Hampshire County Council is asking people for their views on ways the Authority could balance its books over the next two years, up to April 2027, as costs and demand for local services keep rising alongside ongoing underfunding by central Government.

County council budgets nationally have been stretched to the limit for many years, but in Hampshire, the County Council has worked hard to manage public money carefully – making every penny count, delivering high-performing services and maintaining the second lowest Council Tax rates set by county councils in England. By the end of this financial year, the Authority will have saved £734 million from its annual budget since 2008 – acting early to address financial challenges, often well ahead of other authorities, transforming and working more efficiently to save money, as well as being more commercial in some areas to help generate income.

Despite these steps, financial pressures remain not only in Hampshire but across the country, especially in high demand areas like social care for vulnerable children and adults, and school transport.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Nick Adams-King said: “Supporting those who are in the greatest need in our communities is the most critical part of our role, but also the most expensive. People are living longer, and many more families are struggling to care for their loved ones. For example, the extra cost of looking after older people in residential and nursing homes went up by £15 million in the last year alone. Each month, 30 older people who were previously self-funding their care become the Council’s responsibility – adding £18.7 million to our annual costs, and the cost of school transport for pupils including those with special educational needs and disabilities has more than doubled in three years from £43 million to £94 million. These are huge sums and with more people relying on our support, and for longer, our budgets simply can’t keep up.

“We’ve managed to shield residents from the worst effects of these national pressures for longer than most councils, keeping council tax as low as possible and managing public funds carefully, including driving out savings and transforming how we work, and using our strong ‘safety net’ of reserves to help buffer the impacts and protect vital services. But those reserves are now running out; keeping council tax low in past years, in line with Government policies at the time has been to the detriment of our budgets today, and there’s no more scope to keep finding major ongoing savings from how we work. Local solutions alone are no longer enough.

“We need national action to match the local efforts we’ve been making for years. Without changes to how Government funds councils, Hampshire faces a budget shortfall of £143 million in 2026/27 and rising to £230 million the following year. We’re not asking the Government for favours, just the tools to enable us to keep doing the right thing for our communities.”

Until Government provides a fairer funding solution in areas like social care and school transport, and for local authorities to have greater flexibility to set Council Tax responsibly in their areas, many councils, like Hampshire, must look for even more ways to reduce their spending in order to balance the books, which they must do by law.

The County Council’s consultation sets out a range of options to help balance Hampshire’s budget and keep making the most of public money – including things like lobbying Government for more funding and changes in the law, making even more savings, generating extra income, increasing council tax, reviewing how services run, reducing or stopping some of them or introducing and increasing charges for others.

People can have their say from 4 November to 11:59pm on 7 December 2025.

Councillor Adams-King added: “We’re really keen to hear from everyone in Hampshire, whether you’re a resident, run a business, work or study at a school, college or university, are part of a community or voluntary group, or one of our partners. Your thoughts and experiences matter to us and will help us get a better picture of how any possible changes might affect people. Every response we receive will play a part in shaping savings proposals we look at next year. At this point, no decisions have been made, and if changes to specific services ultimately need to be considered, there will be more detailed consultations to make sure your voice can be heard.”

People can take part in the consultation via the online response form on the consultation webpage: www.hants.gov.uk/budgetconsultation.

The full information pack about the proposals in the consultation are available on this webpage, as well as details of ways people can respond, including how to request and return a paper copy.