A report by Leicestershire County Council has revealed the ongoing impact that Covid-19 has had on its finances.

The authority set out its financial position for the next four years in a report presented at a meeting of its cabinet on Friday last week.

It presented a bleak picture for the council, which needs to find an additional £23 million in savings by 2025 – on top of the £57 million that has already been identified as possible efficiencies.

The council said the impact of the pandemic on the national economy had increased the financial pressure the council had already been facing due to the increasing costs of adult social care and low investment from the Government.

Adult social care remains one of the main areas of concern for the council, according to the authors of the cabinet report.

The report estimated the service will spend £13.5 million more than its budget allows for this year.

Around £11.3 million of this will be spent on home care services, particularly where patients are being discharged from hospital and need extensive care packages put in place.

The council is currently looking at ways to lower costs across the service.

This includes the current consultation into day care services for adults with complex needs in Leicester which could see the closure of nine council-run day centres in the city and their services taken over by private companies.

There are also concerns the gap between funding and spending will continue to increase. The council estimates there could be an additional overspend of £10-20 million by 2025.

Ultimately, the council predicts it will have to borrow around £166 million by 2025 to meet expenses.

Councillor Lee Breckon, the Conservative cabinet member for resources, said: "We are having to navigate an extremely uncertain position and we are under no illusions about the scale of the challenges we face.

"Our careful management of taxpayers' money over many years has put us in a better financial position than many other councils to weather the storm.

"But it is becoming increasingly harder in the circumstances we now face to balance the books in the longer term.

"We will continue to press the Government to deliver a fairer system of funding councils which does more to help those like Leicestershire that are near the bottom of the pile.

"Supporting the NHS during the pandemic has been the right thing to do and funding has been gratefully received.

"We continue to work with partners in the NHS to ensure that continuing funding is received to match the increased expectations of discharge times."