Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chair of Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland seconded by Cllr D Sowry-House that Cllr S Jones be elected Chair for the 2026/27 municipal year.

There were no other nominations.

Decision

That Cllr S Jones be elected as Chair of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year. Cllr Jones thanked the Council for their support and then made and signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

To elect the Vice-chair of Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr N Ireland seconded by Cllr C Sutton that Cllr L Fry be elected Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr L O’Leary seconded by Cllr P Dickinson that Cllr K Wheller be elected Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

Decision

That Cllr L Fry be elected as Vice-Chair of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year. Cllr Fry thanked the Council for their support and then made and signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th April 2026.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 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.

To receive a short presentation from the Youth Council.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of Council.

The Chair invited members to pay tribute to Councillor Barry Goringe, who had recently passed away, and welcomed his wife, who was present to hear the tributes.

Cllr R Bryan led the tributes to Barry, recognising his dedicated service as a councillor and his significant contributions to Dorset Council, East Dorset District Council, where he also served as Vice-Chairman, and St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council. Other councillors across the chamber also shared their appreciation and memories of his work and commitment to the local community.

The Chair welcomed Kaye Wright, Youth Voice Manager, who introduced a short video from Youth Voice, including representations from members of the Youth Council.

To elect the Leader of Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

It was proposed by Cllr R Biggs seconded by Cllr S Clifford

Decision

That Cllr N Ireland be elected as Leader of the Council for the 2026/27 municipal year.

The Leader of Council to report the appointment of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet members.

The Leader of the Council announced the following appointments:

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economic Growth & Strategic Assets – Cllr R Biggs

Cabinet Member for Resources & Finance – Cllr S Clifford

Cabinet Member for Transformation, Customer & Workforce – Cllr B Wilson

Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education – Cllr C Sutton

Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health – Cllr S Robinson

Cabinet Member for Public Health, Prevention & Communities – Cllr M Bell

Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness – Cllr G Taylor

Cabinet Member for Place Services – Cllr J Andrews

Cabinet Member for Planning – Cllr S Bartlett

The Leader reported on changes to the Cabinet structure undertaken to better align with the current and emerging challenges faced by the Council. As part of these changes Cllr M Bell had joined Cabinet, replacing, Cllr R Hope.

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

Following on from the previous item, the Leader of the Council congratulated members of the Communications Team on their Home Habitats Campaign, which had been shortlisted for the Excellence Award for Environmental Campaign by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. He expressed his best wishes for their continued success.

The Leader of the Council also took the opportunity to place on record his thanks to Cllr R Hope for his contribution, support, and service to both him and the Cabinet during his tenure as a Cabinet Member. In response, Cllr R Hope thanked the chamber for their support during his time as a member of Cabinet and he reflected on some of the achievements of the Council to date.

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 11^th May 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 was one public question from Carol King a copy of the question and the response can be found at 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 are no petitions or deputations.

To consider a report by S Dallison, Team Leader Democratic & Governance.

The Director of Assurance and Governance introduced the report setting out the proposed allocation of committee seats, in line with political balance rules and, in accordance with the Council constitution, to make appointments to committees, joint panels and boards.

The report also included, at Appendix 4, the proposed Chair and Vice-Chair nominations of ordinary committees for the forthcoming year.

Decision

(a)           That, subject to (b) below, the allocation of committee seats and the appointments to committees and joint boards and panels, as nominated by the political group leaders be approved for 2026/27 as set out in Appendices 1, 2 & 3 of the report respectively.

(b)           That, as an exception to the requirements of the Constitution the make-up of the Strategic Planning and Technical Committee comprise of 5 members from the Western & Southern Planning Committee, 4 members from the Eastern Area Planning Committee and 3 members of the Northern Area Planning Committee.

(c)           That delegated authority be given to the Director of Assurance and Governance, in consultation with the appropriate political group leader, to make in-year changes to committee, joint board and panel appointments.

(d)           That Full Council appoints committee Chairs and Vice-chairs for the 2026/27 municipal year (nominations set out in Appendix 4 of the report).

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

The Leader of the Council outlined the Boundary Review, noting that a further review had been anticipated following the Council’s transition to unitary status in 2019.

He thanked electoral services officers and the cross-party task and finish group for their work and diligence.

The proposals included an increase in councillors from 82 to 84 and met the Boundary Commission’s electoral variance requirements, with a 10% tolerance in all but five wards. Members were reminded that the Council was a consultee, with final decisions on warding patterns to be made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE). However, if the Council did not submit a proposal the LGBCE would decide the warding patterns without Dorset Council’s input.

As part of proposing the recommendation, the Leader of the Council sought to make one minor change to the ward listed in Appendix A as “The Purbecks”. It was proposed to amend this to “Purbeck”. The recommendation and minor amendment were seconded by Cllr L Fry.

Cllr D Northam proposed the following amendment:

“I recommend that Littlemoor & Preston ward should not be a two-member ward but should be split into two single-member wards as the two communities are distinct and different with a clear boundary between them (as detailed in the document set out in Appendix 2 to these minutes)

The amendment was seconded by Cllr S Clifford.

Members were invited to debate the amendment and upon being put to the vote the amendment was LOST.

Cllr S Jespersen proposed that the ward called “Tarrants and Hill Fort” (set out in Appendix A of the report) be amended to read “Pimperne and the Tarrants”. The amendment was seconded by Cllr E Parker.

Upon being put to the vote the amendment was CARRIED.

Members were given the opportunity to discuss the substantive motion, and Cllr Legg raised his concerns about the proposal, opposed the recommendations and spoke against them.

Following this, the Leader of the Council asked that the substantive motion be put to the vote.

Decision

That the warding pattern and ward names (as amended) proposed by the cross-party task and finish group and as set out in Appendix A of the report with a visual representation at Appendix B for submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, be agreed.

To consider a report by S Hedger, Interim Deputy S151.

The Cabinet Member for Resources and Finance set out a report requesting the approval of the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy for 2026/27.

It was proposed by Cllr S Clifford seconded by Cllr A Todd

Decision

That the capital receipts strategy for 2026/27 and submission to the Department of Housing Levelling Up and Communities, be approved.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  The deadline for receipt of questions is 8.30am on Monday 11^th May 2026.

There were six questions received from councillors. The questions and responses provided by Cabinet Members were attached as Appendix 3 to these minutes.

In response to a supplementary question by Cllr R Legg, the Cabinet Member for Planning confirmed that another meeting of the Local Plan Executive Advisory Panel would be arranged over the coming weeks.

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 for this meeting.

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 were no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.