Regional Growth and Local Government Minister Simon Clarke MP has confirmed Dorset is set to receive £11.8m through the Getting Building Fund to help stimulate local economic recovery and create new jobs.
The Getting Building Fund will enable a Dorset-wide uplift to skills and healthcare provision as well as enhanced physical and digital infrastructure, building on existing specialisms and strengths in the county.
Jim Stewart, Chair of Dorset LEP said: “This is a fantastic investment in Dorset from Government at a much-needed time. This funding will enable capital projects linked to Dorset’s Local Industrial Strategy to be delivered quickly, bringing essential jobs and resources to our community which will accelerate growth in Dorset and help mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19.”
Investment will be made in trailblazing community rehabilitation initiatives as well as a brand new University Centre and Rural Business Development Hub. This funding will also facilitate tackling poor social mobility in some of Dorset’s most deprived areas through a cutting-edge Higher Education Centre and will provide state-of-the-art digital infrastructure to deliver online training for skills required in the workplace.
There has never been a more important time to focus on the innovation that can be catalysed by the region’s hospitals, universities and the Clinical Commissioning Group working together. This funding will accelerate the Institute of Biomedical Materials & Tissue Engineering Research, and support training for future generations as well as enable digital interventions in the remote management of long-term conditions and expand clinical trials capacity to fast-track innovation in medical science.
Recognising the need to maintain and enhance Dorset’s high streets in this period of complex change, investment has also been prioritised for live workspaces in Poole to put culture and community at the front and centre of Dorset LEP’s plans for placed-based recovery and resilience while driving Dorset’s local productivity during this exceptional time.
This investment will also enhance export and import potential via the Port of Poole, which is essential to aid our recovery.
Luke Rake, Principal of Kingston Maurward College commented: “Kingston Maurward is extremely pleased to be prioritised for funding for our planned University Centre and Rural Business Hub. It has long been recognised that progression to Higher Education is less good from the rural part of the county, and this ambitious intervention, driven by the college, aims to help improve social mobility, opportunities for knowledge transfer both at a high level and sit at the centre of gravity of the new rural authority. Combining this with a dedicated rural business centre will both support businesses across the rural area and also increase opportunities with our new Rural Business, Tourism and Heritage Land Management programmes for Sixth Formers and University students from 2021-22. It is extremely exciting and a game-changer for both the college, Dorchester and the rural county.”
The selected projects are outlined on the Dorset LEP website at: www.dorsetlep.co.uk/pre-contract-projects