BOURNEMOUTH'S cabinet has approved the partial merger of its benefits and tax collection service with the Stour Valley and Poole Partnership (SVPP).

SVPP administers council tax and benefits for Poole, Christchurch, East Dorset and North Dorset councils, while the South Dorset Partnership handles the rest of the county.

A meeting on Wednesday heard the merger was predicted to achieve significant savings, of the order of £425k for 2018/19.

Councillor Jane Portman, cabinet member for regeneration, said: "Partnership working is something we are doing more and more across all sorts of areas to save money, to make efficiencies and very often to work more efficiently."

Chief finance officer Adam Richens said work on a county-wide merger of revenue and benefits services would begin after a decision had been made by the Government on the Future Dorset council merger proposal, and a new system could be in place by as early as April 2019.

Bournemouth council's revenue and benefits service handles 89,000 council tax cases and 7,400 business rates, 16,000 council tax support cases and some £90 million in housing benefit claims.