The First 100 Days following Dorset Council elections

This Friday (20 September) we mark 100 days of our new council administration. There have been some key decisions and actions in that time which will help us to create a fairer, more prosperous and more sustainable Dorset for current and future generations.

Dorset residents went to the polls on 2 May 2024 to elect 82 representatives to Dorset Council. The Liberal Democrats took the majority of the votes, with 42 elected councillors, and formed the new administration of Dorset Council. 

Dorset Council delivers around 450 services to the 380,000 residents of Dorset, and this vital work will continue. The new administration has proposed 4 new priorities to represent the areas we want to make significant improvement to over the next 5 years.

They are:

• respond to the climate crisis
• communities for all
• provide high quality affordable housing, and
• grow our economy

Cllr Nick Ireland, Leader of Dorset Council said:

“As the new administration for Dorset Council, we have already demonstrated that we are doing things differently.  We said that we would listen to our residents, and act on what they said in a meaningful and positive way.

“In the run up to the local elections in May, we spoke to people about what was important to them as residents, and what they felt their priorities were for the council. Our manifesto was created based on what we heard, and this has been used as the foundation of our new Council Plan, currently in development. The Council Plan is our strategic business plan setting out what the council will deliver over the next 5 years".

In the last 100 days the new administration has:  

• declared a nature emergency. We did this at the first meeting of Full Council in May 2024 
• listened to the concerns of residents and businesses about the impact of parking charges and we have trialed lower charges in 3 coastal car parks. This will help inform a full review of parking charges across the county 
• committed a further £2 million from council reserves to support residents with the continued cost of living crisis 
• been preparing an expression of interest to government for a devolution deal, which should see fairer funding for Dorset  
• committed to being a well-run and efficient council, saving over £60k a year in councillor allowances by reducing the number of councillors with additional responsibilities.  

It’s been a busy time for the council too. In the last 100 days we’ve also:

• helped to speed up our journey to becoming a carbon neutral council by adding even more electric vehicles to our existing fleet 
• committed to exploring schemes which will help us generate our own energy, saving both the planet and money that we can invest into essential services

• expanded our recycling offer by including cartons and foil in the kerbside collections

• launched our housing advice line, which has seen an increase of 18 per cent in referrals and people seeking advice, ultimately helping people avoid becoming homeless 

• launched our online cost of care estimator, to assist people to plan for their future should they need help and support to live more independently 

• provided better help for families through the roll out of the Families First for Children pathfinder and the addition of more family hubs 

• supported plans to regenerate parts of Weymouth town centre, bringing lasting benefits to residents, businesses and visitors 

Cllr Ireland added:

“We’ve already put some big changes in place. This shows our direction and our intention, and we look forward to achieving much more for the residents of Dorset over the next 5 years.”