DORSET Council cabinet and committee meetings held between now and the end of September will take place informally and online, due to increasing Covid-19 rates across Dorset.

The latest figures record that in Dorset there were 261 Covid cases per 100,000 and 522 per 100,000 in the BCP area. Local hospitals have also reported increasing numbers of Covid patients in intensive care.

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The council said it will continue to hold virtual informal meetings via Microsoft Team Live Events with cabinet and committee members expressing a ‘minded to’ view and officers taking decisions under delegated authority.

Dorset Council Leader, Cllr Spencer Flower, said: “While we do want to be able to get back to conducting council meetings in person, we have duty of care to our members, employees and any members of the public who often take part. With cases of Covid-19 increasing as they are, we feel it would be safer to continue with virtual informal meetings for the next couple of months and then review the situation again in mid-September.”

The council's Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 27 will now be an informal meeting held online via Microsoft Teams.