Children's services blamed for council overspend

Councillors are to be told that money is expected to be taken from reserves to make up shortfalls

Children's and adult services are mostly responsible for a council's predicted £10.1m overspend, a report has said.

Figures produced for Dorset Council show the service for children and young people is expected to be overspent by £4.65m at the end of the financial year.

A £3.86m overspend is also forecast for adult services.

Councillors are to be told that money is expected to be taken from reserves to make up shortfalls.

Using reserves a 'real concern'

A financial out-turn report warned: “Unless some currently earmarked reserves can be repurposed, this could mean the council is required to use its general fund reserve, reducing the balance from 10% of general fund to 5.71%.

"Depleting reserves at this rate in a single year would be a cause for real concern as the minimum operating level for the council to hold in it’s general fund would be 5%.”

Other risks identified for the council include possible government-imposed changes to social care and education policy where the authority could find itself severely stretched.

Among the biggest risks is complex the historic formula for education funding which is due to come to an end in March 2026.

One of the only Dorset Council services performing well against set budgets is waste, which is currently forecasting an underspend of £1m.

This has mainly been due to the council getting better prices for some materials it recycles and the continued growth in the take up of garden and commercial waste services offered by the authority.