section. Not every proposal will require an EqIA. If you decide that your proposal does not require an EqIA, it is important to show that you have given this adequate consideration. The data and research that you have used to inform you about the people who will be affected by the policy should enable you to make this decision and whether you need to continue with the EqIA.
Please tick the appropriate option: An EqIA is required X (please continue to Part 4 of this document) An EqIA is not required (please complete the box below)
Part 4: Analysing the impact Who does the service, strategy, policy, project or change impact?
7 Page 373 - If your strategy, policy, project or service contains options you may wish to consider providing an assessment for each option. Please cut and paste the template accordingly. For each protected characteristic please choose from the following options: - Please note in some cases more than one impact may apply – in this case please state all relevant options and explain in the ‘Please provide details’ box.
the proposal eliminates discrimination, advances equality of Positive Impact opportunity and/or fosters good relations with protected groups. Negative Impact Protected characteristic group(s) could be disadvantaged or discriminated against Neutral Impact No change/ no assessed significant impact of protected characteristic groups Unclear Not enough data/evidence has been collected to make an informed decision.
Age: positive What age bracket does all ages this affect? Dorset Council employees: The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and action plan is relevant to all employees regardless of their age. The strategy has several actions which target all employees which include: use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is. reviewing and monitoring our recruitment processes for unconscious bias establish a role models and allies programme to highlight different protected characteristics. offer a suite of equality and diversity learning and development opportunities to all employees.
Please provide details: Dorset Council area: The action plan is grouped into themes based on the Equality Framework for Local Government, this includes a specific theme: 'understanding and working with our communities' which focuses on community engagement, fostering good community relations and participation in public life.
As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies. This strategy reinforces the need to build relationships and work with our communities, so we can understand their needs now and in the future through effective community engagement
8 Page 374 with all protected characteristic groups and good partnership working. Some of the feedback from the consultation stressed the importance of engaging with young people and thinking about different engagement methods.
The action plan includes specific actions for how we will work with our communities e.g.: provide public information in the most appropriate and accessible way embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base promote and support key diversity days and events. initiatives to encourage diverse communities to get involved in local democracy e.g. becoming a councillor, school governor etc The strategy and action plan will also link with other council strategies e.g. Community Safety Strategy, Children and Young People's Plan and the Council Plan.
Disability: positive (including physical, mental, sensory and progressive conditions) Does this affect a No specific disability group? Please provide details: Dorset Council employees: Only 2.75% of our workforce have identified themselves as disabled, this fits with many organisations (nationally) who have similar declared rates of disability. This figure is significantly lower than the Dorset and national average (19%)1. Dorset Council recognise that more work needs to be undertaken to encourage disabled people to share their data and for the council to raise awareness and understanding of non-visible disabilities and a specific action around this in included in the plan.
The action plan has a number of other actions in relation to disability we aim to: Become a Disability Confident Employer (level 2) - this government scheme helps employers commit to attracting, recruiting and retaining people with disabilities. Continue to be part of Mindful Employer and share their resources launch and develop employee networks use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is. reviewing and monitoring our recruitment processes for unconscious bias
1 Disability facts and figures, Scope; 2019
9 Page 375 establish a role models and allies programme to highlight different protected characteristics. Dorset Council area: As mentioned under 'age' the action plan is grouped into themes based on the Equality Framework for Local Government, this includes a specific theme: 'understanding and working with our communities'.
As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Specific actions included in the action plan relating to disability and in addition to what is listed under the 'age' protected characteristic are: offer appropriate translation and interpreting service including information in alternative formats ensure information on our Dorset Council website is accessible provide public information in the most appropriate and accessible way embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base
Gender Reassignment Positive & Gender Identity: Dorset Council employees: Dorset Council does not currently collect data on employees for this category. The council participates in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, this index is a benchmarking exercise carried out by Stonewall across the private and public sector, for employers to understand how they are progressing in making a more inclusive workplace for those identifying as LGBTQ+. Specific actions included in the action plan relating to gender reassignment and gender identity include: launch and develop employee networks Please provide details: use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is. reviewing and monitoring our recruitment processes for unconscious bias establish a role models and allies programme to highlight different protected characteristics. develop trans policy and guidance improve on our ranking in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in 2021. increase the number of sharing their diversity data
10 Page 376 implement a sexual harassment policy review our policies and procedures to ensure gender neutral language
Dorset Council area: As mentioned under 'age' the action plan is grouped into themes based on the Equality Framework for Local Government, this includes a specific theme: 'understanding and working with our communities'.
As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Our Stonewall work includes how we engage with the LGBTQ+ community within Dorset, as part of our community engagement work, we are developing relationships locally with key LGBTQ+ organisations.
Specific actions included in the action plan relating to gender reassignment and gender identity include: provide public information in the most appropriate and accessible way embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base The consultation for this strategy has led to offers from key organisations in this area to support us to write our trans policy and guidance.
Feedback from the consultation also asked for the following to be included in the action plan: Consider additional polices on managing the menopause at work
Pregnancy and neutral maternity: Dorset Council employees: The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategy and action plan is relevant to all employees.
Dorset Council will need to ensure employees returning from maternity leave, parental leave and adoption leave are aware Please provide details: of the strategy and action plan.
Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes
11 Page 377 and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Race and Ethnicity: positive Feedback from the public consultation, our employees and the trade unions said that we need to take a more pro-active approach to racism and discrimination faced by members of Black, Asian and diverse communities, simply saying we are not racist is not enough, we need to listen and understand the lived experiences of both our employees and residents and create an organisation where all employees feel safe, valued and listened to.
Specific actions that are included in the action plan for our employees are: launch and develop employee networks use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is. reviewing and monitoring our recruitment processes for unconscious bias establish a role models and allies programme to highlight different protected characteristics. Dorset Council area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are Please provide details: evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies. Some specific actions included in the action plan are: implement a communication policy on incidents which are attracting public and media interest provide public information in the most appropriate way embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base promote and support key diversity days and events such as Gypsy, Roma & Traveller History Month, Holocaust Memorial Day and Black History Month initiatives to encourage diverse communities to get involved in local democracy e.g. becoming a councillor, school governor etc collaborate with partners on race related EDI issues e.g. Gypsy & Traveller Liaison Group, Prejudice Free Dorset, Anti-Slavery Partnership continue to deliver the Dorset Syrian Resettlement Programme Other appropriate translation and interpreting services
12 Page 378 Ensure information on our Dorset Council website is accessible
Religion or belief: positive As an employer we are conscious that over 68% of our workforce have not declared any religion or belief. We recognise there is more work we need to do about encouraging employees to share their data and this is included as a specific action for 2021. As an employer and linking with other policies such as the behaviour framework, we need to consider how we raise awareness and understanding of different faiths and beliefs and embrace initiatives such as Multi-Faith week. There is also a need to link with other policies/initiatives such as smarter working and flexible working which can help employees Please provide details: participate in religious/belief events this can help with a work/life balance. Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies. A specific action included in the action plan is: implement a communication policy on incidents which are attracting public and media interest
Sexual orientation: positive Dorset Council employees: We are conscious that over half of our employees have not declared their sexual orientation and 6% would prefer not to say. We recognise that more work needs to be done to encourage people to share their data and feel safe in sharing data and this is included as a specific action for 2021.
Feedback from employees in the consultation also highlighted that more work is needed in challenging homophobia, biphobia Please provide details: and transphobia in the workplace and making assumptions on people’s sexual orientation and gender identity.
As mentioned earlier in this assessment, the council participates in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, a specific action has been included in the action plan to improve our ranking in the 2021 index. Using feedback from our previous entry and from recent consultation sessions with Stonewall, a Stonewall specific plan is being developed.
13 Page 379 Specific actions included in the action plan relating to sexual orientation include: launch and develop employee networks use employee diversity and gender pay gap data to work towards improving how representative the workforce is. reviewing and monitoring our recruitment processes for unconscious bias establish a role models and allies programme to highlight different protected characteristics. increase the number of sharing their diversity data As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Our Stonewall work includes how we engage with the LGBTQ+ community within Dorset, as part of our community engagement work, we are developing relationships locally with key LGBTQ+ organisations.
Specific actions included in the action plan relating to gender reassignment and gender identity include: provide public information in the most appropriate and accessible way embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base
Sex (consider both men positive and women): Dorset Council employees: Dorset Council has a higher proportion of females working at the council. This EqIA details the female/male split of full time, part time workers and also the sex breakdown across the pay grades.
Due COVID-19 pandemic, the Government Equalities Office and the Equality & Human Rights Commission took the decision in March 2020 to suspend enforcement of gender pay gap reporting for 2019/20. As such Dorset Council has not Please provide details: released information on the gender pay gap. The gender pay reporting has been included in the action plan for 2021.
The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and action plan is relevant to all employees. In the age section of this assessment it lists several actions which target all employees, in addition, other protected sections also list additional actions when thinking about people with multiple characteristics (i.e. sex and sexual orientation).
14 Page 380 The council recognises that more work is needed in challenging sexism in the workplace and making assumptions about people’s roles.
The action plan also lists some specific actions relating to sex: Implement a sexual harassment policy
Feedback from the consultation asked for the following to be included in the action plan: Consider additional polices on managing the menopause at work
Dorset Council area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Marriage or civil neutral partnership: This strategy will be applied equally to all employees regardless of their marriage or civil partnership status. With the development of this strategy and other policies such as our behaviour framework, and our work with Stonewall we should Please provide details: be celebrating the diversity of relationships and not making assumptions and any marketing materials should be reflective of different protected characteristic groups.
Carers: positive Dorset Council employees: At present, Dorset Council does not collect data on employees who are also carers. However, we believe that a number of our employees will be carers and more is required to understand how we can support employees.
The strategy has some actions which could be of benefit employees who are carers, these include:: establish a role models and allies programme to Please provide details: highlight different protected characteristics launch and develop employee networks embed equality monitoring within Dorset Council to improve our evidence base Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple
15 Page 381 protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Rural isolation: neutral /unclear Dorset Council does not use any personal data shared to understand if an employee lives in a rural area, however, we believe that a number of our employees will live in a rural area. The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and action plan is relevant to all employees. For employees who are considered mobile workers i.e. do not have a base or limited access to a base and do not have a council email address, the council is developing a Mobile Workers Officers Group to look at how communication and support is offered and this has been Please provide details: included in the action plan.
Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Single parent families: Neutral Dorset Council employees: At present, Dorset Council does not collect data on single parent families. The Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and action plan is relevant to all employees, and this group will have other protected characteristics, where there could be some positive impacts.
Our work with Stonewall and its Workplace Equality Index will enable us to consider an action plan to review family friendly policies, which will include a language review to ensure gender Please provide details: neutral language.
Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
Social & economic Unclear for employees, Positive for the council area deprivation: Dorset Council employees: Dorset Council does not use any personal data such as pay Please provide details: grades to understand if employees are experiencing deprivation (social or economic). The council does offer a
16 Page 382 number of employee benefits including links with Wyvern Savings and Loans (credit union), car and bikes schemes through salary sacrifice. At this present time, we are unclear what the impact could be on our employees.
Dorset Council area: Deprivation has a significant impact on health and wellbeing. Areas of deprivation are largely located in the most urban areas, such as Weymouth & Portland, which has ten areas within the top 20% most deprived nationally for multiple deprivation. The action plan for the strategy includes an action around Project Weymouth, an economic regeneration project, which will result in new homes, jobs and cultural and leisure facilities.
Armed Forces neutral/potentially positive communities Dorset Council area: At present we do not collect data on employees who may be veterans or partners of military personnel. Dorset Council has signed the Armed Forces Covenant, as part of the recruitment and retention work which is listed as an action in the action plan, it would be beneficial to use the covenant as an opportunity to encourage recruitment from the armed forces communities. Please provide details: Dorset Council Area: As a council we aim to create policies and services which are evidence based, using local and national data. Our equality analysis enables us to understand the differences in outcomes and opportunities of people with different and multiple protected characteristics and due regard is taken when making decisions and setting policies.
17 Page 383 Part 5: Action Plan Provide actions for positive, negative and unclear impacts. If you have identified any negative or unclear impacts, describe what adjustments will be made to remove or reduce the impacts, or if this is not possible provide justification for continuing with the proposal. Date to be Issue Action to be taken Person(s) responsible completed by The Equality & Diversity Strategy and action plan will go to Rebecca Forrester 31/01/2021 All protected Overview & People Committee on the 14 December 2020 and characteristic if supported will go to Cabinet on 19 January 2021 for groups adoption. If adopted, the action plan will start to be
Page 384 Page implemented. Communication Comms to take policy to launch the strategy and action plan Susan Ward-Rice 31/01/2021 of strategy and and regular comms throughout the year on updates. action plan Monitoring of Officer monitoring and review group to meet regularly to Rebecca Forrester / Susan January 2022 strategy and oversee the work of the strategy and the action plan 2021- Ward-Rice action plan 2022 Review this EqIA to be reviewed and updated when the first year of action Rebecca Forrester / Susan January 2022 EqIA plan is completed. Ward-Rice
EqIA Sign Off Officer completing this EqIA: Rebecca Forrester Date: 01 December 2020 Equality & Diversity Action Group Chair: Pete Bartlett Date: 17 December 2020
18 Appendix 4
Extract from draft minutes of People and Health Overview Committee – 14 December 2020
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy and action plan
The Committee considered a report by the Chief Executive on the draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan. The Strategy and Action Plan would be considered by Cabinet in January 2021. The Strategy had been drafted in order to have a clear and cohesive strategy across all Council services. The recent murder of George Floyd in America and the spread of Covid and its impact on vulnerable communities had added urgency to the Strategy's development. The voluntary and community sector, partners, Trade Unions, the Forum for Equality and Diversity, Dorset Race Equality Council and residents had all been involved in its development. In particular the Committee were asked to consider whether the Strategy needed greater cohesion, whether anything was missing, whether any additional recommendations should be made to Cabinet and how it could be embedded within the Council's culture. Members then discussed the Strategy and action plan in detail. Comments and suggested amendments included: what did good look like and what targets should be included; members would have had more time to consider the four areas if they had been given them prior to the meeting; the need for organisations the Council worked with to have similar equality standards; the Strategy referred to Covid and its effect on the older population but young people and those of working age had been affected by lockdown too and this was not included; Covid had also affected people's mental health and finances which was also omitted; health inequalities needed to be addressed within the Strategy; the current workforce did not represent the wider community; negative and positive discrimination and the need for appointments to be made on merit; the Nepalese population and their families, veterans and ex-service men did not feature within the Strategy; the need for the use of plain English so that the Strategy was easily understandable to the public; the Strategy needed to make reference to the style guide which needed to be updated to reflect Black and Minority Ethnicity and other protected characteristics;
Page 385 that the emphasis on young people, health inequalities and links to the armed forces covenant be strengthened in the Strategy. Although cultural change was difficult to monitor, the Pulse and Hive surveys undertaken by staff gave an indication of changes. The Corporate Director for HR&OD would arrange for a member seminar to be scheduled on this. In view of their involvement in the Strategy it was suggested that a member of the Public Health Team be invited to the meeting when the Strategy was next reviewed. Members noted that discussions were IT were under way to develop the action plan as a live document so that people could input directly into it. A member seminar on leadership, employer of choice and the use of plain English would be held during the first part of 2021. Having discussed the Strategy in full, the Committee:- Recommended That Cabinet adopt the draft equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and action plan (attached at appendix 1); Reason for Recommendation: As a public body, we have both a legal and a moral duty to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. Decisions 1. That the findings of the public consultation be noted. 2. That the timetable for decision-making by Cabinet in January 2021 be noted. 3. The Corporate Director for HR&OD would arrange a member seminar on the Pulse and Hive surveys. 4. A member of the Public Health Team be invited to the meeting when the Strategy was next reviewed.
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