To support us in making informed decisions it is important that we understand the people we serve.
Dorset Council has a population of 378,510, with a slightly larger population of females (51%) compared to males. Dorset is considered an attractive place for people to settle in their retirement.
It has a large population of older people, 29% are aged 65 and above. Currently there are over 8,000 people in Dorset living with dementia, and the number is increasing. Younger people often move away from the area and it has a relatively low birth rate.
The population continues to grow slowly, driven by people who are on average older, moving into the county plus increasing life expectancy. The greatest part of population growth is among over 65s. Dorset’s 16-64 population is expected to see a decline of 5.5% over the next 25 years.
One in five of Dorset’s population consider themselves as having a long-term health problem that that limits their daily lives a little or a lot.
In Weymouth and Portland this accounts for 22% of residents, 2021 compared to North Dorset with 18%.
This includes a shift from 8000 over 65 olds with dementia in 2021 to 10,200 predicted for 2029
According to the 2011 Census, most of Dorset’s population (95.6%) identify as White British and 4.4% identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME). The highest proportion of this population are classified as ‘White Other’ who make up approximately 41% of Dorset’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic population. This classification includes people who identify as white but who do not have UK national identity.
Dorset has ten neighbourhoods that are within the top 20% most deprived nationally for multiple deprivation. Nine of these are in Weymouth and Portland. The gap in life expectancy between the most deprived and least deprived areas is 6.3 years for males and 5.3 years for females. 46% of Dorset’s population live in rural areas.
This causes significant barriers to housing, transport and essential services.
Dorset has a large military presence, with 3,150 service personnel across four basis. There’s also a large veterans community. Due to the significance of the military in Dorset, we work with the military and partners to remove the disadvantages faced by the armed forces community and ensure the families of the armed forces are supported.
The following information reflects the make-up of Dorset Council’s workforce as of November 2020 (excluding school employees). The information is analysed by equality group. Dorset Council employed 4485 people.
Workforce age
24 and under = 4.9%
25 to 39 = 23.9%
40 to 49 = 23.8%
50 to 59 = 31.8%
60 to 64 = 9.9%
65 plus = 5.6%
Disability
Only 2.7% of employees shared that they had a disability. 58.7% of our employees state that they do not. This fits with many organisations nationally who have similar declared rates of disability. 38.8% have not shared or would prefer not to say. We recognise as a council more work needs to be undertaken to encourage employees to share their data, so that we can see to what extent our workforce reflects the communities it serves.
Race and ethnicity
68.3% of our employees shared their ethnicity. Analysis showed that 1.3% of our employees identified as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and 2.5% identified as White other. 28.2% did not declare.
Sex
63.1% of the workforce are female and 36.9% are male. Currently the council does not collect data on gender identity. We recognise that this needs to change and it has been included in our action plan.
Religion and belief
Data relating to religion and belief was last analysed in May 2019. 16% of employees shared their religion or belief. 73% did not.
- Christian 15.1%
- Buddhist 0.1%
- Hindu 0.02%
- Jewish 0.02%
- Muslim 0.02%
- Other 0.7%
- No religion 11%
- Prefer not to say 4.0%
- Not declared 68.9%
Sexual orientation
Data relating to sexual orientation was last analysed in May 2019. 38.1% of employees shared their sexual orientation with just under 1% identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB).