Dorset Council publishes key decisions made during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
A list of decisions made by Dorset Council as part of its COVID-19 emergency response has been published for review.
The council’s Resources Scrutiny committee will consider the decisions on Tuesday 2 June. They were made by senior officers and portfolio holders using delegated powers as outlined in the council’s constitution.
The use of delegated powers is required during crisis situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak so that critical decisions can be made quickly to respond to rapidly changing circumstances and to put appropriate arrangements in place.
The decisions made over recent weeks include:
– Closure of council services including libraries, leisure centres, country parks, public toilets, household recycling centres and day centres,
– Agreement to relax off-peak bus pass criteria so they can be used before 9.30am,
– Temporary suspension of charges in all off street car parks.
In March, all council committee meetings were postponed as all such meetings had to be held in a physical space.
In April, Government regulations ‘The Local Authorities (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Meetings) (England) Regulations) 2020’ came into force. The regulations allow committees to be held remotely. These include Cabinet, Audit & Governance, Area Planning Committees and Licensing Sub-committees.
A new web page details the meetings and how to watch them virtually. The page also details information about how submit questions to these meetings. Recordings are also available to view after they have ended.
Once the COVID-19 major incident is over, the council will resume its usual processes with key decisions made by councillors through committees.
