Dorset County Council has started its consultation on how support services such as HR, IT and legal should be delivered in the future.

As part of its wider Forward Together programme – which aims to change the way services are provided in light of budget cuts – the council is asking the public to feedback on four possible options.

This includes continuing to deliver support service through council staff, entering a shared service agreement with other local authorities, recruiting a partner on a ‘risk and reward’ basis, or contracting the services out to a commercial partner.

Leader of the council, cllr Robert Gould said: ‘Much has been done already to save money in this area – £6.5m of savings have been delivered over the last five years. However, we need to look for new ways of working to ensure the council has the support it needs while continuing to save money.

‘At this stage we are considering a range of options, all of which have pros and cons. To help us decide we would very much appreciate local people’s views.’

The results of the consultation, which runs until 16 November, will be considered by the council on 2 December.