Dorset suffers fall in new business set ups

Dorset is suffering a fall in the number of new businesses being set up and a drop in the number of apprenticeship places on offer.

Both markers of the health of the local economy were already in decline prior to the pandemic, but have worsened significantly because of it.

The latest figures come as Dorset Council has shared a prediction of a possible 15,000 job losses in the rural county as a direct consequence of coronavirus.

The performance statistics also show that the county is doing less well than it should for key stage 1 and 2 figures for reading, writing and maths, especially for children from disadvantaged homes, who are likely to be performing significantly less well than their peers.

Figures for new businesses setting up, measured for each 10,000 residents of working age, show Dorset prior to Covid achieved 72, compared to an average of 97 across England.

The performance report explains that the figure has remained static over the past year and is likely to decline, at least in the short term, due to Covid.

It also highlights that the number of registered businesses in the county had been up overall until the financial year 2019/20 to 20,185, compared to 19,995 the previous year – but is now predicted to fall because of the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.

A report to the council Cabinet on Tuesday (8 September) says that although there has only been a slight fall in apprentice places being offered the trend has been downwards for three years and is likely to continue unless action is taken to reserve it.

Other areas, including elsewhere in the South West, have seen in an increase in places offered:

“Historically apprenticeships have been more common in Dorset than nationally but while England and the South West showed a small increase in apprenticeship opportunities offered in 2018/19, Dorset did not. The drop off corresponds with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and changes to the way apprenticeships are designed. As might be expected COVID-19 has had a huge disruption to the apprenticeship supply chain,” said an explanatory note.

Other figures which are seen by some as a sign of economic health also record a decline – with the number of affordable homes delivered at well under half of what they were in the last quarter of 2019/20 – down from 161 to 67, almost entirely due to building sites being closed.

Dorset Council says it is committed to producing ‘warts and all’ performance indicators every three months for the county. The full set of figures can be seen online on the council website.

By Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter