WHERE better than Dorset to relocate civil service jobs out of London? Twenty thousand government posts are to be moved and there are some prime sites in the county where they could go.

The councils of Poole, Bournemouth, Purbeck and Weymouth & Portland have launched a joint campaign to persuade the government that at least some of them should come here.

This is another welcome sign that the petty rivalries that once blighted relationships between Dorset councils are becoming a thing of the past.

There was very little hope of individual councils having much influence in the corridors of power but when their economic development teams work together they pack a punch that ministers and senior civil servants are more likely to feel.

By harnessing the experience of organisations like Dorset Business, the chamber of commerce and industry, Business Link and the Regional Development Agency, and getting local MPs on side, Dorset local authorities can present a professional and coherent message that large employers will notice.

The Bournemouth, Dorset & Poole Economic Partnership is already achieving this, thanks to strong commitment shown by the chief executives of the county and unitary councils.

However, while it is one thing to persuade private sector employers to favour Dorset, it is another to persuade national politicians. The councils can rightly point to our superb environment and well-educated workforce but they may have their work cut out convincing ministers that here, rather than more deprived areas, is where the jobs should come.

The campaign also brings into focus a worrying problem. Given our lack of affordable housing, where would the Dorset-based civil servants live? Things are becoming more and more difficult here for first-time buyers, who often find themselves competing for properties with better-off pensioners and second home buyers.

In the worst-affected area, Purbeck, an average local household needs to raise 5.58 times more than its family income.

Nearly 90 per cent of young working households cannot afford to buy even an "affordable" starter-home type of property.

Apart from the personal difficulties it causes, this is no basis on which to sustain a viable workforce. Solving the housing problem is fundamental to Dorset's future success.