Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th July 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2025 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Chair took this opportunity to welcome Cllr C Tomes and Catherine Howe, the new Chief Executive to their first meeting of Full Council.

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.

To receive a short presentation from a young person representing care experienced voices.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council.

A short presentation was received from a young person representing care experienced voices and the “In My Shoes” exhibition running from 25 October to 7 November 2025 at Dorset Museum in Dorchester.  The project explored the personal stories, creativity and resilience of young people who had experienced the care system.

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 Monday 20 October 2025. 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 three questions from the public, these along with the responses are set out in Appendix 1 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 report.

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

The Leader of the Council congratulated Councillors Northam, O’Leary and Dickinson for successfully securing “Pride in Place” funding from a government initiative focused on revitalising communities via local decision-making and investment. Around £20 million would be invested over a 10-year period in parts of Broadway and Littlemoor.

Dorset Council would administer the funding through a Neighbourhood Board, although full details were still awaited from central government.

Growing the economy remains one of the council's key priorities and the 3rd prosperity event was recently held at the Sailing Academy in Portland, which had been well attended with positive feedback.  The focus of the event was on Clean Energy Superclusters, and it was notable that representatives from the Crown Estate were also in attendance.

Continuing the theme of economic growth, on the 24 October the Dorset Innovation Park would be officially launched. This initiative included the establishment of an arm's length teckle company, which had been set up by Dorset Council to support innovation enterprise and employment in the region.

In response to questions about age-friendly status, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care confirmed that he would review the Blue Badge system, in respect of the individual case raised, and emphasised the importance of embedding age-friendly principles across all council services.

In respect of a question concerning defence, further education and potential training opportunities in cyber security, the Leader of the Council emphasised that young people lived across the whole of Dorset and must be equipped with the skills and education needed to thrive in these areas. He stressed that employment should be prioritised, and that promoting apprenticeships was also key to supporting young people’s development.

To consider a recommendation from Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills presented the report and proposed the recommendation that the Youth Justice Plan be adopted.

The recommendation was seconded by Cllr L Fry

Decision

That the Youth Justice Plan 2025/26 be approved.

Reason for the decision

Youth Justice Services were required to publish an annual Youth Justice Plan which should be approved by the local authority for that Youth Justice Service. Dorset Combined Youth Justice Service worked across both Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) and Dorset Council. Approval was therefore sought from both Dorset Council and BCP.

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

The Leader of the Council reported that following the receipt of a petition seeking a review of part of the boundary between the parishes of Shipton Gorge and Loaders, the Council had a duty to undertake a community governance review.

Residents had raised concerns that the parish boundaries did not reflect community identity and had asked that the boundary be returned to its previous line prior to changes that took place in 2024.

The Leader of the Council proposed the recommendation as set out in the report and this was seconded by Cllr N Eysenck.

Decision

(a)           That the terms of reference for the community governance review (CGR) of the parishes of Shipton gorge and loaders be adopted.

(b)           That the cross-party task group established on the 10th of July 2025 be requested to make recommendations to Full Council on a submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on the electoral review of Dorset Council and also be asked to pair recommendations in respect of this CGR.

Reason for the decision

To ensure that community governance arrangements within the area under review were reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area.

To consider a report by the Head of Legal Services.

The Leader of the Council set out a report that recommended changes to the Officer Scheme of Delegation, specifically Part 2, Appendix 2, “Financial Powers” following findings from the SWAP audit. The proposed provisions included a new table format for financial thresholds, clarification on officer roles and updated authorisation levels to better reflect operational needs and governance standards.

The recommendation was proposed by the Leader of the Council and seconded by Cllr S Clifford.

Decision

That the changes to the Scheme of Delegation set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

Reason for the decision

To ensure the scheme of delegation remained fit for purpose aligned with the council's finance systems and provided clear requirements for financial decision-making.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Monday 20 October 2025.

There were 11 questions from councillors and a copy of these are set out in Appendix 2 to these minutes.

In response to a supplementary question from Cllr S Flower regarding the Dorset Local Plan – Reg1 land allocation public consultation, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Emergency Planning, confirmed that an initial list of sites that were no longer available for development work, would be placed on the council website at the earliest opportunity after the close of the consultation and before 7 November.

As the consultation responses were reviewed, the initial list would be updated to ensure that remained as comprehensive as possible.

In response to a supplementary question from Cllr M Parkes regarding the potential development of a cycle lane along the A348 Ringwood Road in Ferndown, the Cabinet Member for Place Services advised that the option of undertaking a full public consultation ahead of any works would be considered.

In reply to an additional question from Cllr T Coombs regarding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills advised that there were concerns about the robustness of the proposed survey and the appropriate use of officers’ time.  She also highlighted that arranging in person meetings between members and the young people referenced could raise safeguarding issues and may not represent best practice. 

The Chair of Council suggested that Cllr Coombs, the Executive Director of People (Children) and the Cabinet Member continue to discuss the matter outside of the meeting of Council.

In response to a supplementary question from Cllr C Monks regarding the recent loss of broadband in Beaminster, the Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth confirmed that this matter was the responsibility of Openreach, however if there were lessons for Dorset Council to learn, these would be taken on board.

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 report.

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 was no exempt business to report to this meeting.