There are just a few days left for residents to have their say in Hampshire County Council’s Future Services Consultation – Spring 2025 on proposals for savings in four service areas.

The consultation which closes at 11.59pm on Wednesday, 7 May, sets out a series of options to help the Authority meet a remaining budget shortfall of at least £97.6 million for 2025/26. The public can provide views on one or as many of the proposals as they wish.

The views of local residents are crucial and will help inform the final recommendations to be considered by the County Council’s Cabinet over the summer.

The consultation forms part of the County Council’s need to prioritise the provision of core public services for which the Authority has a legal responsibility to deliver, to residents who are most in need, including protecting children from harm, social care for older people, and supporting adults and children with disabilities and additional needs. Demand and costs in these areas are now at record levels, putting immense ongoing pressure on our budgets.

Despite the many steps already taken to reduce costs and streamline the way the County Council works, it must continue to look for ways to reduce its costs even further in order to be able to balance its budget and protect those residents who require the greatest support.

Four detailed options are set out in the consultation to help lower costs in future. These are:

Planned highway maintenance

To remove funding provided each year by the County Council to supplement Department for Transport (DfT) funding for planned highway maintenance activities, incorporating larger-scale structural repairs, surface treatments on roads, and drainage improvements.

Older Adults Day Services

For the County Council’s HCC Care and Support Service to stop running the older adult day care services at Chesil Lodge (Winchester), and Newman Court (Basingstoke). These day care services provide a range of individual and group activities (e.g. crafts, exercise, singing) together with personal care. People currently attending day care services and their carers would continue to have their eligible needs met either through these services transferring to an independent provider or through alternative care provision.

Post-16 Transport only

• To focus the County Council’s resources on those most in need, by amending the eligibility criteria for Post-16 transport assistance so that the County Council would only assist with travel for Post-16 students with special educational needs or a disability, and who are from a low-income family.
• To make Post-16 Transport provision more sustainable in the long-term by requiring all families of students who receive County Council-provided Post-16 transport assistance to contribute to the costs of transport for their child.
• To support SEND students to develop their independent travel skills by introducing mandatory Independent Travel Training (ITT) for some Post-16 students.
• To make Post-16 Transport provision more sustainable in the long-term by requiring parents/carers/responsible adults to act as a Passenger Assistant where it is reasonable for them to do so.

Both School Transport and Post-16 Transport

• To reduce the number of unused seats by utilising bus pass usage data.
• To increase flexibility to meet short-term variations in demand by using the full licensed capacity of buses.
• To make discretionary transport more viable by asking parents to increase their financial contribution towards the cost of the transport.
• To promote the most independent forms of transport assistance by prioritising a Public Transport Season Ticket or Personal Transport Budget over contracted transport, where this is appropriate and more cost effective.

The service change proposals outlined within the consultation would contribute a total of around £9.9 million towards balancing the budget for 2025/26 while ensuring that the delivery of essential services is maintained.

The consultation follows the previous Future Services Consultation which ran from January to March 2024, seeking views on proposals for savings in 13 service areas.

How to have your say

There are a variety of ways for people to have their say. Full details are available on the consultation webpage: www.hants.gov.uk/future-services-consultation