LEADING lights from Somerset and four other county councils are meeting tomorrow (Monday) to discuss joining together to deliver better services.

Somerset County Council leader Jill Shortland will welcome to County Hall, Taunton, chief executives and councillors from Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall to look for areas where working together could be beneficial.

Somerset believes efficiencies could be achieved in areas such as highways, social care and major capital projects if the councils pooled resources.

The meeting is the first time all the county councils - which control more than £2billion of taxpayers' money - have arranged to explore ways of cutting costs to achieve greater value for money.

It is hoped that clear action plans will be developed from the meeting potentially yielding millions of pounds of savings for reinvestment into frontline services.

Mrs Shortland said: "All county councils are under huge pressure from reduced Government funding, an ageing population and an increase in the services we are expected to deliver.

"If we can work together at a regional level to use economies of scale to deliver cost effective services that have the mark of excellence, we will do so.

"County boundaries should not be a barrier to getting the best value for the taxpayers of Somerset."