Agenda item - Economic Growth Strategy

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth.

(a) That the Economic Growth Strategy be approved

(b) That authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Place Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth, to approve final document design and minor textual changes.

(c) That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth, in consultation with the Executive Director for Place Services and the Director of Legal and Democratic, to finalise the terms of reference and any other required governance for the Dorset Growth Board.

(d) That the roles that several Dorset Council services need to play in supporting improved economic growth, be noted.

(e) Cabinet endorsed the allocation of the £0.62m Dorset Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) FY2026 extension funds, on a 50/50 basis, to two interventions previously funded by REPF, that complement the Shared Prosperity Fund extension interventions approved by Cabinet on 25 January 2025:

a. Advice and support to business (productivity grants) and

b. Zero Carbon Business Support (DC Zero Carbon Dorset grants)

Reason for the decision

The Economic Growth Strategy was a significant document which was being produced at a critical time. World economics were currently very fluid, and the council was aware of a wide range of economic challenges and opportunities was it sought to create a more prosperous and more sustainable Dorset for current and future generations.

The Cabinet member for Property & Assets and Economic Growth presented the Economic Growth Strategy for approval following key member sessions, including a cross-party EAP and consideration at Place and Resources Committee on 22 May 2025.

The Cabinet member confirmed that all councillors had a role to hold the strategy to account and acknowledged that it was a living document. Dorset had significant economic challenges including low productivity, a lack of available skilled labour, social mobility challenges in some of its largest population centres, and housing affordability concerns. The strategy aimed to identify opportunities that would help mitigate these challenges.

In response to a question, the Cabinet member emphasised that tourism was a vital component of the County’s Strategic priorities and discussions regarding hotel rental rates in Weymouth were ongoing. The Head of Growth and Economic Regeneration highlighted that the key ambitions for tourism in the county included increasing visitor spend, extending the visitor season and enhancing the productivity of tourism businesses. This would be achieved through innovation in business processes enabling these enterprises to become highly productive and contribute more significantly to the county's overall economic growth.

Non-executive members welcomed the ambitions for the market town framework but asked for more detail on the timeframe for that part of the strategy. Responding, the Executive Director for Place advised that the was an active work stream ongoing with town and parish councils around working more closely as partners and Dorset Council’s support for market towns had been an important part of that discussion. The route forward would be to drive the market town framework into that existing workstream so that this process was a key part of that work programme.

The Interim Chief Executive indicated that the timescale for the work with town and parish councils would be presented to overview committee in approximately 6 months.

Cabinet members welcomed and fully supported the strategy and its key performance indicators.

It was proposed by Cllr R Biggs and seconded by Cllr S Clifford

Decision