Predicted overspends at Dorset Council are rising again – but said to be "containable".

Councillors have been told that the likely end of financial year overspend has risen from £7.8million to £8.37million over a three-month period.

Cllr Gary Suttle, portfolio holder for finance, said that many of the elements that made up the increase were out of the council's hands, including inflation, fuel and material prices.

He told a Cabinet meeting that officers were doing a good job in "trying to predict the unpredictable" and said he was not concerned, believing that that the overspend levels could be contained by the end of the financial year in April.

The meeting heard that fuel costs alone had increased by £348,000, above what had been predicted, and the council continued to have problems in getting building works completed due to rising material costs of 20 to 25%, coupled with a shortage of labour in the construction sector.

Cllr Suttle said the budget changes were like a roller coaster; while some areas dipped, others were doing better.

He said one of the good news areas was that £8.5million in council tax arrears had been collected in the first nine months of the financial year.

But, despite his assurances, some councillors remained concerned about rising debt levels in education budgets and adult services, although executive director for finances and development, Aidan Dunn, told the meeting that a 'safety valve' agreement was in place with the Department of Education over what is known as the higher needs block, which was likely to prolong the repayment period by three years, and was currently being reviewed.

The meeting heard that a planned overspend in the area of £10.4million had risen to £16.9million, a figure which Weymouth councillor David Gray described as "a cause for concern," claiming it could easily rise again by another £6million.

Another Weymouth member, Cllr Brian Heatley, said that nationally the sums outstanding for education were so large that the government would be forced to take a sensible approach and not press local councils too hard.

He was told that most of the councils in the country faced similar difficulties with their long-standing education budgets.

Mr Dunn said that, historically, Dorset had a relatively high percentage of children in its legal care living in high cost accommodation, which it was tackling by trying to build suitable premises itself – although 89 of these places, which should have been completed by now, had been delayed.

When eventually completed he said the costs to the council would reduce.

Cllr Gray also raise concerns about a rise in sundry debt, which he said had gone up from £7.7million to £9.5million.

Mr Dunn said that although the figures had increased, much of it was in situations where the council was providing care for elderly people, raising a charge against their property, so that when the care was no longer needed and the property sold, the council would then be repaid.

Some of the increase was also attributed to the council taking in unaccompanied asylum seeking children, which the authority has to do as part of a national scheme.

Dorchester councillor Les Fry said he had concerns about car park income, which was being lost because machines were out of use, many of them in the west of county.

Portfolio holder for highways, Cllr Ray Bryan, said a replacement programme was underway with 60 new machines expected to be installed by Easter, although he said the council's decision not to impose evening charges, which it had initially planned, had also contributed to the downward variance in the car parking income budget.