It was a pleasure to chair Dorset Party Council’s discussion on the Party’s 2026 policy consultation. It was a small but perfectly formed group, and we were supported by contributions from Cllrs Paul Kimber and Patrick Canavan who provided a welcome expertise.

We perhaps understandably focused on local government for the first half of the meeting, and our councillors gave an overview of Pride in Place – Bournemouth has 3 areas which receive the funding. Each area will have a Neighbourhood Board and an independent chair and be responsible for £20m over 10 years. The MPs for the area have overall responsibility for guiding the process.

BCP has set up a growth board. Our councillors are encouraging the council to include co-operatives and social enterprises in the plan, as the initial documents don’t mention them.

The LibDem-run Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council is pushing for greater devolution, covering Wessex. The initial plan is to for BCP to be a foundation strategic authority, and ultimately a Mayoral Authority.

Wessex has the green light to be a strategic planning area, perhaps an indication that Government is positive about them becoming a foundation strategy authority. Planning is a challenge as council doesn’t own that much land in the area and more housing will be a strain on the Green Belt in the area.  The Local Plan is being developed; our councillors would like them to consider co-operative ideas.

It was noted that there is quite a significant churn of councillors over the last year or so locally. Members emphasized the importance of staying campaign ready.

We’ve fed our discussion into the Co-operative Party’s policy consultation process. What could have been quite a processed-based meeting was a refreshingly positive discussion about what is happening locally. We think that’s there’s even more that we can, even in an area where the Labour & Co-operative presence has traditionally not been large in numbers.

If you want to hold a Policy Process consultation where you are, there’s still just enough time. Get in touch with your Regional Organiser for help if you need guidance on how to do so. You can find their details here.