COURT delays during the pandemic have resulted in some Dorset children not moving on to foster carers, or out of care, as quickly as before.

The delays, with the family courts largely closed, has resulted in children coming into the care of Dorset Council, but not so many leaving.

As a result the authority has seen a rise in the number of children it has a legal responsibility for, to around 480, at a time when it had been hoping to reduce the number of children it looks after. The county figures are higher per head of population than comparable councils and higher than the national average.

The authority also has a relatively high percentage of teenager, including some 18-year-olds who were expecting to leave the care of the council over recent weeks, but have had to hang on because of the pandemic.

Dorset Council’s corporate parenting board heard this week that court problems had also led to delays in some adoption cases and decisions on whether or not parents who had children in the care of the council can have supervised contact sessions with them.