Dorset Council (UK)

Dorset Council is a unitary local authority in England covering most of the ceremonial county of Dorset. It was created on 1 April 2019 to administer most of the area formerly administered by Dorset County Council, which was previously subdivided into the districts of Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, and East Dorset.[1]

Dorset Council
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 2019
Preceded byWeymouth and Portland
West Dorset
North Dorset
Purbeck
East Dorset
Dorset County Council
Leadership
Chair of the Council
Cllr Pauline Batstone, Conservative
since 1 April 2019
Leader of the Council
Cllr Spencer Flower, Conservative
since 16 May 2019
Chief executive
Matt Prosser
since 1 October 2018
Structure
Seats82 councillors
Political groups
Administration
     Conservative (43)
Other parties
     Liberal Democrat (29)
     Green (4)
     Independent (5)
     Labour (1)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
2 May 2019
Next election
2 May 2024
Meeting place
County Hall, Dorchester
Website
www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

History

Statutory Instruments for local government reorganisation in the ceremonial county of Dorset were made in May 2018. Under the plans, dubbed "Future Dorset", all existing councils within the county were to be abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities. One was formed from the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole which merged with the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch to create a unitary authority known as Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The other, Dorset Council, was created from most of the area administered by Dorset County Council (apart from Christchurch) and the non-metropolitan districts of Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck and East Dorset.[2]

Shadow authority

Statutory instruments for the creation of the new authority were made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 25 May 2018, and a shadow authority was formed the following day.[3]

The Shadow Dorset Council consisted of all elected councillors from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, West Dorset District Council, North Dorset District Council, East Dorset District Council, Purbeck District Council and all councillors from Dorset County Council with the exception of the five that were elected from divisions within Christchurch.[4]

The first meeting of the shadow authority was held on Thursday 7 June 2018 where Hilary Cox was elected to be Chair of the shadow authority and Peter Shoreland was elected as Vice-Chair. [5] [6]

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England recommended that the new council should have eighty-two councillors representing a mix of single-member, two-member and three-member wards.[7][8]

See also
  • 2019 structural changes to local government in England

References
  1. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (25 May 2018). "The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (Structural Changes) Order 2018". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  2. "Future Dorset - Two new authorities for Dorset". futuredorset.co.uk.
  3. "Parliament passes councils merger plan". Bbc.co.uk. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  4. "Historic day, as Parliamentary process to create new councils concludes - Future Dorset". futuredorset.co.uk.
  5. "Shadow Dorset Council on Twitter".
  6. "Shadow Dorset Council on Twitter".
  7. "Dorset | LGBCE Site". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  8. "New ward boundaries plan unveiled". BBC News. 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-11-08.

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