Dorset Council is proposing more funds for adult social care, children’s services, climate response and housing which could result in a three per cent increase in council tax.

Its budget proposals include a 10 per cent increase (equating to £13million, taking the total budget to £141million) to fund the increasing need for social care in the local population and rising costs.

It also proposes a four per cent increase (equating to £2.7million, taking the total budget to £74.5million) to fund improvements to support children in care and children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The proposals have also identified a £10million capital investment over the next five years to help fund the delivery of the council’s ecological action plan and an extra £0.75million to support the development of more new homes with registered providers.

The government confirmed in December 2021 that Dorset Council will receive £10.4million more than originally anticipated for 2022-23. This enables the council to put in place robust contingency funds. However, it is a one-year settlement, and not the multi-year settlement that was hoped for.

The budget proposals include a three per cent increase in council tax: 1.998 per cent increase in general council tax and 0.996 per cent increase for the social care precept. For a band D property, this equates to £1.02 extra a week.

Dorset Council’s cabinet will consider the budget proposals in the meeting on 18 January, and proposals will then be considered and voted on by all Dorset councillors at the full council meeting on 15 February.

Cllr Gary Suttle, portfolio holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy, said:

“These are responsible and carefully considered budget proposals, designed to ensure the council can continue to deliver vital services to meet the needs of our residents.

“We have robust plans to deliver efficiency and transformation savings so we can balance the council’s budget while avoiding cuts to essential frontline services.

“We continue to face an exceptionally difficult period due to the Covid pandemic and growing demand and price pressures. We are grateful to government for the better than anticipated financial settlement for next year, but we really need multi-year settlements so we can plan for the longer term.

“My colleagues and I are lobbying government for fairer funding for Dorset. As a big rural council with a large elderly population, we face higher costs than many other councils. Yet we have been historically under-funded by government. This is something that needs to change so we can reduce the burden on local council taxpayers.”