Dorchester - County Hall (geograph 3007327)

Dorset is a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

area in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England, which came into existence on 1 April 2019. It covers all of the ceremonial county except for

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of Bournem ...

. The council of the district is Dorset Council, which was in effect Dorset County Council re-constituted so as to be vested with the powers and duties of five district councils which were also abolished, and shedding its partial responsibility for and powers in Christchurch.

History and statutory process

Statutory instruments for re-organisation of Dorset (as to local government) were made in May 2018. These implemented the Future Dorset plan to see all councils then existing within the county abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities on 1 April 2019. *The unitary authorities of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

merged with the non-metropolitan district of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

to create a single unitary authority called

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...

, which has since created a BCP abbreviation in much of its work and amenities, to serve the coastal conurbation. *

Weymouth and Portland Weymouth and Portland was a local government district and borough in Dorset, England. It consisted of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regis, Upwey, Broadwey, Southill, ...

West Dorset West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council was based in Dorchester. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and ...

North Dorset North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour vall ...

, Purbeck and

East Dorset East Dorset was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban Dist ...

(non-metropolitan districts) combined with the functions vested in Dorset County Council to form Dorset Council.

Rationale and other tiers of government

As regards to planning decisions, highways, cleaning, education and social care no confusion remains as to the potentially relevant body (including occasional open conflict of powers/responsibilities) between two tiers of local government (which can be the case where county and district councils co-exist). Significant saving (

economy of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables a ...

) follows from one highly skilled and well-remunerated executive and one body of councillors as compared to six each of varying functions. Co-working measures had long been shown locally to make inroads towards an efficient, combined approach. This delivers better value for ratepayers. Allaying fears of

democratic deficit A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) occurs when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation where representative and l ...

, the council area's population, approximately 367,000, is smaller than the most populous and complex or larger unitary authorities such as

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...

(serving more than 1,000,000 people) and

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...

(covering a larger area). The vast majority of the unitary authority area retains another tier of local government, by having a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

, a late Victorian innovation which has been reduced to a consultative planning and minor amenities role such as co-funding events, festivities, footpaths and sports facilities during the 20th century. The funding of civil parishes is through a small tax supplement to

council tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge The Community C ...

known as civil parish precept.

References

{{Authority control Unitary authority districts of England Local government in Dorset Local government districts of South West England

History and statutory process

Rationale and other tiers of government

See also

References