Hampshire County Council is assessing four potential options for local government across Hampshire and the Solent as it closes in on identifying the best way of delivering simpler, stronger and secure councils in the future under Government plans to shake up councils across the country.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) sees the Government requiring all two-tier council areas in the country being replaced by single-tier unitary authorities which deliver all services in their area. Under the Government’s plans, the 15 councils currently covering the Hampshire and the Solent area, would cease to exist by 2028 (Hampshire County Council, 11 district / borough councils, Southampton and Portsmouth unitary councils, and Isle of Wight Council), and instead be replaced by fewer unitary councils.

County Council Leader, Cllr Nick Adams-King said: “Government wants a simpler, more efficient system of local government, one which delivers the best outcomes for local people. In response, we’re working on plans to ensure that any new councils created in Hampshire and the Solent prioritise the best interests of residents and a financially strong future by taking into account the large-scale services the County Council delivers. We provide by value the vast majority of council services people receive across Hampshire and the Solent which support people at every stage of life. They are vital to those who need them most, so we want to ensure they remain high quality, resilient, and financially sustainable through strong unitary councils that can meet future challenges. That’s the focus of our work on local government reorganisation.

“Since submitting initial proposals to Government this spring, jointly with our local authority partners, we’ve been carefully studying all the data and evidence, weighing up the pros and cons of various potential options, and gathering early views from our residents and from the people who help keep public services moving – like the Police, Fire Service, NHS, headteachers of our schools, and others across local government, as well as our own Authority, to gain real-world feedback on what LGR needs to deliver. This has helped to inform our shortlist of four options which we are now assessing.”

The four options are listed below:

Option 1

• North: Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Hart, New Forest, Rushmoor, Test Valley, Winchester
• South: Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Southampton
• Isle of Wight

Option 2

• North: Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Hart, Rushmoor, Test Valley, Winchester
• South-West: Eastleigh, New Forest, Southampton
• South-East: Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth
• Isle of Wight

Option 3

• North: Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Hart, Rushmoor, Winchester
• South-West: Eastleigh, New Forest, Southampton, Test Valley
• South-East: Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth
• Isle of Wight

Option 4

• North-East: Basingstoke and Deane, Hart, Rushmoor
• Central: Test Valley, Winchester, East Hampshire
• South-West: Eastleigh, New Forest, Southampton
• South-East: Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth
• Isle of Wight

Councillor Adams-King continued: “We’re still working with our partners, and specifically East Hampshire District Council, as well as sharing data to ensure that all the options presented are as helpful as possible, but it’s important to present our own findings, and make our own recommendation, because we manage the vast majority of council services and highest budgets in the area. This gives us unique experience and capacity to create a model that will be simpler, stronger and secure to protect vital services for the future for those people most in need. It’s our responsibility to ensure that such a proposal is on the table.”

Leader of East Hampshire District Council, Councillor Richard Millard, said: “Our work to develop evidence-based options is progressing at pace.

“We are now in a position to dig into the detail of four options and consider which best meets central Government criteria.

“Once this next stage of robust analysis has been completed, we will propose a preferred option from these four, which will be considered by our councillors.”

Councillor Adams-King concluded: “In assessing each of the four options, we are not only reviewing them against Government’s criteria, but also the principles we collectively agreed and submitted in March as well as our own principles, to see which one offers the strongest outcome to put forward. If this single option is then agreed by the County Council and Cabinet in July, we’ll be asking for feedback on it from residents and our stakeholders later this summer. Views will help us shape our final design for the future of Hampshire and Solent area councils, which will be submitted to Government this autumn, alongside other options presented by our partners. Government will consider all the proposals and carry out a formal public consultation on their agreed option for our area next year.”