STAFF at Bournemouth and Poole councils will be offered voluntary redundancy over the coming weeks.

The authorities will be making the offer to staff in their corporate services departments in a bid to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies when "restructuring" services.

In a statement for both councils, Julian Osgathorpe, joint director for corporate services, said: "Bournemouth and Poole are committed to working more closely together to reduce costs in the face of significant financial pressures and deliver services more efficiently to our residents and customers.

"Work is now underway to bring together important back-office functions, including finance, HR, IT, legal and other support services, with a view to establishing a single corporate services function for the two councils by April 2018.

"Both councils are keen to reduce the need for compulsory staff redundancies as part of the process of restructuring services.

"Therefore, each authority has agreed that staff employed in their existing corporate service functions will be offered the opportunity to express interest in applying for voluntary redundancy over the next few weeks.

"We have consulted with unions on these proposals which are in line with both councils’ existing HR policies relating to staff redundancy."

The Daily Echo understands that further voluntary redundancies will be offered to staff in "people and place" roles.

Bournemouth council employs around 3,100 staff, while Borough of Poole employs some 3,200.

Both councils already share staff in a number of roles, including Mr Osgathorpe's, and it has been proposed that they share a chief executive/head of paid service.

This is already the case in neighbouring authorities, with both Christchurch and East Dorset councils sharing chief executive David McIntosh and several other senior officers, as part of their partnership working arrangement.

One area where Bournemouth and Poole already share services is in waste management, with the former's recycling facility Millhams, in Kinson, operated by the latter authority.

Additionally two plans for closer working between Dorset councils have been submitted to the government.

Last year the Local Economic Partnership put forward a scheme for joint working in the areas of transport and the economy, and earlier this year the Future Dorset proposal to dissolve all the county's authorities and replace them with two new unitary councils was also submitted.

Both are still awaiting a response.