Agenda and minutes

The Council observed a minute’s silence in memory of Dave Bolwell and Barry Goringe. The Chair announced that tributes to Barry Goringe would take place at the next meeting of Council.

Members paid tribute to Dave Bolwell’s service as a councillor and his contributions to Dorset Council, Bridport Town Council, and in Bradford-upon-Avon before he moved to Dorset. Councillors remembered his kindness, good humour, and his commitment to the local community.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bridget Bolwell, Rob Hughes, Gill Taylor, Claudia Webb, Rory Major and Paul Kimber.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th February 2026.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2026 were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

(a)  To receive a short presentation from the Youth Council.

(b)  To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council.

Member of Youth Parliament

The Chair invited the Member of Youth Parliament, Tom Clifton, to address the council. The Member of Youth Parliament reflected on his term in Youth Parliament and his work tackling sexual violence in schools.

Jonathan Price – Executive Director, People – Adults and Housing

The Chair announced that Jonathan Price would be leaving Dorset Council at the end of April. On behalf of the Council, the Chair thanked Jonathan for the work he had done for the council.

A period of 30 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to questions and statements on the business of the Council in the following order:

(a) Questions and statements from Town and Parish Councils;

(b) Questions and statements from those living or working in the Dorset Council area;

A person or organisation can submit either 1 question or 1 statement at each meeting. 

You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.  If you submit a statement for Full Council this will be circulated to all members of the council in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes of the meeting for the formal record, but it will not be read out at the meeting.  The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received by Democratic Services will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline below:  

The full text of the question or statement must be received by 8.30am on 13^th April 2026. All submissions must be emailed to [email protected] 

When submitting your question or statement please note that:

·       You can submit 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting;

·       A question may include a pre-amble to set the context, each question, including the pre-amble can consist of up to 450 words and you will be given up to 3 minutes to read out your question;

·       Sub-divided questions will not be accepted;

·       When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for, i.e. the name of the Cabinet member;

·       You will need to include your full name, address and contact details;

·       All questions and statements will be published with the minutes of the meeting as a matter of public record.

Before submitting your question or statement please read the Council’s Procedure Rules paragraphs 9.1 – 9.12 to ensure that your question/statement is compliant.

Part 2 Rules of Procedure - Council and Committee Procedure Rules.pdf

There were two questions received from members of the public and responses were provided by the relevant Cabinet Members. The questions and responses are attached as an appendix to these minutes.

A period of 15 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to petitions in accordance with the council’s petitions scheme.

A period of 15 minutes is allocated to receive and respond to deputations in accordance with the council’s constitution.

The petitions scheme and procedures relating to deputations can be viewed at:

Council Procedure Rules

There were no petitions or deputations.

To receive any announcements and reports from the Leader of Council and members of the Cabinet.

The Leader of the Council announced that Dorset Council was the national winner of the Clean Energy – Power Award at the 2026 APSE Energy Awards at the end of February.

The Leader also announced that Councillor R Hope would be stepping down from his Cabinet Member role at the Annual Meeting and that Councillor M Bell would join Cabinet. The Leader thanked Councillor Hope for the work he had done as a Cabinet Member.

A motion without notice was proposed by Councillor T Coombs that the order of business in the agenda be changed (Procedure Rule 16c), specifically that Item 13 – Questions from Councillors be moved to be the next item on the agenda. The motion was seconded by Councillor V Pothecary.

Members spoke in favour and against the motion to change the order of the agenda.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was LOST.

To consider a recommendation from Cabinet.  

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care proposed the recommendation as set out in the report. The proposal was seconded by the Leader of Council.

Members debated the report and the debate reflected a range of views. Several councillors raised concerns that the £60k income threshold was too high and that there were concerns about the local connection criteria. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care responded to these concerns and explained that there had been improvements made to the policy.

The Director of Legal and Democratic advised that during the debate, he discussed with Councillor L Beddow about whether she had a disclosable pecuniary interest due to being employed by a registered social landlord. He gave the advice that this policy did not directly relate to her employment. 

Decision:

That the Housing Allocations Policy 2026–2031 be approved, subject to an amendment to section 4.15 replacing the first bullet point with the following text:

·         applicants who own, or part own, or have any legal or beneficial interest in a residential property in the UK or abroad, whether occupied by them or let to others. This includes applicants who hold such an interest directly or indirectly, including through a company, partnership, trust, or other legal entity, where the applicant has control of, or a material interest in, that entity and it owns residential property, or

Reason for the decision

To ensure Dorset Council has a clear, fair, and legally compliant policy governing the allocation of social housing, consistent with the Council’s statutory duties under the Housing Act 1996 (as amended) and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 considering the needs and priorities of Dorsets residents.

To consider a recommendation from the General Licensing Committee.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Commercial Strategy presented and proposed the recommendations as set out in the report. This was seconded by Councillor Derek Beer.

Decision:

That the new fees for the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licences be adopted.

Reason for the decision:

The fees have not been raised since 2022 when they were calculated on the cost of running the service.

To consider a report by J Andrews, Service Manager Democratic and Electoral Services.

The recommendations as set out in the report were presented and proposed by the Leader of Council. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Neil Eysenck.

Decision:

That the final recommendations in respect of the parish boundaries for the parishes of Shipton Gorge and Loders as shown in Appendices A, B and C, be agreed.

Reason for the decision:

To ensure that community governance arrangements within the area under review are reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area, and comply with statutory guidance.

To consider a recommendation from the Staffing Committee.

The following officers, who were members of the Senior Leadership Team, left the meeting for the duration of the item: J Mair, J Ingram, P Dempsey, L Cotton, S Crowe and S Cremer.

The Leader of the Council presented and proposed the recommendations set out in the report. The proposal was seconded by Councillor A Parry.

Decision:

a)    That Sean Cremer be appointed to the post of Director - Resources (Section 151 Officer) and as the administrator for the Local Government Pension Scheme in Dorset.

b)    That the Council’s Pay Policy Statement be amended to incorporate an additional pay enhancement for Directors in Statutory Officer positions.

Officers returned to the meeting following the decision being made.

To note a report by the Monitoring Officer.

Council received the report.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on 13^th April 2026.

There were nine questions received from councillors. The questions and responses provided by Cabinet Members are attached as an appendix to these minutes.

In response to a supplementary question by Councillor L Fry, the Cabinet Member for Place Services responded that attempts would be made to replace the trees where it is possible to do so.

In response to a supplementary question by Councillor C Lugg, the Cabinet Member for Place Services reiterated that school crossing patrols would not take place on zebra crossings as it causes confusion for drivers.

In response to a supplementary question by Councillor R Legg, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Emergency Planning advised that he would try to ensure the meeting of emergency planning would take place before the end of the consultation period.

In response to a supplementary question by Councillor C Monks, the Cabinet Member for Place Services agreed to meet with him and that the Environment Agency would be running sessions across Dorset, including in rural areas.

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.

There were no urgent items.

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 1 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

There was no exempt business.