Three district councils in West Sussex are exploring plans to share services in a bid to save £2m a year.

Arun, Chichester and Horsham DCs are considering sharing human resources, legal, and internal auditing services while Chichester and Arun could also share revenues and benefits, customer services, and information and communication technology.

The three councils said initial findings have shown the partnership could lower the cost and improve the delivery of services.

Later this month the cabinets at all three councils will be asked to consider these findings and decide whether to give the go-ahead for the project to move to the next stage.

Horsham leader, Ray Dawe, said: ‘Many councils are already involved in sharing services in some form or other and it makes sense for us to further this process wherever we can. 

‘We have identified these particular services as areas where we believe we can maintain existing service levels, increase resilience and save money in these times of significant change in local government. 

‘At the same time, we shall continue to look at other areas where we can achieve a similar result.'