Dorset County Council March 2017 Report

Local Government reorganisation – Unitary

All 9 Councils have now voted on the proposals with six voting in favour (Dorset County, Weymouth and Portland, North Dorset, West Dorset, Bournemouth and finally Poole) and three against (Purbeck, East Dorset and Christchurch). Purbeck voted against on the casting vote of the Chairman. I personally voted in favour.

However the submission has now been made to the secretary of State, Sajid Javid, with the following (edited) opening statement “There is overwhelming support for change amongst councils, residents, businesses and other local public bodies, and we believe we have a very compelling case. These documents are supported by, a financial analysis of local government reorganisation, conducted by Local Partnerships (LP), the findings of a public consultation, undertaken by Opinion Research Services (ORS), an assessment of the case for change, undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and finally the report and recommendations considered by all councils in January 2017. We are convinced that the evidence to support our proposals is compelling, and confident that the criteria that you will use to consider it are not only met but exceeded. The headlines include, 75% of all Dorset Councillors that voted on this proposal, support it, 73% of residents support change, 65% of residents support the proposed geographical composition, 89% of businesses back change, as does the Local Enterprise Partnership. £108million of savings are projected in the first six years”

Once the project has paid back (in two years) prudent forecasts are for £28M p.a. savings with a stretch figure of, at minimum, double that.

The statement goes on to say “Our ambition is to have the two new councils in place by 1 April 2019, and with your support we are confident we can achieve it. We believe we have collectively identified a sustainable solution that reduces costs and improves public services, an opportunity to stimulate growth, and the chance of a lifetime to improve people’s quality of life and prosperity. We are confident that you will find the evidence compelling, and keen to meet you in person to discuss our proposal.” The statement has also been signed by 5 Dorset MPs.

I am told that the Secretary of State may agree this by the end of March and if so we will be attempting to persuade those authorities that have said no to reconsider as the reorganisation, if approved, will include those authorities that have said no thus far, whether they like it or not.

Free Childcare for 3 and 4 year olds

Working parents in Dorset may be eligible for up to 30 hours of free childcare for their 3 and 4 year olds five months before it’s rolled out nationally in September. Childcare settings in the Dorset County Council area have been chosen by the Government to test the offer earlier. This could save working parents around £5,000 per year with the cost of childcare.

We are working with nurseries, pre-schools, after-school clubs and childminders to begin offering the 30 hours of free childcare places to all eligiblefamilies from April; effectively doubling the existing 15 hours currently available for all parents. Children must be3 or 4 years old by 31st March 2017 to be eligible from April. There are other eligibility criteria and the early offer is only available for registered childcare in the DorsetCounty Councilarea, which doesn’t include childcare in Bournemouth and Poole; these areas will offer it from September.

Dorset parents eligible for 30 hours of free childcare will also be the first who can apply for Tax Free Childcare, another Government scheme to help parents pay for childcare. You can apply for all your children aged up to 12 years (17 if the child has a disability).

You can check eligibility and express an interest in applying for 30 hours of free childcare on

Dorsetforyou.com

Crossing the Floor

At the Dorset County Council meeting on Thursday February 16th Mike Byatt the ex-leader of the Labour party at County crossed the floor and joined the Conservative group. Mike has been a friend of mine ever since I have been a Councillor, I have worked with him very closely on a variety of issues and he has never let politics get in the way.

Surgery

Surgeries are held on the first Saturday of every month. These are held at the communal Lounge in Turberville Court in Bere Regis from 09.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. If you cannot make one of these please email me and I will arrange to come round to see you. If you have any questions or queries related to the business of Dorset County Council please come along. If anyone wants to contact me and cannot get to the surgery my email address is .

Peter Wharf, County Councillor