Dorset Council to review policy on face to face meetings

It comes after an entire committee was ‘pinged’ when one participant tested positive for Covid after feeling unwell.

The authority says the review was to have taken place this month, irrespective of the outcome of the recent incident.

A licensing committee on Monday August 23 was one of only a handful of public meetings which the council has held in person since the start of the pandemic.

It was attended by less than a dozen people in No1 committee room in County Hall and involved a late night application for the Neon bar in Bridport.

Among those attending were three councillors who made up the panel, council officers from the democratic services, legal and licensing teams, a police officer, a solicitor, the landlord and a reporter. There were no members of the public at the meeting although it was open to attend.

The following day participants were emailed by Dorset Council to say that one of the participants had tested positive for Covid after feeling unwell that evening. Those at the meeting were later  ‘pinged’ by the NHS app to suggest getting tested.

It has been argued that licensing is the only council function which needs to be held in person although other authorities, notably Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, have continued to hold licensing committees online.

A Dorset Council spokesman said: “The practices and meeting arrangements of different councils vary. Some have returned to holding most or all of their meetings in person. Others like Dorset are holding most meetings online. Licensing decisions have to be made by councillors and cannot be delegated to officers and we decided that those licensing hearings involving few participants could be held in person.  

“On those occasions where council meetings do take place in person we can encourage people to wear face coverings and undertake lateral flow testing in advance, but we cannot require this.  We will continue to remind all participants at in person meetings that they should not attend if feeling unwell and our message remains: hands, face, space, testing, fresh air. “

The council say that meeting arrangements will be reviewed this month.

A further licensing committee was held online because of the number of people expected to observe or take part was too many for any of the council meeting rooms or even the council chamber.

“The council is in the process of installing temporary webcasting equipment (prior to putting in place a permanent solution) and it is hoped that this will be in place prior to any full return to face-to-face meetings, minimising the need for attendance for those who just wish to observe the meetings,” said a council statement.