A Dorset councillor from Bridport has accused the authority of gagging open debate.

Dr Kelvin Clayton says that ‘angry’ is an understatement of how he feels after a climate change question for this week’s council meeting was ruled out of order.

He and Lib Dem spokesperson for climate change, Cllr Marie Roe from Colehill and Wimborne East, had put forward a motion asking to support the Climate and Ecology Bill which is waiting for its second reading in Parliament.

Dorset Council says its Monitoring Officer, Jonathan Mair, ruled the motion out of order “on the basis that it did not relate to the responsibilities of the full council or directly affect the council or the district.”

Cllr Clayton has now asked the council how this squares with the council’s Climate & Ecological Emergency Strategy which states: “The council has a key role in lobbying government for clear policy and financial support required for the transition to a zero-carbon future and to actively participate in national forums and consultations on policy development.”

Cllr Roe said she has resigned from the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee after failing to get answers about how the council dealt with the recent Local Plan review.

Cllr Clayton says the dis-allowed climate motion called on the council to support the Climate Bill and also to write to local MPs asking them to also support it.

“This Bill is essential background legislation for the successful implementation of Dorset Council’s own Climate and Ecological Strategy, however, Cllr Roe and myself have been informed that our motion is not considered suitable for debate. This is bad enough, but what has really angered me is that despite asking the Council’s Corporate Director for Legal and Democratic Services twice for an explanation as to why the motion is not considered suitable for debate I have had no reply…

“In the meantime the best I can do is simply repeat the words of Cllr Ray Bryan, the cabinet member responsible for the Council’s Climate and Ecological Strategy: “Dorset Council as an organisation is only responsible for 1% of the county’s carbon emissions and has limited powers to affect the remaining 99% without huge changes to national legislation by central government.” Because the success of our Dorset Strategy is so dependent upon the national strategy, it is surely essential for the citizens of Dorset that this Bill is supported by our MPs.”

Dorset Council issued a statement in response to a question from the Local Democracy Reporting Service to explain why the motion had been rejected:

“The decision as to whether a motion should be accepted is made by the Monitoring Officer, after consultation with the chairman of the council and our political group leaders, and applying the rules contained in our constitution. The Monitoring Officer did not add the proposed motion to the agenda on the basis that it did not relate to the responsibilities of the full council or directly affect the council or the district.

“This was compounded by the fact that the 'Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill' was tabled in Parliament as an early day motion. As such, the council was effectively asked to support draft legislation for which no Parliamentary time has been allocated and about which there has not even been a second reading to consider amendments.

"In short, the proposed motion was more about the responsibilities of Parliament than those of Dorset Council. Councillors will debate and make decisions about Dorset’s Climate and Ecological Strategy to address the emergency at July’s Full Council meeting.”