Your council

Dorset Council: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Dorset Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, South West. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000059.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Dorset for 2026–27: £2,205.90 of a £2,765.02 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 1 opened (1 academy converter), 1 closed (1 academy converter)

Gillingham School (secondary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Gillingham School (secondary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Dorset Council reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Dorset Council: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£241.1 million
Highways and transport services	£16.5 million
Children's social care	£101.7 million
Adult social care	£197.7 million
Public health	£18.9 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£11.2 million
Cultural and related services	£9.8 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£41.9 million
Planning and development services	£7.8 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£24.7 million
Other services	£30.1 million
Total service expenditure	£701.4 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Dorset Council in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 389,947 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 52 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £27,403 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £621 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 23.3% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 2.4% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £325,154 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 9.3 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 65.6 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 65.3 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 5.3 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 76.7% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 196.4 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 17,365 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

82 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Liberal Democrats and Greens. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Liberal Democrats 41, Conservative and Unionist 29, Green Party (E&W) 4, Vacant 2, Independent / Other 2, Labour Party 2, Independents for Dorset 2.

Next scheduled council election: 3 May 2029.

All 82 councillors, by ward

Jane Somper (Conservative and Unionist) — Beacon
Craig Monks (Conservative and Unionist) — Beaminster
Steve Murcer (Conservative and Unionist) — Blackmore Vale
Byron Quayle (Conservative and Unionist) — Blandford
Nocturin Lacey-Clarke (Conservative and Unionist) — Blandford
Bridget Bolwell (Liberal Democrats) — Bridport
Sarah Williams (Liberal Democrats) — Bridport
Vacant (Vacant) — Bridport
Jill Haynes (Conservative and Unionist) — Chalk Valleys
David Taylor (Liberal Democrats) — Charminster St Mary's
Sally Holland (Liberal Democrats) — Chesil Bank
Gill Taylor (Liberal Democrats) — Chickerell
Simon Clifford (Liberal Democrats) — Chickerell
Andy Todd (Liberal Democrats) — Colehill & Wimborne Minster East
Jindy Atwal (Liberal Democrats) — Colehill & Wimborne Minster East
Duncan Sowry-House (Liberal Democrats) — Corfe Mullen
Scott Florek (Liberal Democrats) — Corfe Mullen
David Tooke (Liberal Democrats) — Cranborne & Alderholt
Piers Brown (Conservative and Unionist) — Cranborne Chase
Nick Ireland (Liberal Democrats) — Crossways
Rory Major (Liberal Democrats) — Dorchester East
Stella Jones (Liberal Democrats) — Dorchester East
Richard Biggs (Liberal Democrats) — Dorchester Poundbury
Andy Canning (Liberal Democrats) — Dorchester West
Les Fry (Independent / Other) — Dorchester West
Neil Eysenck (Liberal Democrats) — Eggardon
Cathy Lugg (Conservative and Unionist) — Ferndown North
Mike Parkes (Conservative and Unionist) — Ferndown North
Hannah Hobbs-Chell (Independent / Other) — Ferndown South
Julie Robinson (Conservative and Unionist) — Ferndown South
Belinda Ridout (Conservative and Unionist) — Gillingham
Carl Woode (Liberal Democrats) — Gillingham
Val Pothecary (Conservative and Unionist) — Gillingham
Sherry Jespersen (Conservative and Unionist) — Hill Forts & Upper Tarrants
Louie O'Leary (Conservative and Unionist) — Littlemoor & Preston
Peter Dickenson (Conservative and Unionist) — Littlemoor & Preston
Belinda Bawden (Green Party (E&W)) — Lyme & Charmouth
Alex Brenton (Liberal Democrats) — Lytchett Matravers & Upton
Andrew Starr (Liberal Democrats) — Lytchett Matravers & Upton
Steve Robinson (Liberal Democrats) — Lytchett Matravers & Upton
Simon Christopher (Conservative and Unionist) — Marshwood Vale
Jon Orrell (Green Party (E&W)) — Melcombe Regis
Paul Kimber (Labour Party) — Portland
Pete Roper (Independents for Dorset) — Portland
Rob Hughes (Independents for Dorset) — Portland
Emma Parker (Conservative and Unionist) — Puddletown & Lower Winterborne
Louise Bown (Liberal Democrats) — Radipole
Matt Bell (Liberal Democrats) — Radipole
Clare Sutton (Green Party (E&W)) — Rodwell & Wyke
Claudia Webb (Green Party (E&W)) — Rodwell & Wyke
Kate Wheller (Labour Party) — Rodwell & Wyke
Derek Beer (Liberal Democrats) — Shaftesbury Town
Jack Jeanes (Liberal Democrats) — Shaftesbury Town
Jon Andrews (Liberal Democrats) — Sherborne East
Robin Legg (Liberal Democrats) — Sherborne Rural
Richard Crabb (Liberal Democrats) — Sherborne West
Ben Wilson (Liberal Democrats) — South East Purbeck
Ray Bryan (Conservative and Unionist) — St Leonards & St Ives
Vacant (Vacant) — St Leonards & St Ives
James Vitali (Conservative and Unionist) — Stalbridge & Marnhull
Will Chakawhata (Liberal Democrats) — Stour & Allen Vale
Carole Jones (Conservative and Unionist) — Sturminster Newton
Chris Tomes (Conservative and Unionist) — Swanage
Gary Suttle (Conservative and Unionist) — Swanage
David Northam (Liberal Democrats) — Upwey & Broadwey
Simon Gibson (Conservative and Unionist) — Verwood
Spencer Flower (Conservative and Unionist) — Verwood
Toni Coombs (Conservative and Unionist) — Verwood
Beryl Ezzard (Liberal Democrats) — Wareham
Ryan Holloway (Liberal Democrats) — Wareham
Andy Skeats (Conservative and Unionist) — West Moors & Three Legged Cross
David Shortell (Conservative and Unionist) — West Moors & Three Legged Cross
Andrew Parry (Conservative and Unionist) — West Parley
Laura Beddow (Conservative and Unionist) — West Purbeck
Mike Baker (Liberal Democrats) — West Purbeck
Alex Fuhrmann (Liberal Democrats) — Westham
Ryan Hope (Liberal Democrats) — Westham
David Morgan (Liberal Democrats) — Wimborne Minster
Shane Bartlett (Liberal Democrats) — Wimborne Minster
Roland Tarr (Liberal Democrats) — Winterborne & Broadmayne
Barrie Cooper (Liberal Democrats) — Winterborne North
Chris Kippax (Liberal Democrats) — Yetminster

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.