DORSET County Council is planning a major overhaul of its back office services in a bid to cut costs – and jobs could be at risk as part of the plans.

Members of the county council’s cabinet will discuss the proposals, contained in a new cabinet report, at a meeting next week which could see major changes to the council’s service departments such as human resources, finance and IT.

Councillors will be urged by council officers to bring in external specialist advisers to help with the review – the cost of which is expected to be around £60,000.

It is as yet unclear if jobs could be at risk as part of the overhaul.

The latest wave of cutbacks comes as the council is forced to find another £45million worth of savings by the end of 2018, despite having saved around £60million since 2010.

As part of its Forward Together transformation programme, the council is already working to save money by reducing the number of buildings it owns, cutting running costs and reviewing the way it delivers its services.

The report focuses on fundamental changes to back office working practices.

The council says that decisions will not be finalised until the autumn. Leader Cllr Robert Gould said: “Our support services do a vital job in helping us to deliver services to residents.

“We have done much to improve the way they work and now we need to reduce running costs even further so as to spend more on frontline services.

“However, if we are to successfully implement these changes within the next three years and continue delivering ‘business as usual’, we may need to draw on additional expertise and support.

“They could bring expertise and knowledge of what works in other councils and the private sector, and challenge us to really think about how we could deliver these services differently.”

The report lists options for future consideration, including partnerships with other authorities, outsourcing and bringing in support to deliver the changes ‘in-house’.