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Contact: Susan Dallison 01305 252216 - Email: Susan.dallison@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
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Apologies Informative note: all members were entitled
to attend the meeting but with the agreement of group leaders and in order to
facilitate the smooth running of the first virtual meeting of the Full Council,
the meeting was attended by a quorum of councillors on a politically
proportionate basis. Other members who did not attend were treated as having
apologised. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations
of interest. Minutes: There were no declarations of
interest. |
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Chairman's Announcements To receive any announcements from the Chairman of Council. Minutes: The Chairman spoke
of the unusual times that everyone was currently living in and offered her
thanks on behalf of the Council to Dorset Council staff for the work they were
doing to support the residents of Dorset.
She noted that many staff had been redeployed to assist in front line
services including assisting with getting food and resources out to
communities. In addition, she spoke of
the successful partnership working undertaken, made easier by being just one council,
and she thanked workers in the NHS, care services and those in key worker roles
in the community, who were doing the best job for the residents of Dorset. She concluded by referring to the recent
demonstrations held which highlighted that all lives matter and that the
council provided its best services regardless of race or culture. |
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Public Participation - Questions and Statements Business of
extraordinary meetings of the Full Council – Procedure Rule 3.2 states: “Unless the Chairman is of the opinion that an item should be considered as a matter of urgency, Full Council will only consider the business which is specified in the notice of the extraordinary meeting. Petitions, questions, deputations and statements will be accepted only if they relate to the business for which the extraordinary meeting has been arranged”. This means that only questions relating to the report on the dispensation to councillors for non-attendance at committee meetings will be accepted unless the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent. Due to Covid-19 the Council has put in place new arrangements to enable virtual Full Council and committee meetings to take place during the pandemic period and has introduced temporary standing orders to reflect the new legislation. Subject to the statement above members of the public or a town or parish council can submit a written question or statement of no more than 450 words which will published as a supplement to the agenda prior to the meeting. Although the questions and statements cannot be read out at the meeting the appropriate Portfolio Holder will provide a response to any questions received as part of the meeting. The full text of the question or statement must be received by 8.30am on Tuesday 9 June 2020. Details of the Council’s temporary procedure rules can be found at: Minutes: The public question together with the response from the Leader of Council is set out in appendix 1 attached to these minutes. |
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Public participation - petitions and deputations Business of
extraordinary meetings of the Full Council – Procedure Rule 3.2 states: “Unless the Chairman is of the opinion that an item should be considered as a matter of urgency, Full Council will only consider the business which is specified in the notice of the extraordinary meeting. Petitions, questions, deputations and statements will be accepted only if they relate to the business for which the extraordinary meeting has been arranged”. This means that petitions and statements will only be accepted if they relate to the report on dispensations for councillors for non attendance at meetings or if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent. Due to Covid-19 the Council has put in place new arrangements to enable virtual Full Council and committee meetings to take place during the pandemic period and has introduced temporary standing orders to reflect the new legislation. The revised petitions scheme and procedures relating to deputations can be viewed at : Minutes: There were no petitions or deputations to report. |
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Questions from Councillors Business of
extraordinary meetings of the Full Council – Procedure Rule 3.2 states: “Unless the Chairman is of the opinion that an item should be considered as a matter of urgency, Full Council will only consider the business which is specified in the notice of the extraordinary meeting. Petitions, questions, deputations and statements will be accepted only if they relate to the business for which the extraordinary meeting has been arranged”. This means that only questions relating to the report on the dispensation to councillors for non-attendance at committee meetings will be accepted unless the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent. To receive questions submitted by councillors. The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Monday 8 June 2020. Minutes: There were no questions from councillors. |
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Dispensation for non-attendance at meetings To consider a report by the Team Leader, Democratic Services. Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader
introduced the report and highlighted that this was a procedural matter, of
which the proposal included in the report had received cross party
support. The Leader proposed the
recommendation set out in the report. The recommendation
was seconded by N Ireland who indicated that he wished to speak to the motion
at the end of the debate. During the
discussion, a number of councillors spoke to express their thanks and support
in respect of work undertaken by the council’s staff and councillors and key
workers in the community, for their response to the situation with
Covid-19. A particular point of thanks
was noted to the Fire and Rescue Service in respect of recent fires in the
area. During the
discussion, the following points were raised: ·
A point
was raised that there was legitimate public concern that councillors were not
attending meetings at this time and that decisions were not being
scrutinised. Questions were raised as to
how residents were able to raise their concerns in a public forum between now
and October and how the contributions made by ward councillors could be
monitored? ·
In
response, the Leader noted that most councillors would attend a meeting during
this period and that the recommendation provided a safeguard position only if
required. He noted that there would be
an Annual Meeting of Council in September 2020 and that Cabinet continued to
meet and take questions from the public ·
Plans
for the Council meeting in September were being considered, which included a
possible hybrid solution for how councillors could attend the meeting ·
In
response to a point raised with regard to the importance of local democracy and
the restoration of committee meetings, the Leader noted that many officers had
been seconded into other areas of work.
In the short term a number of decision making meetings had been
prioritised, although in addition to these, a number of additional meetings had
been scheduled ·
Reference
was made to recent meetings of the Resources Scrutiny Committee and the Audit
and Governance Committee. In addition,
proposals for hybrid meetings were being discussed ·
The
point was made that the recommendation in the report sought to prevent any
councillor being disbarred from being a councillor through no fault of their
own. In addition it was noted that
councillors could continue to support their communities during this time and
that this was of value to local communities. At the conclusion
of the debate, N Ireland spoke to express his support of the motion. However he made reference to a recent meeting
of Full Council held at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council where all
councillors had been able to participate and he felt that Dorset Council needed
to consider its arrangements for meetings, including the Full Council meeting
scheduled for September 2020, which may include a hybrid solution. Decision That all members of Council receive a dispensation in relation to Section 85 of the Local Government Act for the period up to and including 6 May 2021 for the reason ... view the full minutes text for item 77. |
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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. Minutes: There were no urgent items. |
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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 3 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 is no exempt business. Minutes: There was no exempt business. |
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Appendix 1 - Public Participation - Questions and Statements Full Council – 11 June 2020 Questions and Statements submitted for Public Participation Period
Dispensation for non attendance at meetings of Dorset
Council I am a resident of
the Dorset Council Area and I remember instances of County Councillors not
attending many meetings in the 'old days' I do not understand
why Dorset Council is being asked to introduce a blanket dispensation until May
2021. If councillors are
seriously ill throughout six months the Full Council could sort it If councillors miss
one meeting out of one then surely again the
Full Council could sort it. If councillors have
difficulty with Virtual Meetings surely the Council's officers could sort that
out. If a councillor's
committee doesn't meet for six months surely they can't be barred for not
attending non existent meetings. We need committed
representatives particularly at this difficult time. All in all, the
question comes down to; What is the real problem, if any, that this measure is
supposed to fix? Response by the Leader of Council I would like to thank Mr Calvert for his question, although much of what
I will say in response is set out in the Agenda Report. Full Council is being asked to approve a blanket dispensation for all
councillors during the pandemic period to ensure that councillors do not fall
foul of the 6 month rule during the pandemic period either due to illness or
that the fact that the committees on which they serve are currently postponed.
It is important to note that any councillor who does not attend a meeting in
any 6 month period (regardless of a postponement of a meeting) ceases to be a
councillor immediately which would result in the loss local community
representation at this important time as all elections have been postponed
until May 2021; Any dispensation for failure to attend a meeting in any 6 month
period must be approved prior to the end of that period. At the beginning of the lockdown period in March the Council had to put
in place arrangements for the council’s committees to meet on a new virtual
platform in line with the new coronavirus regulations put in place by the Government;
due to the resources required to achieve this, and council staff being diverted
to other duties associated with Covid-19, the council prioritised a number of
essential decision making committees to be held virtually, which are set out in
the report. Not all members of the council serve on one of these prioritised
committees and some members have not attended a meeting since February 2020
which would mean that they would automatically cease to be a councillor at a
date prior to the Annual Meeting of Council on 3 September 2020. It is
therefore important that to avoid a democratic deficit the Full Council
approves a dispensation to cover the period up to May 2021. |