MORE than £2 million has been requested of the six Dorset area councils to fund work ahead of the formation of Dorset Council next week.

The £2.2 million sum will come from £25 million allocated by Dorset County, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset and Weymouth & Portland councils as the estimated cost of the local government reorganisation transition period.

The request, made by the Dorset programme director and programme board of the chief executive, is to cover costs including £275,000 for IT and £500,000 for branding and signage, although the biggest portion (£746,000) is for ‘programme management’.

Dorset County Council will pay half the sum with the district councils splitting the remainder based on each area’s population.