COULD Dorset’s council tax for next year rise by the maximum amount?

It’s a question Conservative opposition councillor Louie O’Leary thinks likely, given a £16million projected over-spend, but has been unable to nail down.

The Preston and Littlemoor councillor tried to pin down finance portfolio holder, Cllr Simon Clifford, (Chickerell Lib Dem) to a definitive answer at this week’s Cabinet – but could only achieve a response that it was too early to say, although the Lib Dem councillor added that the Tories had a projected maximum council tax increase every year, for five years, when they were in power prior to the May election.

Cllr Clifford said the process for setting next year’s council tax would start in mid-December with a ‘budget briefing’ for all councillors in readiness to set the tax level by February 2025.

In response to a question from the previous administrations portfolio holder for finance, Cllr Gary Suttle (Swanage, Con), Cllr Clifford admitted that the council was now approaching the level with its reserve funds where it was beginning to be “very concerned.”

Senior finance officer Aidan Dunn admitted the council’s level of reserves, usually set at 10 per cent of revenue spending, was now “raising alarm bells” and was being flagged as “high risk.”

“When we come to the end of this financial year it is going to be tough. We have used some of those reserves on an ‘invest to save’, to transform the organisation,” he said.

“My message to the whole council is that this is not a comfortable place for local government or this council.. it is going to be tough over the coming months, if not years.”

Conservative group leader Cllr Andrew Parry (West Parley) said he worried that with Education, Health and Care Plans for youngsters in Dorset now running behind the 20-week deadline the council might be forced into additional expenditure, adding to future budget problems.

Portfolio holder for children's services and education Cllr Clare Sutton (Green Party, Rodwell & Wyke) said that hitting the targets often depended on others, including the health service, and there had been a need to buy in educational psychologist expertise because of a local shortage of experts in the field.

Cllr Parry said buying in psychological reports was much more expensive than providing  the service ‘in house’ and asked to see steps the council was taking to resolve the issue and the level of additional costs.

Executive director for children’s services, Paul Dempsey, promised a written report to him after the meeting.