DORSET Council is unlikely to ever get back to ‘normal’ – even once pandemic measures are eased in the future.

In the short term the authority is facing a period of financial uncertainty, unless the Government gives it significant cash aid. At the moment the council’s income has been cut, mainly through lost car park charges and other fees, while expenditure across the board has risen.

Said council leader Spencer Flower: “We are only a couple of weeks into the council year and already we know it will be very, very difficult for us to stick to the budget we have just agreed… there’s pressure on income, there is pressure on expenditure and we are putting pressure on Government to help. We have had funding, but all of us believe more Government funding needs to come…our Dorset MPs are well aware of the need for more financial support.”

He says that coronavirus has resulted in many of the council’s strategic plans being postponed, or made irrelevant.

Chief Executive Matt Prosser said this week that even when restrictions are eased the authority is likely to be looking at a “re-set” rather than a resumption of business as normal.

“I don’t think we will ever go back to how things were before this pandemic started so we are working to understand what the changes are in our communities and how we support those,” he said.

Some of those changes could be to positive for the environment and climate change. The authority has rapidly learnt that more than 2,500 staff can quite happily work from home – cutting down on the need for expensive office space and environmentally costly commuting; that there is no need for people to be in the same room for a meeting to be successful.

“We are certainly looking to see what are the lessons we can take from this, what are the things we can improve going forward. We will certainly be looking at how we operate as an organisation,” said the chief executive.

Cllr Spencer says he had no doubt that his own five weeks so far in isolation has led to a realisation that modern technology means there is no longer a need to get into a car to go to a meeting, although he says he has been working just as hard.

The council bosses have promised that, as soon as they can, services which have had to close will be opened again, when it is safe to do so.

Garden waste collections and re-opening tips are among the priorities – the council is well aware of the frustration of people with time on their hands to garden or decorate their homes and no garden waste collection or tips open for disposal.

“We are looking at the garden waste situation and we are hoping that it a couple of weeks’ time we might be able to review the position with that; but as far as the household waste centres are concerned it’s very difficult to manage social distancing…but as soon as we are able to open them up again we certainly will do because I can see the link with fly-tipping,” said Cllr Flower.

Adult social services has been at the forefront on the pandemic – with the closure of some day services for vulnerable adults from the outset for health and safety reasons.

Said Mr Prosser: “Obviously there are a lot of services in adult social care and children’s services where we are in face to face contact and some of those have had to stop because of public health guidance and government directions.

“A huge amount of our effort has gone into working with our colleagues within the NHS, working seven days a week, to make sure the discharge of people from hospital, either back into the community, or back into community care, is successful…there has been pressure on the staff but they’ve been amazing.”