THE FOREST of Dean District Council is one step closer to merging all its services with three neighbouring authorities to form one or more jointly-owned standalone companies. Currently the Forest of Dean authority is already sharing some of its services with Cotswold and West Oxfordshire District Councils and Cheltenham Borough Council under its Go partnership. At last week's cabinet meeting, members debated the 2020 Vision for Joint Working, which could see the councils sharing resources such as management, back office support, waste collection, environment services, and auditing.

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