Senior Dorset councillors have taken exception to an internal audit report, which warns that the authority may not meet its carbon zero targets by 2040.

The council's own audit team have questioned whether there is adequate data to be confident of saying that the council is, or will be, achieving the target.

Senior auditor Sally White told a meeting that there was also "concerns around some data" being used by the council and in calculating the consequences of some of its actions.

Portfolio holder for climate change, Cllr Ray Bryan, told an audit meeting that he was struggling to find the justification for the warning – given the progress already made to become carbon neutral, largely with the help of £19million in government grant funding, and the fact that 2040 was still some years away.

He said there was a lot of evidence of the work which had been done and said he was confident in the council's climate and ecological performance and the staff delivering the programmes.

Backing for his view was Conservative council leader Cllr Spencer Flower, who said that Dorset was recognised as a national exemplar for its work with climate and ecological change and was one of the country's leading authorities in the area.

"I was very disappointed to read of a 'significant risk'... we are committed to the climate and ecological emergency," he said.

The council leader acknowledged the significance of government funding, saying that without it the council would have to find about £130million itself for work to mitiage climate change, and was already investing £10million into capital programmes for climate projects over two years.

Liberal Democrat chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, Cllr Richard Biggs, had no difficulties with the audit report, which he said made it clear why there was a worry about the risk of not reaching the target.

"It's an opinion. We do rely on the auditor to lift the drains and ask the awkward questions," he commented.

"It seems there has been some improvement since the report was written, which is good, but it's a huge, ambitious target."

Cllr Bill Pipe questioned whether all of Dorset's town and parish councils were "on board" with the climate and ecological objectives, with many not having formally recognised the emergency, as Dorset Council had done as one of its first acts when it came into power four years ago.

The council's director for climate activities, Steven Ford, told the meeting that many of the smaller councils were frustrated about what was considered to be the best action they could take, with some saying there was conflicting advice being offered.

Lyme Regis councillor Belinda Bawden told the meeting that many town and parish councillors did not see what was being produced on climate by the Dorset Association of Town and Parish Councils, either because clerks were not passing the information on, or it was not being received directly.

Said the internal audit report on the council's work in response to the declared climate and ecological emergency: "Whilst the audit has acknowledged that significant progress has been driven by a small team in a short timeframe, achieving carbon neutrality across the council's operations by 2040 will require clear governance and corporate ownership for the response to the climate and ecological emergency to be embedded throughout the Council's workforce.

"We have highlighted that the scale and maturity of the resourcing, service prioritisation and governance models in place at the time of our work, were not sufficient to ensure that the response to the climate emergency continues at the pace required.

"It has not been possible to provide reasonable assurance on the likelihood of the council reaching its net zero target without plans in place to gain a comprehensive understanding of localised carbon emissions.

"There are known and longstanding issues and limitations with the data provided by services to calculate the council's carbon footprint. This impacts the reliability in some areas of reporting against the short-term target to reduce total emissions from the 2019 baseline by 40% by 2025.

"It could be challenging to validate achievement of this target. However, of equal concern is the absence of a corporate plan and capacity to identify the relevant 'Scope 3' indirect emissions, including those relating to supply chain, partner services and working from home, which contribute towards the 2050 net zero target for the Dorset Area.

"In addition to expertise, this will require a substantial and joined up cross-directorate effort."