Hampshire County Council approves first steps towards Local Government Reorganisation

Press release from Hampshire County Council:

At a meeting of the Full County Council on Thursday 20 March, followed by the Authority’s Cabinet held today (Friday 21 March), outline plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) have been approved and will be jointly submitted to central Government today on behalf of all 15 councils in the Hampshire and Solent area: Hampshire County Council, 11 district and borough councils and three unitary councils covering Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight.

This initial plan towards LGR forms part of wider Government ambitions to replace the current two-tier structure of local government that operates nationally, with a smaller number of unitary (all-purpose) councils. For Hampshire and the Solent region, this means unitary councils will deliver all services currently provided by the 15 councils in the area.

The County Council has worked in partnership with council Leaders and Chief Executives from across the Hampshire and Solent area to develop the interim plan, based on Government-set criteria, as well as principles to which all 15 Hampshire and Solent councils agree. Alongside these, the County Council is also working to a set of guiding principles which reflect its own key duties as the largest local authority in the area, responsible for the delivery of the vast proportion of local government services and budgets in the region. With the considerable economies of scale that County Council services also benefit from in Hampshire, data shows that the greater the number of smaller councils created under LGR, the more expensive it would be to taxpayers, whereas larger scale councils deliver immediate and ongoing efficiencies for the public purse and make local government more sustainable.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King said: “In Hampshire, not only are we operating at scale, but our County Council teams and staff are also in our towns and villages every day, working at the frontline of communities and in our residents’ homes – such as caring for adults and children who are in vital need of our help, protection and support; protecting people’s health; educating children; maintaining the roads; delivering library services; helping people to recycle more and better; and managing much of the county’s green space. We are responsible for 85% of local government services and budgets within Hampshire.

“Our overriding focus is to ensure that whatever form LGR takes in our area in future, local government has a solid and sustainable footing so it can address the ongoing financial challenges faced by our sector, while delivering and enabling the best possible public services for residents. The creation of new unitary councils will inevitably mean our countywide services will need to separate into smaller units. We know from independent assessment these are outstanding, so maintaining that quality of service and ensuring the new structures are sufficiently resilient to support these services must be at the forefront of our thinking as we proceed.

“In the meantime, we now wait for Government’s response on our interim submission and then further work will take place collectively with our local government partners over the coming months to agree final proposals to be submitted to Ministers in the Autumn. There is still much work to be done, and we will be reviewing important data and information that will be critical to deciding an option that could ultimately deliver the best possible quality of life for our residents and create places that people can be proud to call home.”

Full details of the Extraordinary County Council Meeting on Thursday 20 March can be viewed on the Hampshire County Council website.

Next Steps:

Work now starts in earnest on the future structure of councils across Hampshire and the Solent area, as early ideas for local government reorganisation have now been submitted to Government. As provider of 85% of council services in Hampshire, the County Council has stressed the importance of data that shows how financial strength and resilience will be crucial for councils in future so they can be effective, deliver high quality services and provide the best possible quality of life for residents, at the same time as shaping places that people can be proud to call home. The region’s 15 councils will now work together on a final proposal ready for submission to Government this autumn.

Watch a short video of the Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King setting out what comes next.