FINAL audits on the Dorset Councils Partnership have given the three councils good ‘end of year’ reports.

Between them Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset and North Dorset are expected to end the financial year slightly underspent on the combined £29million net cost of services.

The Deloittes external auditors report also notes that the partnership held £138million of property assets at March 2017 which increased in value to by £100,000 at March 2018.

Over the same time period the combined councils had a pensions liability of £122.8m, which decreased to £109.8m.

A report to a joint council audit committee points out that a loss of key staff will mean that some work on council-owned property will have to continue under the new Dorset Council with a target date for completion by September 2019.

The auditors say there should be a centralised record of statutory inspection responsibilities for leased properties which should be subject to regular review and update.

The report notes: “The completion of the work for this recommendation has been difficult to achieve due to lack of resourcing and the volume of leased properties. The pilot study was started in which 20 leased properties were planned to be reviewed. This review contained some of the most problematic cases in Weymouth and West Dorset and a minimal amount of North Dorset properties.

“Approximately half the pilot study was completed but has been put on hold due to workloads for Local Government Reorganisation. The Building and Facilities Manager has commented that more work still needs to be done to ensure the pilot study includes more detail regarding leaseholder compliance duties. .. There is the feeling that there is now greater awareness within the team of responsibilities surrounding leased properties however more work is needed to formalise this.”