by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter.
Big projects which tie-up millions of pounds of council taxpayers’ money, but are never started, are to be scaled back at Dorset Council.
Councillors are being told that the authority’s capital programme, valued at more than £200million in the last financial year, was increasingly seen as ‘aspirational rather than realistic’ – the council could not spend the money.
Year after year dozens of projects have failed to start, for a variety of reasons. The reality will now lead to a re-working of the council’s capital budget – dropping many of the 160 schemes completely and re-prioritising others.
The changes are expected to allow the council to put an extra £10million into a capital contingency fund, an increase of £8m, allowing it to react to unexpected sudden demands.
Said a report to this week’s Cabinet meeting: “Members have highlighted that the programme has increasingly been perceived as an aspirational list rather than a realistic delivery plan, undermining confidence in governance and financial management. There has been a clear steer that the programme should be reshaped to reflect what the council can genuinely deliver, with a stronger focus on prioritisation, transparency and accountability.
“The changes represent a member‑led direction to reset the capital programme, strengthen control and oversight, and ensure that future investment decisions are grounded in demonstrable need, affordability and robust business cases.”
It suggests that what are described as “stalled and legacy schemes” and unapproved capital bids should be removed from the programme.
“Alongside an increased capital contingency and a revised approval framework to support more efficient delivery of smaller schemes, this will enable a more sustainable and well-managed programme that reflects organisational capacity and meets audit and member expectations,” said the report, due to be discussed on June 23.
Figures produced for the meeting show that although the 2025/26 programme was valued at nearly £200m actual expenditure only reached £75.7m.
Among the schemes which are unlikely to be affected are ongoing highways works, a rolling programme to replace council vehicles and programmed building improvements including schools.
Also not expected to be changed are commitments to the next phase of the Lyme Regis Cobb sea protection works, road improvements at Dinah’s Hollow, the new Blandford recycling site, Weymouth Quay regeneration works and works to the town’s harbour walls; the Swanage seafront improvements and ongoing energy efficiency works at a range of council buildings.
