THE first meeting of the new Dorset Council, now under Liberal Democrat control, will be held at County Hall next Thursday, 16 May.

It will hear who has been chosen for Cabinet positions, expected to include at least one Green Party councillor, and who will take the role of Council Chair.

Owermoigne councillor Nick Ireland will remain as Lib Dem group leader and also takes on the role of Council Leader, the first from his party to do so since Dorset Council was formed in 2019.

The meeting, which starts at County Hall at 6.30pm, will be the first opportunity for town and parish councils to ask questions of the new administration in addition to questions and statements from members of the public living or working in Dorset.

Questions and statements on the evening will be limited to 30 minutes with the first eight questions and the first eight statements, accepted on a first come, first served basis.

These have to be submitted by 8.30am on Monday, 13 May to submissions must be emailed to [email protected].

The council meeting also allows a period of 15 minutes to receive and respond to petitions and the same period to receive and respond to deputations.

Most of the business of the meeting will be concerned with appointments to Cabinet and committees as well as appointments to outside, joint bodies and panels.

There are no scheduled items for debate apart from a recommendation to adopt the council's sexual harassment policy.