Care overspends have left Dorset Council facing an £8.3m budget gap by the end of the financial year.A report to senior councillors blamed unanticipated demand coupled with a steeper-than-expected drop in income.The overspend in adult services and housing was forecast to reach £9.8m by the end of 2021-22 due to more people entering council-funded care than predicted.Dorset has suffered disruption to its planned savings due to COVID and the cost of its hospital discharge programme is expected to outstrip government funding.The council also predicts a £3.1m children's services overspend due to demand for external placements and special educational needs transport.Dorset faces even lower income than predicted from parking and leisure centres while business rates collection was highlighted as 'concerning,' with collection rates falling 10% in June compared to before the pandemic due to closures. The impact of COVID-19 is estimated to total £9.2m by the end of the year.Officers wrote: 'The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the council's services was extremely difficult to model and, even now, it is challenging to understand exactly how much of the budget pressure we are seeing/likely to continue to see, is purely driven by the pandemic.'
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