Dorset Council faces a challenging budget for the rest of the year

A report to be considered at the Cabinet meeting on 10 September shows that after the first 4 months of the year, Dorset Council is currently predicting an overspend of £10.1 million for this financial year. This equates to 2.7 per cent of the council’s total budget of £376.7 million.   

Dorset Council provides a mix of around 450 statutory and discretionary services to 389,000 residents and businesses. Council finances continue to be under extreme pressure through external factors such as increased demand for placements in adults and children’s social care, rising costs of delivering services and reduced funding. 

The bulk of the predicted overspend had been anticipated and previously reported as it relates to £8.6m to be saved from the council’s transformation programme, details of which will be finalised in the autumn. 

Dorset Council, like all councils across the country, currently faces a high level of uncertainty over its budget position as the new Labour government has not yet set out the likely funding arrangements for stretched local authorities – this will come with the government’s October Budget and the funding settlement in December. 

Cllr Simon Clifford, Cabinet Member for Finance and Capital Strategy, said:   

“We face a challenging budget situation, as do nearly all councils across the country. The 2024-25 budget was set by the previous Conservative administration, and as the new administration we have inherited it, including the £8.6 million 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.  

“As councillors our focus now is to address and reduce the forecast budget gap for year-end. We have asked senior officers to work to reduce the forecast overspend over the coming weeks.” 

Work is already underway on setting the budget for next financial year, 2025-26. 

More information on how the council’s budget is set and spent is available on our website.