FINDING enough staff to meet local demands, especially in the care sector, and tackling inflationary pressures will be key to Lib Dem controlled County Hall.

The newly elected administration starts its term in office facing a predicted £50 million shortfall in the council's medium-term financial plan which it will need to tackle.

The last financial year ended £1 million overspent, better than had been predicted six months earlier.

Uncertainty in the world and over the spending targets of a new Government are adding to budget worries, according to councillor reports.

An outline financial position to the new council’s first Cabinet meeting next week warns: “Recent budget rounds have seen significant turbulence and volatility, and the backdrop to setting the budget for next year is very similar, with uncertainty around prices, markets, and labour conditions.

“There are significant and sustained inflationary pressures building in the UK economy and globally, driven principally by sustained conflict and global uncertainty.

"This has principally manifested in increased fuel and energy prices but the knock-on effect of these is increasingly apparent across other commodities and supply chains.

"Supply of labour is also a significant concern, especially in the care sector although this is affecting other areas where the council needs to engage significant human resources in coming months, such as in gearing-up to meet the challenges of adult social care reform.”

One of the issues which the council will need to tackle is money which it is owed – including from its main sources of income, domestic council tax and business rates.

Both have tended to end each financial year with 3-4 per cent of the total not paid with officers than having to chase millions of pounds.

Figures being shown to the Cabinet reveal that money owed to Dorset Council has increased by £12million over the last three months of the previous financial year – with £56.3million in total owed to the authority at the end of March 2024.

The figure represents more than 15percent of the council’s annual revenue budget.

A report to councillors says despite the increase the rise is “not part of a concerning trend” and represents only a snapshot in time with officers confident that most of it can be recovered.

To help with recovering that debt the number of staff working to collect overdue invoices has already been increased.

Over half of the money owed to the council is longer term debt, £27.3million from the adults and housing directorate , where the council is, effectively, paying for social care which in time it will recoup from the sale of individual properties.

A list of what the council calls ‘collectable debt’ shows more than £46million owed from the 2023/24 financial year;  almost £25m of its current debt is less than 30 days old; £5.3m 30-90 days old; £7.3m 90-365 days and £8.4m owed over a year.

During the last  financial year, which ended in March 2024 a total of £563,000 was written off by the council in sundry debt as being unrecoverable and another £633,000 in council tax, business rates and overpaid housing benefits.

Figures for the collection of council tax and business rates show that between 3 and 4per cent is not collected by the end of each year with council tax arrears amounting to £36.7m during 2022/23 of which £7.7m was collected in the financial year just ended.

For business rates arrears were £14.2m in 2022/23 with £7.8m of the debt collected during 23/24.