Council faces 'challenging budget' for rest of year

Councillor Simon Clifford said Dorset faces "a challenging budget situation"

A council has predicted it will be more than £10m over budget this financial year.

Dorset Council's budget for 2024-25 is £376.7m and it has estimated an overspend of £10.1m.

The figures come from a report looking at the local authority's finances in the first four months of this financial year.

Liberal Democrat councillor Simon Clifford, said that like many councils across the country, Dorset faces "a challenging budget situation".

The council said its finances continue to be under "extreme pressure" due to factors like an increased demand for placements in adults and children’s social care, rising costs of delivering services and reduced funding.

It hopes the majority of the overspend, £8.6m, will be saved from its transformation programme which is looking at ways to improve its operations, and it will release details on this in the autumn.

Mr Clifford, the cabinet member for finance and capital strategy, said: "The 2024-25 budget was set by the previous Conservative administration, and as the new administration we have inherited it, including the £8.6m black hole.

"It is essential for us to understand the developing financial performance and projected position this year and we are acting quickly to make sure that resources are used efficiently to deliver the council’s services in a sustainable way.

"This may involve some difficult decisions."

He added that senior officers have been asked to look at how to reduce the forecast overspend and work is already underway to set the budget for 2025-26.

Dorset Council provides a mix of around 450 statutory and discretionary services to 389,000 residents and businesses.