FURTHER talks on the future of local government will be held at Christchurch council next month - despite the council saying it wants 'no change'.

A meeting of the scrutiny and overview committee will take place on January 10 at Christchurch, followed by a separate meeting of the policy and resources committee on January 26.

A full council meeting will be held on January 31 to discuss the comments from both meetings.

Members resolved at a full council meeting in December that no change was best for the residents as it retained Christchurch's independence as a sovereign body with control over planning, housing and the Green Belt.

It tasked the leader of the council, Ray Nottage, to campaign for the Dorset Combined Authority to take responsibility for Adult Social Care and discuss with Dorset County Council how Christchurch could deliver their own services.

It also said should any new unitaries be formed, all residents should pay the same Band D council tax from the outset.

However, the resolution has elicited a number of comments, with the chief executive of Borough of Poole, Andrew Flockhart, saying the idea of the combined authority taking on adult social care was "simply not credible".

And the council's chief finance officer Ian Milner said in respect of the council tax issue that the new unitary will take a view on the financial position to see if the proposal was possible.

Members of the scrutiny committee will be asked to review the information and provide comments to full council "to help them form their decision-making."

A report to the committee said: "The Department for Communities and Local Government have stated that they want to see a 'broad level of consensus' around any proposals made.

"Ideally they would like a submission from all nine councils, even if one or more of those councils dissent.

"Alternatively, a submission could be made from those consenting councils, with separate representation made from those with alternative views."