A west Dorset councillor has questioned why housing is not listed as an “extreme risk” for Dorset Council.

Cllr Simon Christopher claimed that many of the county’s employment problems directly relate to issues over housing.

He said that he believed that a lack of key workers in some areas is due to problems with an adequate supply of affordable housing.

Cllr Christopher told an audit and governance committee meeting on Monday that he believed problems with areas where there were skill shortages, such as driving examiners, might link back directly to housing.

Dorset councillors have previously heard that the cost of housing in the county is now causing recruiting problems even for professionals – including dentists, who cite the cost of living in the county as one of the main reasons why they are not able to move to Dorset to take up vacancies.

The situation is reported to be even worse in low-pay sectors, such as social care, where a number of schemes are being actively considered to attract and retain staff, partly with Dorset Council finance.

Said Cllr Christopher (Con), who represents Marshwood Vale: “We are in a county where there is a lack of active workers and, clearly, partly because of issues over housing.”

Committee chairman Cllr Richard Biggs said although many would recognise the county’s housing difficulties as serious, it was not in the situation where it could be considered as “extreme risk” under the council’s categories of risk.

A meeting heard last week that the rural council area now has around 6,000 registered as in need of affordable housing, although the actual figure is thought to be much higher as many, realising there is likely to be a wait of many years, do not bother to register.