Committee Arrangements due to the Coronavirus COVID-19

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic Dorset Council is hosting its committee meetings virtually following changes to government legislation. The Local Authorities (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Meetings) (England) Regulations) 2020 enables the decision making process to continue in accordance with the Government’s guidance on social distancing. These internet-based meetings will be hosted via Microsoft Teams Live Events. Further details of committees and meeting dates can be found on the Virtual Meetings page. The following committees are being held remotely; Cabinet, Audit & Governance, Area Planning Committees, Licensing Sub-committees and an additional meeting of Resources Scrutiny Committee has been arranged to discuss the Council’s COVID-19 response.

Officer Decisions during the COVID19 Pandemic

A list of key decisions made by Dorset Council during the COVID19 outbreak as part of our response has been published for consideration by the Resources Scrutiny Committee on 2 June 2020. You may also like to visit the Officer Decisions page to find delegated decisions that have been made during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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In this section you can access a wide range of information and documents relating to the council's decision making processes, find out about forthcoming Council meetings and decisions and obtain details for your local political representatives.

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Committee meeting information

Information regarding Council, Cabinet and committee meetings. You can find the agendas, minutes of previous meetings, as well as officer reports discussed at previous meetings. Information is also provided on dates of future meetings, and issues that will be discussed in future.

Elected representatives

Details of this council’s MPs, MEPs and councillors.

How to get involved

Dorset Council welcomes public attendance and involvement at all of its formal committee meetings. You can participate in a meeting by attending and listening to councillors debate and make decisions; by asking a question, making a statement or presenting a petition relating to the business of the committee. Please read the information set out the Public Participation at Committee Meetings and Public Participation at Full Council meetings. There is a Guidance to Public Speaking at a Planning Committee should you wish to make representations to one of the area planning committees. There is also separate guidance for anyone wishing to attend a licensing sub-committee, for details please view the Licensing sub-committee procedure and guidance.

Anyone who lives, works or studies in the Dorset Council area may sign or organise a petition to the Council. Please see the Petitions Scheme for more details.

Dorset Council fully supports the principle of openness and transparency and has no objection to filming and recording by means of social media at Council and and Committee meeting that are open to the public. Please see the Protocol for filming and audio recording of Public Council meetings for more information.

It is also possible to subscribe to updates in order to receive information via e-mail regarding particular issues and committee meetings.

Outside bodies

Contact deatils for the council representatives on outside bodies and forums that are independent from the council.

Decisions

Information regarding the decisions taken by Cabinet, committees, etc, as well as officer delegated decisions taken by council officers.

To view documents in pdf format you will require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.