Dorset (district)

Dorset
Unitary authority area
County Hall, Dorchester, the headquarters of Dorset Council
The Dorset unitary authority area within the eponymous ceremonial county. To the east is the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area.
Coordinates: 50°48′N2°18′W / 50.800°N 2.300°W / 50.800; -2.300
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South West England
Ceremonial county	Dorset
Historic county	Dorset
Admin HQ	County Hall, Dorchester
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Governing body	Dorset Council
• Chair	Cllr Val Pothecary
• Leader	Cllr Spencer Flower
Area
• Total	962 sq mi (2,491 km2)
• Rank	9th (of 296)
Population  (2024)
• Total	389,947
• Rank	20th (of 296)
• Density	410/sq mi (157/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
•  Ethnic groups	List 97.1% White 1.2% Mixed 1.1% Asian 0.4% other 0.3% Black
Religion (2021) [1]
•  Religion	List 51.6% Christianity 40.1% no religion 7.9% other 0.4% Islam
Time zone	UTC+00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Postcodes	BH, DT, SP
ISO 3166-2	GB-DOR
ONS code	E06000059
NUTS	UKK22 (partially)
Website	www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

Dorset is a unitary authority area within the larger ceremonial county of Dorset, South West England. It covers the entire ceremonial county with the exception of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the south-east. The largest settlement is Weymouth, and the administrative centre is Dorchester.

The unitary authority area was formed on 1 April 2019 during a local government restructure. Prior to this, Dorset was a non-metropolitan county containing six non-metropolitan district s, and was governed by a county council and six district councils. ^{[2] [3]} The unitary authority area was created by abolishing the county, districts, and their councils, and establishing a new non-metropolitan county and a new non-metropolitan district, each with the same area as the former districts of East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset, and Weymouth and Portland. The area of the sixth former district, Christchurch, was incorporated into the new unitary authority area of Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. The new Dorset Council was constituted as a non-metropolitan district council with the responsibilities of a non-metropolitan county council. The first elections to the council took place on 2 May 2019. ^[4]

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) 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, the council area's population, approximately 380,000, is smaller than the most populous and complex or larger unitary authorities such as Birmingham City Council (serving more than 1,000,000 people) and Wiltshire Council (covering a larger area). ^{[ according to whom? ]}

All of the unitary authority area retains another tier of local government, by having a civil parish, 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 known as civil parish precept.

See also

• 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England

References

1. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Dorset Local Authority (E06000059)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. "Local Government Act 1972: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70 (sch.1), retrieved 16 November 2025
3. "The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039
4. "The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (Structural Changes) Order 2018", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2018/648, retrieved 17 November 2025